Submitted by Brian Reid
I’m sorry to say that we missed the first band, Bad Times. I’m sure they were amazing. Unfortunately the decision to drive to little D didn’t happen until about 10 PM the night of the show. And was it ever a good one. Not Half Bad brought an aggressive pop-punk set that got a few people going. As a closet fan of the genre (two words: THE ERGS!), I could really appreciate what these guys do.
Most ironically timed statement by lead singer: “if you believe in God, you are stupid and wrong” . Followed by, in order, songs about pizza, erections, and failing out of community college. Kids today.
Now, onto the actual show. Four scums that call themselves Dead City Riot took the stage and it was clear that something great was about to happen. They did not disappoint. The set started with Before the Dawn, a song that totally rips for the first 15 seconds, then drops into the grittiest, dirtiest, these-guys-must-actually-live-under-a-bridge ska you could imagine. The crowd was grinding through it with heads bobbing, bodies rocking left to right to left, with that one arm waving up and down to the filth of that beat. DCR’s guitar player broke a string in the ensuing chaos, which led to a few minutes of awkward crowd banter and an impromptu ska jam while he changed it on the fly (all the other guitars had been lost or stolen on the west coast tour). Other highlights from DCR included the more anthematic Orphans Till We Die (just awesome) and an incredibly rad cover of Agent Orange’s Bloodstains.
If you are still reading at this point, STOP. Download the Dead City Riot EP. You can get it priceline style (name your own price- get it?) over athttp://riotskarecords.bandcamp.com/album/dead-city-riot. If you’re too lazy for that and 1 penny is more than you can bankroll, at least go there and stream tracks 1 and 6. I can’t wait to see where these guys go.
Next on stage: Morning Leftover Choking Glory Crack – the professionals. I never cease to be amazed when the guys who have been doing it their whole lives take the stage…be it Charlie, Colin, Jack, Mike Palm, Shawn Stern, or any other of the old guys that are still touring. A friend once told me that he thought it was because they were amazed to still be alive. Maybe so. But Ezra Kire ruled. Obviously there was a lot of Leftover Crack in the set. But, honestly, the stuff that really amazed was what they played off of Poets Were My Heroes. Everything’s a Song (to me) is a song that truly defies any attempt to put it in a genre. And like most MG songs, underlying all the aggression is an infectious optimism that just makes you want to know Ezra as a friend. The Whole World is Watching made the crowd go completely nuts. They ended the night with a little sing along of Last Carress with Ezra on keys. It was strangely out of place, but everyone really got into it.
By far the funniest moment of the night was when a kid in the audience named Charlie shouted, “play something f’ing original man, I’m sick of all these covers!”. Ezra stopped down the show…literally…and calls out Charlie. You could have heard a pin drop. He agrees with Charlie, then tells him that he (Charlie) is a genius and the only one there who really knows what’s up. For the next 10 minutes, Ezra rants about how Leftover Crack songs are like a bad girlfriend that you just keep going back to.
One last note…to the merch guy for MG. Just a thought here, but when Ezra spends 10 minutes on stage teaching the kids how downloading music is cool and the way to support music today is by coming to shows and buying t-shirts…if you’re being an asshat to one of the few people who actually buys something, you might be doing it wrong.
All in all a great show. Don’t miss them when they come back.
Most ironically timed statement by lead singer: “if you believe in God, you are stupid and wrong” . Followed by, in order, songs about pizza, erections, and failing out of community college. Kids today.
Now, onto the actual show. Four scums that call themselves Dead City Riot took the stage and it was clear that something great was about to happen. They did not disappoint. The set started with Before the Dawn, a song that totally rips for the first 15 seconds, then drops into the grittiest, dirtiest, these-guys-must-actually-live-under-a-bridge ska you could imagine. The crowd was grinding through it with heads bobbing, bodies rocking left to right to left, with that one arm waving up and down to the filth of that beat. DCR’s guitar player broke a string in the ensuing chaos, which led to a few minutes of awkward crowd banter and an impromptu ska jam while he changed it on the fly (all the other guitars had been lost or stolen on the west coast tour). Other highlights from DCR included the more anthematic Orphans Till We Die (just awesome) and an incredibly rad cover of Agent Orange’s Bloodstains.
If you are still reading at this point, STOP. Download the Dead City Riot EP. You can get it priceline style (name your own price- get it?) over athttp://riotskarecords.bandcamp.com/album/dead-city-riot. If you’re too lazy for that and 1 penny is more than you can bankroll, at least go there and stream tracks 1 and 6. I can’t wait to see where these guys go.
Next on stage: Morning Leftover Choking Glory Crack – the professionals. I never cease to be amazed when the guys who have been doing it their whole lives take the stage…be it Charlie, Colin, Jack, Mike Palm, Shawn Stern, or any other of the old guys that are still touring. A friend once told me that he thought it was because they were amazed to still be alive. Maybe so. But Ezra Kire ruled. Obviously there was a lot of Leftover Crack in the set. But, honestly, the stuff that really amazed was what they played off of Poets Were My Heroes. Everything’s a Song (to me) is a song that truly defies any attempt to put it in a genre. And like most MG songs, underlying all the aggression is an infectious optimism that just makes you want to know Ezra as a friend. The Whole World is Watching made the crowd go completely nuts. They ended the night with a little sing along of Last Carress with Ezra on keys. It was strangely out of place, but everyone really got into it.
By far the funniest moment of the night was when a kid in the audience named Charlie shouted, “play something f’ing original man, I’m sick of all these covers!”. Ezra stopped down the show…literally…and calls out Charlie. You could have heard a pin drop. He agrees with Charlie, then tells him that he (Charlie) is a genius and the only one there who really knows what’s up. For the next 10 minutes, Ezra rants about how Leftover Crack songs are like a bad girlfriend that you just keep going back to.
One last note…to the merch guy for MG. Just a thought here, but when Ezra spends 10 minutes on stage teaching the kids how downloading music is cool and the way to support music today is by coming to shows and buying t-shirts…if you’re being an asshat to one of the few people who actually buys something, you might be doing it wrong.
All in all a great show. Don’t miss them when they come back.
