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Gonzo Report: Good music and great merch at T.S.O.L. show
Observatory show even features tolerable ska
There was an EMT on hand for T.S.O.L.
“We have an EMT on-site if you want a Band-Aid for that,” says Observatory North Park staffer Anna when she sees my bleeding left knee. She monitors people leaving the bar area to make sure no one takes glass out to the performance area, where T.S.O.L. and the RADolescents will play tonight with four other bands. I decline, laughing at the irony involved in missing not one but both steps leading to the main floor — and the resulting body damage. It’s the least story-worthy wound I’ve ever sustained, and yet it’s part of this story. At least I didn’t damage my Cliff Burton tattoo. And there’s more good news: my merch wasn’t lost in the topple, because Gia, the woman running T.S.O.L.’s section, offered to hold my armload of goodies — one T.S.O.L. shirt featuring Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots and two books, one by singer Jack Grisham and one by bassist Mike Roche, who isn’t playing tonight because of medical issues. The guitarist for RADolescents (members of the Adolescents), Rikk Agnew, will also be absent tonight for similar reasons.
Injuries, illness, and ska interrupting my flow combine to threaten my appreciation of this gig, but hopefully there will be more celebration than irritation at the absence of beloved band members. I’m grumbling to myself about how I heard some of this music from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones 30 years ago. Then my muse reminds me I’m incapable of being objective because I fucking hate ska. As I’m crafting a pithy comeback regarding Catholic Boy-turned-punk Jim Carroll (I can’t control the form my muse takes), I spot a family of four eating nachos. Father Frankie and Mother Maria started taking their kids, Junior and Bella, to shows over the past few years. They’re ten years old, maybe a little younger, and already showing good taste. Maria cites her favorite performance as Suicidal Tendencies, and Junior chooses the Aquabats. Dad’s seen T.S.O.L. many times, but this is a first for the kiddies.
I leave them to their nachos and walk by the merch booth, spotting another T.S.O.L. shirt I need in the band Noogy’s section. The garment commemorates the mini-tour the bands are on, and it even includes this date and location. Noogy’s brand of punk rock doesn’t have a Rancid vibe. Instead, it contains a sense of hero worship, of a band finding their identity through imitating what they love. This somehow includes The Beastie Boys. Their performance wins me over through sheer energy and persistence, so I buy a shirt to help them get back to Texas.
San Diego’s Big Attitude ignites a set of songs that are one-two kicks in the balls and on to the next one. Before their set, guitarist Noah Prescott (formerly of the local sibling quartet PSO) tells me what a pleasure it’s been to tour with T.S.O.L., with singer Grisham showing an interest and supporting all the bands, even occasionally buying them dinner. I show my support by, you guessed it, buying another T-shirt. But I don’t buy a shirt from the next band, La Pobreska. The minute I hear a horn, I bee-line to the restaurant to eat nachos. My order number is two, and I tell Renee the bartender that I’m actually number one. She cosigns my antics and places a number one beside my original number. I catch the end of La Probeska’s set and admit that my knee-jerk reaction to ska may have cost me a new band discovery. They sound as if Sepultura is breeding with Chicago. No matter, RADolescents come on and play The Blue Album, explaining Rikk Agnew’s absence-by-illness and getting a screaming, whirlwind mosh pit response to “Kids of the Black Hole.”
T.S.O.L. follows, sounding solid, despite Grisham’s insistence on taking the band through one song again because they fucked it up. I don’t know if it was schtick or genuine, but the band doesn’t seem upset, and it was kind of funny. That clip ends up making social media, and the comments by people admonishing the band’s unprofessionalism are from trolls who weren’t there. And that’s the key. Be there to experience the performance, connect with people, and hear the laughter as a veteran punk gets kicked in the face by a pair of Docs on a stage diver’s feet. Talk to a woman named Jen, whose doctor told her to retire from the pit after a Corrupted Youth Show saw her eye get damaged. Receive and, hopefully, give random acts of kindness. Fall down the stairs. And then get back up and go buy another T-shirt.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Gonzo Report: Good music and great merch at T.S.O.L. show
Observatory show even features tolerable ska
Gonzo Report: Good music and great merch at T.S.O.L. show
Observatory show even features tolerable ska
There was an EMT on hand for T.S.O.L.
“We have an EMT on-site if you want a Band-Aid for that,” says Observatory North Park staffer Anna when she sees my bleeding left knee. She monitors people leaving the bar area to make sure no one takes glass out to the performance area, where T.S.O.L. and the RADolescents will play tonight with four other bands. I decline, laughing at the irony involved in missing not one but both steps leading to the main floor — and the resulting body damage. It’s the least story-worthy wound I’ve ever sustained, and yet it’s part of this story. At least I didn’t damage my Cliff Burton tattoo. And there’s more good news: my merch wasn’t lost in the topple, because Gia, the woman running T.S.O.L.’s section, offered to hold my armload of goodies — one T.S.O.L. shirt featuring Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots and two books, one by singer Jack Grisham and one by bassist Mike Roche, who isn’t playing tonight because of medical issues. The guitarist for RADolescents (members of the Adolescents), Rikk Agnew, will also be absent tonight for similar reasons.
Injuries, illness, and ska interrupting my flow combine to threaten my appreciation of this gig, but hopefully there will be more celebration than irritation at the absence of beloved band members. I’m grumbling to myself about how I heard some of this music from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones 30 years ago. Then my muse reminds me I’m incapable of being objective because I fucking hate ska. As I’m crafting a pithy comeback regarding Catholic Boy-turned-punk Jim Carroll (I can’t control the form my muse takes), I spot a family of four eating nachos. Father Frankie and Mother Maria started taking their kids, Junior and Bella, to shows over the past few years. They’re ten years old, maybe a little younger, and already showing good taste. Maria cites her favorite performance as Suicidal Tendencies, and Junior chooses the Aquabats. Dad’s seen T.S.O.L. many times, but this is a first for the kiddies.
I leave them to their nachos and walk by the merch booth, spotting another T.S.O.L. shirt I need in the band Noogy’s section. The garment commemorates the mini-tour the bands are on, and it even includes this date and location. Noogy’s brand of punk rock doesn’t have a Rancid vibe. Instead, it contains a sense of hero worship, of a band finding their identity through imitating what they love. This somehow includes The Beastie Boys. Their performance wins me over through sheer energy and persistence, so I buy a shirt to help them get back to Texas.
San Diego’s Big Attitude ignites a set of songs that are one-two kicks in the balls and on to the next one. Before their set, guitarist Noah Prescott (formerly of the local sibling quartet PSO) tells me what a pleasure it’s been to tour with T.S.O.L., with singer Grisham showing an interest and supporting all the bands, even occasionally buying them dinner. I show my support by, you guessed it, buying another T-shirt. But I don’t buy a shirt from the next band, La Pobreska. The minute I hear a horn, I bee-line to the restaurant to eat nachos. My order number is two, and I tell Renee the bartender that I’m actually number one. She cosigns my antics and places a number one beside my original number. I catch the end of La Probeska’s set and admit that my knee-jerk reaction to ska may have cost me a new band discovery. They sound as if Sepultura is breeding with Chicago. No matter, RADolescents come on and play The Blue Album, explaining Rikk Agnew’s absence-by-illness and getting a screaming, whirlwind mosh pit response to “Kids of the Black Hole.”
T.S.O.L. follows, sounding solid, despite Grisham’s insistence on taking the band through one song again because they fucked it up. I don’t know if it was schtick or genuine, but the band doesn’t seem upset, and it was kind of funny. That clip ends up making social media, and the comments by people admonishing the band’s unprofessionalism are from trolls who weren’t there. And that’s the key. Be there to experience the performance, connect with people, and hear the laughter as a veteran punk gets kicked in the face by a pair of Docs on a stage diver’s feet. Talk to a woman named Jen, whose doctor told her to retire from the pit after a Corrupted Youth Show saw her eye get damaged. Receive and, hopefully, give random acts of kindness. Fall down the stairs. And then get back up and go buy another T-shirt.
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