Showdate: January 27th, 2011
Shit baby, shit. YOTS’ annual winter hibernation is over. Yes, the rumors are true. YOTS negotiated for a friendly takeover from a multi-billion dollar, multi-national (saying multi lends credence) firm, but ultimately the thing fell apart over mandatory drug testing and our clothing optional Fridays. Fuck ‘em. Check.
Hollywood. Yea. No. Shit. Digging the Califronia vibe, I must say. Hard to compare to PDX. Here’s the thing. Driving down Sunset you see The Whiskey, Roxy, Palladium, etc…oh and go by Angels Stadium (of Anaheim) and you see The Grove. Venues spring up like franchise music outlets. Just. Fucking. Crazy. While parking at the Palladium, we circle the block and run into a crowd standing in line for the (latest cuntry flash in the pan) Amos Lee show. Down the street? Railroad Earth is playing. That is literally 3 nights of music at the Crystal in PDX. LA? Popping it off in one night. Thursday, no less. With Social D at the Palladium. Spoiled.
We park in Bollywood and walk on into the show. The Palladium is kinda dope. I wanted in quick because I am a big, fat, nerd. But it is just a big room with two levels. A chill blue neon vibe. Ups on one side is VIP tables. I don’t think those peeps are very important, though. Just people with an extra hundred or so waiting to get flushed. I look for celebrities briefly before getting a handle on myself.
The beer line is disgraceful, but we hit it anyways. Booze always wins at punk rock shows. Plus? SoCal vacation, bitches!!! My friend steers to the smallest line populated unfortunately by brain dead protozoa. God, I may sober up before this line hits paydirt. A group of three in front of me is led by a fifty-something riffing on past punk shows. So. Fascinating. Ugh. They forget to have their order handy and the barmaid starts jerking her soda fountain off sending a stream of soda water into the sink, “we’re thinking, we’re thinking.” SoCal is the shit.
Let the good times roll. Someone is loudly puking in the men’s room. Doesn’t effect my pissing. Punk rock, bitches!!!
Really, I’m feeling pretty good. 2 trips to the beer line. A trip to the smoking area complete with my friend bumming smokes. I keep the outside wall from falling over by keeping my back on it. God, that cement parking lot is gorgeous. Urban sprawl mixed with punk rock, bitches!!! I don’t know who opened. But. Whatever. We’re back to the same area we started at for the support act. Wait up time. Social Distortion, bitches!!!
I am marveling at the crowd. My friend keeps telling me it isn’t punk rock typical. I can see it. Alot of fancy jeans. Maybe not car mechanics. Owners of the shop? Mixed with jackasses like me and some Hispanic Roc-A-Fella flavor. Fun. Some people are too young to be here. Let me shake my old man cane at you. A lot of the crowd looks pretty suburb normal. For real. Social D is mainlining mainstream more and more. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Punk paid, bitches!!!
The wait takes awhile. Waiting in LA seems like such a waste cause there is so much to see!
Lights.
2Pac/Dre’s “California Livin’” starts bumping. “You’re getting the LA vibe, we like to represent!”
Yes. I do.
And I like California/california livin’, too.
Represent.
The Palladium is a big stage. No joke. Not a metaphor. Acts like Elton John have played here. And it….kinda shows. Either the crowd is ridiculously stoned or the vibe is just very chill. “Road Zombie”, “So Far Away”, and “King of Fools” fly by. The guitar solo on “So Far Away” briefly pricks up my ears but I start zonin’ on the crowd again.
Lots of couples tonight. And it is a good vibe. The heavy undercurrent of violence that you feel at some shows isn’t there. Chilly chill. Don’t know if it is the age or just SoCal in general. I’m not an expert. Let’s just say SoCal is dope.
Cmon cmon cmon. This isn’t going to get wild and I’m starting to get antsy. My outside view of the LA concert market is starting to come into focus. The hit or miss nature and often apathetic fandom is clarified for me. There is so much to fucking do. So many shows. So many diversions. In this era, it is often amazing how the music industry treats their customers. Acting like we deserve to get shaken down for our love of music. SoCal is ahead of everyone. Or most visibly at the future destination. Better wake up Live Nation, and all you other clueless corporate enclaves of douchery. You need the fan more than they need you.
“Mommy’s Little Monster” and “Sick Boy” reverse the energy of the show briefly and I get to do some sing along and fist pumping. Fun. Ugh…but the downtemp of “Ball And Chain” is enough. Sorry. I’m about to do it. No offense, I’m just leaving ’cause outside holds more for me right now. I’m on vacation! We show our back and begin the weaving through the vendors hawking shit outside. Weaving in and out of all manner of knock-off Social D merchandise, can’t help but think. That’s Live Nation’s biz model kiddos. Selling all manner of crap as an add-on. You know when you start competing with the homeless and mentally disturbed, the path to riches is shortening.
Yea. I’m a poser. I left early, but I got more shows coming. And I’m back in the groove…
