I had a few friends that know people at Vans and/or with the band, I'm not really sure. All I know is we asked around and it seemed like we would be able to get in. Then MyFreeConcert posted the RSVP info so to be safe I RSVPd. I never got a confirmation and our friends who might be able to get us in were running late so we just went over there, not at all sure we'd get in.
The first band I ever saw, way back in 1994, was Suicidal Tendencies and I haven't seen them since. I had to get into this show.
To our surprise there were hardly any people there. People in line were chatting about the RSVP thing and it seemed like only about 1 of 5 people actually got a confirmation. The majority of the line were just there, hoping to get in.
Right at 8pm they opened the doors and people started trickling in. It turns out the RSVP email on MyFreeConcert actually worked. 15 minutes after the doors opened we were inside getting frisked. Apparently they don't usually frisk people at House Of Vans but this is an ST show.
After getting through the checkpoint we headed right through the warehouse/skate park and through the giant garage door into the yard. Outside they had a bar area and free food from that Korean taco truck and Meatball Shop. Unfortunately we just stuffed our guts at Fette Sau so instead we headed straight for the booze. They had tall boys of Brooklyn Lager up for grabs (yeah, that means free).
We hung out in the back drinking until the show was about to start. As we were waiting we saw the Cerebral Ballzy boys, The Death Set and other familiar faces. All the punks were out!
When the band started to setup everyone headed inside and the outdoor bar shut down. People were drunk and pumped and ready to get crazy. As soon as ST struck the first chord all hell broke loose. I think they started with "You Can't Bring Me Down" which was fucking amazing. Almost too good to waste in the beginning of the set.
They went on to play all of the songs you'd want to hear. The pit was huge and crazy but not very violent. Just a bunch of kids having fun and even skating through the moshers. At one point there was this long hair, bearded Viking looking dude kicking ass in $200 jeans. Then it hit me, Chad fucking Muska! My favorite skater when I was growing up. I've been to a bunch of parties with celebs lately and this was the very first time I was starstruck. Chad Muska was thrashing like a champ in the pit. Fuck yes!
There were some lulls in the set most likely due to Cyko Miko's semi-incoherent rants between songs. The vocals were super low the whole set and no one could understand a thing he was saying but that didn't stop him from talking. It also didn't stop him from dancing which was awesome. He was doing his modified Beavis dance all over the stage.
For the encore the band invited the crowd up on stage with them for "Pledge Your Allegiance". The kids on the floor immediately bum rushed the stage. My shitty knee prevented me from joining them. Some chubby goon went to hop the barrier and hooked his foot - 250 lb face plant, ouch! Within seconds the band was playing and there was an all out mosh pit on stage. Then out of nowhere someone is crowd surfing on stage. It was Crazy Abe from Cerebral Ballzy!
To recap - free booze, free food, rad kids and Suicidal Tendencies! How can that not be fucking awesome?
, in it's entirety. The songs were good but, of course, lacked familiarity. For this reason I can't tell you the name of the super awesome, and surprisingly upbeat, tune they played about halfway into the album. I also can't tell you the name of the song they closed with which had an intro that is exactly the same riff as "Police Truck" by Dead Kennedys, but way slowed down. Overall, I dig the new stuff but of course was looking forward to hearing some old gems.
