An Ear-Splitting Good Time

I had a chance to attend two shows in two nights last week and thought I’d let you know about them.

The first was The Aggrolites with Knock-Out at Slim’s on Thursday evening. It was a really crummy night out, with lots of rain and wind. Diana and myself had a nice Vietnamese meal before the show and did our best to stay dry during the walk to the show.

Knock-Out was the first up and they were adequate. Hailing out of Riverside, CA, these guys sounded like Sublime Jr. The lead singer even sort of looked like Brad’s younger brother. They would alter between slower ska tunes to hard, fast-paced punk numbers. I wasn’t mad at hearing them, but the lead singer came across as kind of a dill-hole, so I didn’t pick anything up by them. Note to opening bands: Don’t insult the audience when you are the curtain jerking band that no one has heard of, especially when you follow up the rants with pathetic pleadings to buy your merch. Good luck with that gas money.

The Aggrolites were the main event, and worth every penny spent on the ticket times five. You may remember this is the same band that we saw open up for Hepcat on New Year’s Eve. They were just as good this time, but had even more time to play. The new songs were fantastic, and the crowd had a great time singing along to their older material. This “dirty reggae” that they play is one of the greatest styles I’ve heard in years and years. It’s a shame more people haven’t heard them. As a result, if you email me or ask me at any point for an Aggrolites album, I will buy it for you, straight up, no strings attached. I don’t want to burn it for you, this band deserves more money and more popularity than they currently have, and I will consider any additional albums I buy as an investment. So, let me know…

On Friday night I hooked up with AJ, Tera and Toby to go to Annie’s Social Club. Two of the bands on the bill, La Plebe and The Cobra Skulls are recent signings to Toby’s label, Red Scare Records. Annie’s is a pretty decent venue that holds about 250 people, is really loud, and has Strongbow on tap.

The first band to play was Beer Can out of Reno, Nevada. They were pretty decent for an opener. Toby likened their sound to “Lagwagon’s first practice”, which is a pretty good compliment, if you think about it.

Next up was Nothington from SF. This band has members of former SF bands Enemy You and Tsunami Bomb in it. They played a really great show and sound like a cross between Leatherface/Motorhead/Hot Water Music.

Going on next was The Cobra Skulls, who recently relocated to SF from Reno as of last week. Going in I thought they sounded a little bit like Against Me, but I don’t think that’s quite right. Good three piece band and the lead singer has a ton of charisma, plus a kick-ass cookie duster.

The headliner was La Plebe, a Latino punk rock band out of the Mission neighborhood in SF. Plus, they have horns. I can’t understand a dang word they say except for when they cover Dirty Old Town by The Pogues, and even then it’s tough. They are fantastic, however, and some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. The first time I saw them, one of their friends/relatives brought a bunch of tamales to give to people after the show, how awesome is that?

I ended up grabbing a couple of CDs and T-shirt at the show to show my support for the fun night.

Two additional notes about Friday’s show:

1. I briefly met Eric Heitmann, the center for the 49ers. He went to Stanford and goes to a bunch of punk rock shows. I met him through Toby’s friend Nolan, who used to be a merch guy for Alkaline Trio, who went to school with Eric. This brings my SF celebrity sightings to 3 (Augusten Burroughs, Rob Courdrey, and Eric).

2. After the show, Toby and I piled into The Cobra Skulls van, stopped and grabbed some beer, and then went over to their new pad. Beers were drank and songs were played and I got home around 4, if I remember correctly. Fun times.