Social Distortion and Bad Religion's co-headline Australian tour arrived at The Riverstage last Friday (17 February).
Yep. LA punk legends Bad Religion and Orange County rock & roll icons Social Distortion together playing under Australia's southern stars for the very first time. History in the making.Although arriving a little late, I do not miss the opening act ANTY! who are onstage entertaining the early arrivals.
The three-piece have a loud and robust sound and all eyes are on their frontman, Anty Horgan (The Bennies) who is jumping around stage. Horgan even gets out onto the front speakers to get a little closer to punters at the front of the barrier. Considering there is not much of a breeze about and it is humid, Horgan has an insane energy that is to be respected.
A project band that unless you're mates or partners with the band members, I doubt anyone here has heard of them ANTY!, well, until right now!
I'm hearing reggae and dubstep influences intertwined with recognisable hip hop fun-style flavour. Punters are absorbing the sounds of the band who nabbed the support slot, playing to them in the last of the daylight hours.
ANTY! - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Boomers and Gen-Xers in the crowd may have recognised their crazy cover of 'One Step Beyond' (Madness). Their art has a unique taste that is easily digestable and, even a tad morish – punters give an approving and appreciating cheer as they left the stage.
Next it's Bad Religion: Greg Graffin (vocals, guitar), Brian Baker (guitar), Mike Dimkich (guitar), Jay Bentley (bass) and Jamie Miller (drums). BR fans are at the ready as they take to the stage, kicking off with fan favourites 'Too Much To Ask' and 'American Jesus' – ooh that bass.
Bad Religion - image © Clea-marie Thorne
The 19-year-old 'Los Angeles Is Burning', which remains relevant lyrically and in sound, has punters singing along loudly. I even hear a man behind me "wowa, wowa, de da de, wah, woah" and realise he's vocalising the guitar solo.
Sharing the headline space does not equate to a lesser set list. BR draw on tracks from across 12 albums. If you're a fan and not in the crowd tonight, neener, neener! You are defs dipping out on the live sounds of 'Man With A Mission', 'Do What You Want', 'No Control', 'Epiphany', 'End Of History', 'Come Join Us', 'Flat Earth Society', 'Leave Mine To Me', 'Skyscraper', 'The Streets Of America' and 'Suffer'.
Bad Religion - image © Clea-marie Thorne
No, I wouldn't blame fans if their response to the above is a 'F... You', but they played that one too and the crowd went bonkers singing: ". . .sometimes it makes no sense at all. The easiest thing to do, is say f... you. Whoa oh!"
The hectic nature of the show is not over yet as they set about playing 'Generator', 'I Want To Conquer The World', before the well-known classic, '21st Century (Digital Boy)' – the lyrics of this one are even more relevant now than back in the day.
Bad Religion - image © Clea-marie Thorne
'Sorrow' and the fast and lively masterpiece 'You', come before the finale song 'F... Armageddon... This Is Hell'. Not to detract from the meaning of the song, but I assure you, this set has not been hell tonight – this is a slice of punk-rock heaven, lads!
Social Distortion – Mike Ness (vocals, guitar), Jonny '2 Bags' Wickersham (guitar), Brent Harding (bass) and David Hidalgo (drums) are greeted with a welcoming roar from fans. We are rewarded with 'So Far Away' as their opener and by golly it's sounding as good as it ever did. Yew!
'Bad Luck' is getting punters singing along and 'Reach For The Sky' showcases the vocal harmonies of Ness and Harding. 'I Wasn't Born To Follow' comes next before long-time fan favourite and old-school punk vibes of 'Mommy's Little Monster'. This sends the moshpit into an excitable frenzy as fans join in the chorus with great gusto.
The energy of the crowd is thick at the base of the amphitheatre and crowd surfing is now well underway by the time we get to 'Sick Boys'.
Social Distortion - image © Clea-marie Thorne
To stop us oldies in the pit from having a coronary, we get a change in tempo and give our best choral input to their Chris Isaak cover, 'Wicked Game'. It is covered in a most delicious manner by all!
It's clear to us that Mike Ness's growling vocals and driving guitar work has not waned one iota. The whole band holds our attention with ease and the upsurge of energy between the band and punters escalates with each song.
'1945' came between two of their bouncy bangers 'Over You' and 'Tonight' – both from their forthcoming album. 'Ball And Chain', a song that has held the hand of many a punter during their darker times, guides us towards 'Don't Drag Me Down' where things get absolutely nuts in the moshpit.
While the crowd surfers are sometimes obscuring our view, their infectious joy in this ritual is making us smile. I'm in awe of the endurance of the band members. Do the math. Punters ten years younger than them would be hard pressed to match their vigour and vim!
Social Distortion - image © Clea-marie Thorne
There is a level of passion and fitness (or incredible willpower) to be doing shows of this calibre some 40 years into their careers. Smashing it, they are.
Another recent release, 'Born To Kill' punches in ahead of 'Story Of My Life' from their self-titled album that has punters chiming in: "Story of my life, La, la, la, la la."
Surprisingly, SD close their set with a freaking outstanding version of 'Ring Of Fire' (Merle Kilgore and immortalised by the Man In Black) that absolutely thrills the Cash fans among us.
SD performed an impressive set of new tunes and yet-to-be-worn-out oldies with lyrical content that remains as relevant today as it was in my youth.
Social Distortion - image © Clea-marie Thorne
A perfect concoction of rock, country-rockabilly and intrinsic punk elements, the fingerprint of SD's quality musicianship was dished up to us tonight with an energy and spirit that is leaving us beyond high. It has left me fulfilled. Incredible boys.
SD and BR, kudos to ya'll – in my eyes and ears, you are still thrashing and pumping out 5-star performances and gathering more fans along the way. To be punk-rock crass – you were f...ing brilliant!
Thanks for reinforcing what we already knew and why we came – punk-rock is alive and kicking, and you proved that it ain't dead yet.
More photos from the show.
