Benefit for the
Surfrider Foundation Featuring:
T.S.O.L., Channel 3, Boobie Trap, and Spider
by
Goth Brooks
When
and Where? @ Chain Reaction - Anaheim, CA. 1/27/01
As much as the realization of old age creeping
up on me set in on this night, I was just as stoked to have this night
to relive my youth through the music I grew up on. Nostalgia lingered
in the air on this night as all the first and second generations of Punks,
and fans of Punk, came out in droves to enjoy the music of four great bands
in support of a great cause. I almost felt guilty if not politically
incorrect pulling up to Chain Reaction riding shotgun in my buddy Greg’s
(A.k.a. Chairbuster2000) shiny black BMW. Oh well, I couldn’t afford
to put gas in my broke dick ’82 Honda Accord that night anyway so what
the hell?
After a minor inconvenience getting into
the show
because of being cut off a certain bands guest list due to limited guests
allowed per band member, Paul Lucas of the Surfrider Foundation came through
and worked out this one small glitch by shelling out my cover charge out
of his own pocket. Thanks Paul, and thanks to Tim Hill and Jon Halperin
and everyone else at Chain Reaction for helping make it all
possible to do this for such a great cause. As soon as I got
inside Hector Martinez of SPIDER was up on stage screaming out a song that
I figured out was called “Metal Detector” by the Punks in the front of
the stage chanting the lyrics “Combing the beach with my metal detector/Combing
the beach ‘cause I’m all alone” at the top of their lungs while the cyclone
called the pit spun out of control right behind them. Pretty catchy
lyrics from a “real school” Punk band
that borrows more of their sound from old school English bands like Sham
69 or Cockney Rejects with their anthemic songwriting and sing along choruses
than they borrow from any of the bands in their own group of contemporaries.
SPIDER keeps it simple and keeps the spirit of Punk alive with their fast,
melodic sound that’s rounded out by Karl Izumi on guitar, Steve Westerkamp
on bass, and Al Silva on drums. I’m glad I caught SPIDER live, and
I’ll definitely be
going to see them again. I highly recommend SPIDER to anyone in need
of a good Punk Rock fix.
There was just enough time in between the
sets of SPIDER and BOOBIE TRAP to step outside and cool down a minute before
going back inside to see Franki in her black patent leather dress and
torn fishnet stockings, getting me steamed up all over
again. BOOBIE TRAP is one of the best bands I’ve seen lately that’s
fronted by a chick, and in my own personal opinion Franki has more right
to the title “Queen of Punk” than all those other pretenders to the throne.
The first song of the set was a song called “Dirty Girl” that firmly embedded
Franki’s patented moaning in the back of my mind to fantasize about later.
Franki uses sex as just one of the tools in her arsenal of tricks without
overdoing it. Sure, there was more of the moaning throughout the
bands set, and even simulated acts of strap-on, and oral sex with big boobied
guest vocalist Mary during the song “Scream.” But I dug it and the
crowd got off on it too. Guitarist Danny rules with his derby hat
and raunchy guitar playing, and the rest of the band that includes
Tracy on drums, Scott on rhythm
guitar, Dave on bass, and Franki on vocals of course, put on an incredibly
good show despite the fact they were plagued by technical difficulties
in the beginning of their set due to an overly anxious photographers inability
to keep from tripping over guitar and microphone chords while trying
to take pictures of the
band from the stage. BOOBIE TRAP ROCKED! And I have the
broken camera to prove it!
CHANNEL 3 is a legendary Southern California
band that was formed in Cerritos, CA somewhere around 1980 and 1981.
Throughout the bands
twenty-year history, which includes changes in the line-up and changes
in hairstyles, the band has not strayed from their original loud, fast
formula of creating the music they practically own the rights to.
I’d never seen CHANNEL 3 live before because they only seem to play shows
on a very few and far between schedule these days. Now that I’ve
had the chance to finally see them, I won’t be forgetting how really great
this band is any time soon. This used to be one of my favorite bands
from Rodney Bigenheimer’s playlist on the Rodney on the ROQ show.
CHANNEL 3 co-founders Mike Magrann on vocals and guitar and Kimm Gardener
on guitar and backing vocals, along with bassist Mitch
McNally and drummer Al Silva (who’s pulling double duty as drummer for
CHANNEL 3 and SPIDER) tore through an incredible hour long set of songs
from the bands musical catalog that spans their twenty year history and
included all the best CHANNEL 3 had to offer their fans on this night.
All the hits were there. We were treated to suped-up versions of
all the best songs like “What about Me”; “Out of Control”; “Mannequin”;
and “Catholic Boy.” If you’re one of those antiMUSIC readers who
is down on punk you really ought to check these guys out because they’re
the kind of band whose music really transcends the labels, boundaries and
musical genres that keep the listeners in the dark ages.
It was all about T.S.O.L. on this night.
So legendary, so entertaining, and so fuckin’ great. All the things
I love about this band were present at this show and the charismatic Jack
Grisham played the prankster and the Punk Rock Ringleader with a style
that is just untouchable. There they stood on the Chain Reaction
stage with Jack pacing back and forth in his hot pink ruffled shirt and
trademark kind of evil, kind of
mischievous grin. The noise from the sold out Chain Reaction crowd
was just deafening. Over the house speakers came the intro “Ladies
and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Please welcome T.S.O.L.! Jack then
told the crowd that he had to get injured by the end of the night because
he didn’t want to go to work on Monday morning. After the deafening
roar going up a few decibels in reaction to this, Ron Emory led the band
into ‘Superficial Love” and all hell just broke loose from that moment
on as evidenced by Jack proclaiming “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a nice,
human smashpit going on up here.” T.S.O.L. must be just as entertained
by their audience as their audience is entertained by them. “Superficial
Love”; “Abolish Government”; “Anti-Cop”; “Weathered Statues”
and “Code Blue,” oh yeah! T.S.O.L. has a policy of playing everything
they know, or everything they’re able to remember, and don’t play anything
in any particular order, or with the use of set-lists as revealed to me
by Ron Emory at the end of the show when I asked for one in order to reference
songs in this review. The show highlight came when Jack asked for
a volunteer from the audience, had his manager Bobby duct tape the 17 year
old female volunteer to a plastic lawn chair and lifted the girl up over
the heads of the people in the middle of the pit to be suspended there
while the band played in the background. From where I was standing
on stage between Mike Roche’s bass cabinet and Jay O’Brien’s drums it looked
like it was more fun than it was scary. But that’s what this whole
night was all about. It was all in the name of having some fun!
Posted by Franki:
Lux... thanks for the compliment, hehe. Do you beg? It was a fun show. See ya next time! F
Posted by GOTH
BROOKS: It's like one of those queer analogies
where a group of friends will call their 400 lb friend Tiny, or their dimwitted
friend Slick.
Posted by
Hank the angry Dwarf: Big Paul my ass, dude, you're shorter
than me.
Posted by
Big Paul: Go to www.surfrider.org to find your local
chapter of the Surfrider Foundation
Posted by
NC SurfNazi: Hey do you guys do anything in Mertle
Beach? The water here is pretty foul.
Posted by
Big Paul: Hi my name is Big Paul from the Surfrider
Foundation. I just wanted to thank all those who came out to support the
Foundation and have a good time. I hope that all in attendance left the
show happy and in one piece. I want to publicly thank the members of TSOL
CH3 Spider and Boobie Trap for donating their time and talent. It took
alot of time, phone calls, emails, and carrier pidgeons to make it all
happen. All monies raised are going to fund our Teach and Test program
in which we purchase expensive scientififc equipment for local high school
students to conduct water quality testing in the local area to track the
pollution contaminating the coastline along Newport and Huntington Beach.
Kids taking their own world back. Now thats friggin cool! It all started
when I saw CH3 playing one of the last shows at the Foothill Club in Signal
Hill. I asked Mike Magrann if he would be interested in doing a benefit
for Surfrider and without batting an eye he said "Sure, love to Im a memebr
myself". And thats how it all started. Thanks Mike. Please visit the bands
websites and say thank you for me people can you do me that favor? Anyway,
peace out Im looking forward to seeing you all at the next Surfrider shows
in April and in June. Big Paul
Posted by
max: I hate punk but its cool that these bands
give a crap and are using their fame for a good cause
Posted by
econochrist: I'm a brand new spider and channel three
fan after listening to those songs.
Posted by
econochrist: I'm a brand new spider and channel three
fan after listening to those songs.
Posted by
Lee Ving: brings a tear to my eye. makes me proud.
Posted by
SOURCHUX: they rule Beavis!!!!
Posted by
The Universal Advocate: What do you call real bands lol? Journey?
Styx? REO Speedwagon? Supertramp? Blow it out yer piehole asswipe!
Posted by
Gearhead Mohawk: Dopers and Homos and your mother, three
of my favorite peoples in the whole wide world!
Posted by
lol: that is great use noise pullotion to cure
water pollution get some real bands next time not a bunch of dopers and
homos
Posted by
Bleach Boy: Good work, my friend...
Posted by
LUXX INFERIOR: EEEWWWW!!!! FRANKI! BABY! OH GODDESS!
OH MISTRESS! I JUST WANNA BE YOUR DOG!
Posted by
East Coast Hard Core: I'm not into that surfing shi t but this
show sounds like it went off. How bout having this line up at CBGB's for
the punks on the East Coast?
Posted by
Seach & Destroy: Who could ask for more? The surfrider
benefit was by far the best show of my life. excellent! killer! the greatest!
