The Adolescents may not look like adolescents any more, but these guys are nowhere near ready for the front porch rocker whiling their days away. They churned out hard core, loud, fast punk like a runaway freight train. Tony Reflex, front man and main vocalist, never stayed in one spot for more than a couple seconds. Though he didn’t move fast, he strutted and pranced about the stage, often leaning over into the packed crowd, who responded with much moshing and stage diving. There was barely a time when at least three stage divers weren’t racing across the stage, crashing into the band, knocking down mic stands, then diving back into the crowd head first. Though Tony said at the beginning to stay off the stage, alas the Seattle punks could not help themselves and after a very brief respite, picked up where they left off. I managed to survive mostly unscathed save for one young punk who not only wanted to use the top of my head as his personal landing pad, but wanted to stay there awhile without my permission.
Meanwhile, guitar player Dan Root was just as dynamic to watch. A dark bandana wrapped around his otherwise bald head, he churned out loud piercing chords while grimacing, doing almost splits and often nearly upstaging the front man. The drummer this night, Adam Gomez, was borrowed from the Dickies as the band’s usual drummer Mike Cambra couldn’t make this tour. Bass player Steve Soto was the class clown, often resting his head on the support pole that sticks up through the middle of the stage, and was just non-stop grins the entire set. South paw guitarist Ian Taylor seemed to be the one grounding the band and preventing them from crashing that freight train into who knows what. After an encore of a single song, the night was over and there was nothing left to do but pack up my gear and limp out sore and battered from another night of being in the midst of a wild mosh pit.
Although the Weirdos preceded The Adolescents, this was a two-star show. Both bands have been around (albeit on and off) since the origins of punk in the late seventies. These guys seemed as much about the clothes as the music. Front man/vocalist John Denney wore a black bowler’s hat and bleach splatter jeans. Guitarist Dix Denney (yes, they are brothers)wore jeans with uneven patches, but it was bass player and Jerry Garcia look-alike Zander Schloss who wore a dark suit with geometric shapes all over it. The Weirdos also attracted their fair share of stage divers. One dude kept coming back for seconds and thirds and more and was noticeable due to the two large nose rings hanging off each nostril. John Denney strutted about the stage like a cock rooster, bowler’s hat firmly in place. He managed to rile the audience into quite a frenzy that only contributed to the moshing and stage diving. Like The Adolescents, they played a raw, hard pure punk.
I arrived just in time to see Moral Crux begin their set and was immediately drawn to their singer, James Farris. With bleached spiky hair and clothes that looked painted on, he also wore dark eyeliner for that exotic look. He was not just a singer, but a performer. He swung the mic around, wrapped the cord around his neck and though barely anyone was there at this time, he easily could have pulled this act off in a big arena. He reminded me of a cross between Billy Idol and Sid Viscious. and maybe a bit of Johnny Rotten as he was constantly spitting onto the stage floor. The band also p layered a hard core raw sounding punk. This was the kind of night punk rock was made for. It was hot and gritty and I really felt transported back to the late seventies/early eighties when I first started attending punk shows. It was a night to remember. The rest of Moral Crux is, Jeff Jenkins on guitar, Jamie Jaspers on bass, and Scott Rozell on drums.
