“My feet were killing me, but that’s punk rock…”
On the humid Sunday afternoon of June 9 I trekked down to Tacoma’s Le May Car Museum grounds to attend the Bash Festival starring Bay Area punks Rancid.
Rancid hit the stage like a raging tornado with singers and guitarists Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen constantly running about the stage or leaning into the crowd igniting them into a frenzy. I was squished against the barricade so tightly I was surprised I wasn’t flattened like a pancake or at least stuck with the imprint of said barricade in my rib cage. I managed to avoid being landed on by crowd surfers until Rancid’s set was about half through. Some dude tumbled over the barricade and used the top of my head as his landing pad while also managing to kick me just below the left eye. I am still marveling over the fact that I don’t have a shiner while I write this. Twenty-four hours later I still have a stiff neck. Ah, but such is life in the mosh pit.
Tim Armstrong sported a black ski cap that often slide over his eyes making him resemble a garden elf with just his chest length beard sticking out. He shed the hat after about three songs revealing his bald and tattooed head. They played many of their hits, Ruby Soho, Time Bomb (the first song I heard by them), Olympia, WA. At the very end of their set Tim got off the stage and stood against the barricade to serenade the crowd. Then, the band left the stage and the break tape played. The festival featuring five punk bands was over.
Playing prior to Rancid was So. Cal’s punks, Pennywise. Led by singer Jim Lindberg, they hit the stage like a roaring inferno. Jim was all over the stage, shouting and singing into his mic. The crowd surfing never let up. Said crowd surfing as well as manic moshing only grew more intense when they played Society. They even did a punked up version of Stand by Me. They finished their set with Bro Hymn and everyone who was in the VIP section near the stage joined them on stage and sang along. Combined with everyone in the crowd also singing along, we must have been heard at least a mile away.
Churning up the stage prior to Pennywise was Suicidal Tendencies. Fronted by Mike (Cyco Miko) Muir, who strutted, and stomped about the stage like a crazed psycho, screaming unintelligibly into his mic as he goaded the audience into a froth. I was systematically crushed against the barricade, constantly ducking to avoid being landed on by a crowd surfer. But as fascinating as Cyco Mike was, it was bass player Ra Diaz who darn near stole the show. He’s got a major cute factor but he oozed endless charisma and showmanship. None of the members of this band stopped moving about the stage. Their non-stop energy didn’t wane one iota and the crowd ate it up. When their set was over I felt like I needed a fire hose to not only cool me down but to douse the stage before it became a raging inferno.
L7 graced the stage before Suicidal Tendencies. This all female band is riot girl punk. I’ve wanted to see them for quite some time. They could out punk even the most riotous all male punk bands. If the audience could have rushed the stage and embraced the entire band in a huge bear hug, they surely would have. Such was their unbridled adoration. Many sang along with their songs, doing so the loudest when they played Pretend That We’re Dead. They all had long hair that they whipped about constantly as they writhed about the stage. Their music is melodic hard-core punk, but their stage performance is a raging tantrum. They sang songs from their new album Scatter the Rats along with one song only available on line called Dispatch From Mara Lago. The song is a tongue in cheek fantasy imagining Trump tweeting while Mara Lago gets trashed. Singer/ Donita Sparks belted out, “S.O.S. from the golden throne/‘Mogul’s’ in deep shit, he’s all alone/It’s not good, a riot in fact/The whole friggin’ country club i
s under attack.”
They were the only band at the fest who openly disparaged trump. I loved it and I am humbled to have finally seen L7.
Getting the fest to a roaring start was Tacoma band No!se. They started the fire with kindling that soon changed from smoldering embers into a full-blown blaze. This quartet was a combo of every punk band to come out since the last millennia. I heard some twangy guitar hooks reminiscent of the Bouncing Souls to some more pop punk sounds reminiscent of New Found Glory. There was lots of high energy in this band and I highly recommend them.
When I was finally able to extricate myself from the crowd squashing me against the barricade, there was nothing to do but limp back to my car. My feet were killing me, but that’s punk rock.
– All photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
Rancid
L7
Suicidal Tendencies
Pennywise
No!se
