Punk in Drublic @ Campanelli Stadium (Brockton), Aug 31 2024

 NOFX's last show in New England, ends with Erik Melvin doing a never ending polka on the accordion. 

This was our first festival show since the late 90s.  It was wonderful to be around so many other punk rockers! 

We even found a guy from Ekaterinburg.  He was adopted at 6 months old and spent most of his life here in the US!  What a small world.  I'm a dummy and did not get his name. 

We went with our new friend Steve and his bro Kevin.  On top of being cool a good hang, Steve is a west coast guy so we are always introducing each other to bands. 

The fest had free beer tasting, food trucks and some great merch.  Caitlin scored some great stuff including this rad Ramones flannel. Gabba Gabba Hey!

We got there early to catch the local opener, Rebuilder.  At some point OG north shore punk rocker and amazing drummer Harley used to be in the band.  Sadly, he was not playing so I'm guessing he's off doing something else.

Codefendants were next and mixed punk, hip hop and dub. I didn't understand them but I'm sure I'll love them when I listen later.

Suicide Machines followed with a great mix of old and new.  Shout out to the crowd surfing banana.  The singer slipped in an "Elevation! Elevation!" call back to The Pilfers which was sweet.  I think he also said Blood for Blood is his favorite band, and then they did some cover song?  Need to look that up.  The last time I came close to Suicide Machines was Warped Tour back in late 90s but I didn't know who they were and skipped their show. 

We then went and chilled in the stands of the baseball field for the next two bands.

Street Dogs were great from a far but getting closer at the end of their set unveiled that Mike couldn't sing anymore and his voice was cracking. That said, he got the crowd to circle pit the blue tents in the field which was really impressive to see. 

We returned to the seats for the shitty Dicky Barrett anti-science punk rock loser band.  And I quote "I'm still the same person, it's the world around me that has changed".  That was met with a loud "FUCK YOU" from yours truly.  Steve was out getting food and said the people on that side of the field had the same response!  Way to make me proud fellow New Englanders!  The cherry on top of the shit sundae was Dicky with a "Kennedy 2024" jacket.  FUCK YOU

Bouncing Souls were next and great as always.  They had a new drummer who spiced up a few songs. 

Keith Morris from the Circle Jerks is 69 years old and the "senior citizen" of the show (his words).  His stage ramblings were hilarious ("let's split the crowd into Catholics and Christians and then you run at each other").  Their songs were tight and super fun. 

NOFX makes it known at every show that if you bring your child to their show then you are a bad parent.  They drive the point home by telling the child about a "chili dog".  They also made fun of who I presume was Jeff Wizard ("Gandalf the wizard is up here!").  Their playing was on point, stage banter really funny and they took a 15 minute piss break, because they’re old.  They ended the show with Erik Melvin playing a never ending polka loop on the accordion.  Oh, and they also did a 3 stooges skit.  Oh, and they made fun of Brockton A LOT.  And, they did a cover of "Radio" by Rancid (dub style) and also threw in a dig at Suicide Machines who stole all their sound from Operation Ivy. HA.  Mike is not wrong. 

I went into the show with some bad allergies and by the end of the night my throat was toast. It was totally worth it though. 

Metallica @ Foxboro Stadium, Aug 2 2024

 

30 years later Metallica still kicks ass! 

Here's my ticket stub from seeing Metallica in 1994 at Great Woods.

The "new" Pantera really sounded amazing.  Here's a short clip:

This guy in front of me thought otherwise though:

Not all hope was lost though.  Here's my homie - cheering and headbanging with us from afar:

LOTS of people sat down through the whole show, including the amazing opener of Creeping Death, Harvester of Sorrow & Leper Messiah.

My compatriots for the evening:

But what about the actual show?!

I thought the setlist was great. They played Orion. Wow. And ended with Master of Puppets. 🔥🔥🔥

Their playing was good, maybe great at times. I do think Lars was Lars in that he didn't always play the exact parts on the record and there might have been times where he was a bit sloppy in his timing. The band stayed together (I think) although maybe after listening to the live recording I'll have a different opinion.

Bonus selfie with Jeff Wizard at the end of the night!

Honkeyball @ Mid East down, July 27 2024

The original country x hardcore crossover band returns! 

I missed these guys at the second to last SBC reunion show in 2018? 2013?  And I don't think I ever saw them back in the day.  

But first. 

It was a stacked line up with a diverse set of bands.  Steve (of Stevefest fame) and I hit Pinocchios first and enjoyed the beautiful night in Our Fair City.

We arrived in time for the Welch Boys, who were a better version of the Dropkick Murphys.  They had a song called Pete Townsend is a Pervert.  Who knew?!

T-Shirts seen:  Public Enemy, a great Witness shirt, 2 battle vests and lots of Tree and SBC (including 2 young gentlemen who will come up later).  I had my Arm the Homeless reprint and got several compliments. 

White Dynomite was next and opened with the track White Dynomite from the album White Dynomite.  The lead singer was Dexter from The Offspring, with Tim Katz (roadsaw) on bass and a SMOKIN' drummer. The song Werewolf Underwear had a great Danzig riff in the middle.

Big Mike and Steve joined me front and center for HB.  Being literally right against the stage means that when the pit starts you get wrecked as your legs are broken being smashed into the knee high stage floor.  The full body fence is my preferred way to destroy myself since your full body takes the blow.

The SBC shirt wearing "youths", their dad and several other old timers got it started when Kemosabi came on 2 songs in.  A few songs later the same yoots got into a fight, knocking someone to the floor.  See ya later, as everyone got ejected. 

The setlist was a great mix of old and new, including deep cuts from the first album. 

The band was super tight and it was so great to see Claude and Eric locked in for every song.  What a rhythm section. 

Setlist courtesy of We Want To See Honkeyball Again.