The Adicts
House of Blues Anaheim
September 7, 2012
See Also:
*Static X – House of Blues Anaheim – 8/31/1
*FYF Fest 2012: A Complex Punk Portrait of the SoCal Music Scene
*FYF Fest 2012: Five Reunited Bands We Really Want to See
When certain bands come to town, the choice of whether or not to go see them isn't even a question. For three decades, the Adicts have deserved that kind of attention– including their gig last Friday at the House of Blues Anaheim. It was nice to see such a storied band return to a solid OC venue, not as small as the Glass House, but its small enough where you can't miss the underage girls puking on the floor. Everyone that was there was happy to see the band and the line of fans ranged in age from fans in their 40's to teenagers. The only down side about being around the younger generation of punks is the smell but after the band had gone on stage, that wasn't even a problem.
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As the Clockwork Orange song came on, the crowd clamored with anticipation of what Keith “Monkey” Warren would walk on stage looking like. He didn't disappoint with his entrance, strutting out in a jacket and hat covered with LED lights. Everyone was on point as they were playing and from their opening salvo of four-chord riffs, not an ounce of stage presence was spared. Guitarist Pete “Dee” Davidson and bassist Shahan had utilized the whole stage. Both of them had been all over and with songs like Tango, they had not only played to the crowd but they had bounced their energy off of one another creating a dynamic duo of sound. During a chunk of the set, Monkey was busy returning the crowd's energy with fist fulls of confetti, cards and streamers. At one point he even had a 20-foot gold streamer pulled out of his mouth by a fan, magician-style. It was interesting to see what Monkey would pull out next to throw at the crowd. And each song seemed to rile up the house even more.
At one point, the photo pit turned into a regular pit with security fighting to get everyone off the stage and back to their places. Songs like “Easy Way Out” really got the crowds attention and resulting in the biggest mosh pit of the set. Even their new stuff got nothing but fan appreciation. By the song the time they arrived at their 1985 track “You're All Fools,” Monkey had stripped off his gloves and shirt. For him that must have been a good place to take a break because had just walked off stage. Despite that the band had finished up what they were playing and the fans didn't seem to mind what had happened because the show had kept going with their flawless performance. By night's end, the band managed to turn in an amazing, catalog-spanning set that was worth one more trek through Downtown Disney.
Critical Bias: The smell was terrible. Come on people, at least puke after the band goes on not before.
Overheard: “Man they search us like criminals because we are
punk”
The Crowd: Older generation punks to angry drunk teenagers who had pregamed it in the parking lot.
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