Last Friday I went to see OFF! with my wife and friend Jesse at Gilman. Kristi and I got there an hour and a half before the doors opened. I haven't been to Gilman since I saw Thorns of Life (Blake S. and Aaron Cometbus)so it's been a while. Got to see some old faces. It was like the good 'ol times. I was excited cause this was Kristi's first time going. She knew that it was a 'dump'. But I spent a good number of years hanging out at this place when I was younger. It's been a long time where I've been to a show where I've never seen any of the bands. But I have to say, this the strongest lineup I've seen top to bottom and I honestly enjoyed every minute. It was a good mix, of hardcore, street punk, indie rock with bits of rockabilly elements thrown in. It was a real good time.
Culture Kids were the hardcore band of the night. I could tell they brought a lot of their friends in. Ah, to be young and in a band. They were really good. I had trouble hearing the lead vocals. They seemed to be drowned out by the guitars. The lack of volume on the monitors contributed to problems on their set. But this is typical of a hardcore set.
Ty Segall is someone I have heard of but never really seen perform nor listen to his music. His band was great. I like the reverb and surf rock elements to his sound. But his sound was more raw and edgier. It was hard to pin his style down because of the many elements in their sound. Really talented... and I was really impressed by the end of the set. I would love to see him and his band play again. The most indie-rockiest band of the night award went to him. And well deserved. I'll definitely be looking for more of his stuff now that I've seen him and his band play. I expect this guy to be BIG someday, if not already. Here's a video of him playing solo at another gig.
I have to admit I was getting tired by the time we got to Thee Oh Sees but they were really fun and high energy. They had a whole lot of merch at the table, so I'm gonna have to hunt their stuff down at Amoeba's. My wife really enjoyed their set.
I found out that the frontman, was John Dwyer of the Coachwhips. I enjoyed their stuff back in the day. This material is a little bit different from the former. Really experimental in the sound, but still upbeat. I enjoyed the moog sounding keyboards in the background. What was really sweet was the female vocalist, Brigid Dawson and her harmonic components to the songs. Her voice reminds me of Kim Deal somehow... Below is a video for Meat Step Lively.
To close the night it was the LA hardcore superpunkrock group OFF! Fresh from their set at Coachella the previous week, it was surprising to see punk rock legends play at Gilman. Keith Morris from Circle Jerks/Black Flag(!!!!!!!), Dimitri Coats of Burning Brides, Redd Kross bassist Steven Shane McDonald and Rocket From the Crypt/Hot Snakes drummer Mario Rubalcaba make up OFF! and their sound is very reminiscent of Black Flag and Circle Jerks material, mainly because Coats and Morris writing the songs... although it's new, its very nostalgic for me, and it sounds AWESOME! What a way to end a night! Keith Morris was awesome. I've only seen him on old videos but never would I thought I would see an original Black Flag/Circle Jerk member. Not bad for an old man... But this guy and is band commanded respect. And surprisingly, Gilman gave it to him. He dropped some knowledge about another '80s punk band called Gun Club and OFF! covered one of their songs in homage to Gun Club frontman, Jeffery Lee Pierce, a close friend of Morris who passed away in 1996.
Their set was tight and when they ran out of songs they started over... Otherwise known as the "Black Flag effect" At least they didn't start playing Louie, Louie... (inside joke, 10 points for the reference!)
Below is a video for 'I Don't Belong'
If you don't feel like reading the post below just watch this...
