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| Social
Distortion |
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by Caren Spitler |
Rocket
From the Crypt |
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White Hot Retro Cool – Feelin’ the
Heat at Hootenanny
By Terry James
With a four-barrel rockabilly blast, Hootenanny
scorched the asphalt on Sunday afternoon. Following a blistering run the
previous evening, from a high octane line-up which featured acts like
John Doe, the Cadillac Tramps, the Blasters and the
Stray Cats, the second day of this rattle and hum could easily
have turned ho-hum under the merciless Orange County sun. Instead, the
crowd was treated to more thrills and spills as teams of players, and
a few holdovers from the night before, hit the ground running and never
looked back.
My own ride dropped me at the very manicured
Cal State Fullerton campus in time to hear the last strains of Tex
and The Horseheads drifting over the crowd. Snaggin’ a fresh-squeezed
and some charred beef, I let my eyes wander the festival and the crowd
they were working.
Something like ten thousand folks had braved
the heat and found their way, and were now drinking in the sounds and
merch like thirsty legionnaires. Be-bop swing daddies elbowed past hellbilly
greasers to get their lips on a cold one, while Biker babes and sweater
Betties twirled their shiny new Chinese parasols. Surrounded by tons of
vintage Detroit heavy metal – timeless sculptures of chrome, glass, leather
and style – that exciting collision of the old and new that defines
this festival was in full effect, and despite the sweltering temperatures,
the day was decidedly cool.
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was pulled from a rack of vintage B-movie posters by the Mexi-punk strains
of Manic Hispanic. This tightly wound super group, featuring members
of the Cadillac Tramps, 22 Jacks, The Adolescents and Agent Orange got the
crowd shouting along to their own renditions of popular favorites, most
including modified lyrics. Hot on their heels came the psychobilly circus
that is the Necromantix. Obvious crowd pleasers, and looking like
the back-up band for a Boris Karloff hot rod musical, this Danish Franken-twang
trio turned up the heat, if that was possible, and got the mosh pit cranking
into a mini-twister of flesh, dust and sweat.Their closing number "Who
Killed the Cheerleader?" had the whole joint rockin’, as bass monster
Kim Nekroman spun his coffin-shaped upright above his shark-fin pompadour
like some kinda grave-robbin’ groovie ghoulie! |
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| Necromantix |
| Lee
Rocker stayed over for a second day and brought his band to play a set
of straight out rockabilly stomp. Following the bad boy theatrics of the
Necromantix, Rocker’s smooth-edged swing was the perfect chaser. Managing
to appear completely cool while he burned the place down, his finely-tuned
machine tore up the tarmac, even managing to slide in a leftover Stray Cats
number for a final kick. |
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Lee
Rocker |
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| The
momentum that had been gained during the afternoon was brought to a sudden
stop. Lounge bopper Dave Vanian was scheduled to play next, but for
some unexplained reason his set was 20 minutes late getting off the line,
and put the rest of the afternoon’s run completely off schedule. Vanian’s
campy set was followed by the next holdover artist, the Blasters’ own Dave
Alvin. He brought with him a definite hillbilly flavor, sporting the
day’s only fiddle player, and treated the crowd to a down-home set, including
a pleasant, whisky-soaked bluegrass "Fourth of July."
Another crowd favorite, San Diego’s Rocket
from the Crypt kicked things into high gear for their run. Sporting
fewer horns but just as much relentless bravado as in previous outings,
they had the crowd singin’ and the moshers swingin’ as front man Speedo
shared with us his "lubricated and marinated" state at the sight of so
many bad tattoos. They were followed closely by blues and slide-master
Jr. Brown who showed the joint that, like a fine vintage ride,
this stuff only gets better with age.
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| Dave
Vanian |
Manic
Hispanic |
Dave
Alvin |
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agitated sounds crew prematurely unplugged one show business legend to bring
on another. The highly-anticipated set by Little Richard was now
nearly half an hour late. After a bit of vamping by his powerhouse band,
the crowd roared as "the Originator, the Innovator and the Emancipator -
the Architect of Rock and Roll" took the stage. Although many of the younger
attendees probably only knew him as the bowling alley weirdo in the cell
phone commercial, he managed to win over most of the crowd with his old
school charm, and told the others just to "shut up." He played a string
of his hits – Good Golly Miss Molly, Tutti Fruiti, Lucille – as well
as borrowing a few from others including Fats Domino and the Rolling Stones.
Although no longer physically up to the gymnastics of his youth, Richard’s
voice seemed surprisingly strong and soulful, remaining supple through most
of the set. |
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"Woooooooooooooooo!!!"
Little
Richard
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close down a two-day romp of powerhouse music requires a powerhouse band,
and Social Distortion met that challenge ably. Front man Mike Ness
took the crowd on a musical journey, promising "a whole lotta songs that
Social D’s never played before." There was a Gene Vincent tune, a Clash
song, even a reggae number. Throughout the set, Ness urged the crowd to
sing, shake and tear it up as this was their last chance. His guitar fury
and brash stage shtick were the perfect closer for the festival. The crowd
left with the pounding of drums and the roar of engines in their ears. All
in all it had been a satisfying day at the races.
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| Slick
Rides and Cool Bettys |
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If
you
didn't know this was the place to be, NOW YOU KNOW! Check the show out
next year until then get yourself in gear by checking out these great
links.
Social
Distortion
Rocket From the Crypt
Manic Hispanic
Lee Rocker
Like your music a
bit more dangerous? Go chick out Nekromantix
they are one killer band!
For news on some other great punk and psychobilly bands go to epitaph.com
LAST SIDE NOTE (Let's
hope we see Tiger Army back on this bill next year)
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2003 TheSceneLA.com |
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