Hey all, and welcome to the latest episode of Wednesdays With Andrew, your weekly overdose of punk (and punkish!) rock.
This week I completely sacrificed my body, and your weekly listening pleasure, for my weekend birthday celebrations and then for Sunday night's Good Riddance show at Rock & Roll Hotel. I did not have time to put together the normal podcast for this week, BUT DON'T DESPAIR I cobbled together a playlist from the bands that played on Sunday, and did a brief write up of the show.
It was an incredible set of sets, and although it was not nearly a sold out crowd, the punks and misfits who did brave the cold Sunday air to show their respects gave it their all to ensure the bands felt welcomed and appreciated in this, our nation's toilet/capitol.
Here's some tunes from Old Bay Thrashers, Counterpunch, Bigwig and Good Riddance...enjoy!
Liner notes:
Here's the web player link for those of you who prefer that.
If you don't have Spotify, sorry?
I, very very unfortunately, missed the first act of the night, Old Bay Thrashers. But I did check out their stuff online and am super bummed I didn't get to see 'em live. Beyond an incredible band name, these Baltimore miscreants play a style of fast, catchy melodic punk that hearkens back to the glory days of 90s punk. Plus, their merch guy was hilarious. Also bonus points for the song title 'Erection Flawed'
Counterpunch was the second set of the night, and they must be some really nice dudes. They lent their entire backline for all four acts on the bill, which is pretty fucking generous. I caught part of their set, and what I saw I liked. I had heard a few of their songs before, but was not overly familiar with their stuff. Continuing a rich history of punk rock in Chicago, Counterpunch provided a very emotionally driven, fast style of skate punk that had people a-bumping and a-bouncing. Good shit.
Bigwig. Although Bigwig was one of my favorite, and most listened to, bands throughout high school, I was quite surprised/proud of myself for knowing almost all of the lyrics to each of the songs they did in their roughly 40 minute set. And ask anyone I know, I have a terrible memory, am super A.D.D. and just generally suck at knowing lyrics. I guess fucking muscle memory kicked in or something, or the lyrics are just that infectious, but I was even singing along to tracks I hadn't listened to in years. Bigwig fucking nailed it. One of the cleanest and technically on-point punk sets I have seen in a while. Really, really talented musicians, and they play a diverse range of tempos and styles to ensure there's something for everyone to like. Oh also, I am not sure if they brought their own sound guy, but the sound quality was incredible, and so clear. Noteworthy tracks - Flavor Ice, A War Inside, Sink or Swim, Girl in the green jacket.
Speaking of talented musicians, most people that trudged out to Rock N Roll on a shitty, cold Sunday night did so for the headliners, Good Riddance. Guitarist Luke Pabich was kind enough to get me on the guest list, and for that, A MILLION THANKS, friend. People got fucking rowdy for Good Riddance's 60+ minute-long set. I was a bit worried given the smaller-than-anticipated crowd (maybe 100-120 people?), but everyone there rocked out hard for Santa Cruz's longtime pillar of melodic hardcore. I had never seen GR live (cos these guys don't typically grace our district...last show here was in 2000?? come on guys!), but it was worth the wait. The set list was well rounded with tracks from a wide range of their sizable repertoire (but still heavy on Symptoms of a Leveling Spirit), Russ was incredibly engaging as a frontman, and they played with a conviction and passion that is critical to a band like Good Riddance's success. Oh, also, their bassist Chuck is the smiliest motherfucker I have ever seen. He was so much fun to watch. And the band, though well noted for their strong political opinions, was extremely positive, and focused not on shitty issues that most bands like to call out (understandably) when playing DC, but instead focused their message around love and community. And pies. Noteworthy tracks - Mother Superior, Last Believer, A Credit to his Gender, Nobody Likes a Cynic.
OH, non-concert-related bonus - if you guys dig Good Riddance (or Fury 66, or Death by Stereo...), you should really get excited for Luke's other band, Coercion's upcoming album, Veritas. Read about it, and check out their single/teaser track, here.
That's it, tune in next week for (hopefully) a real episode of Wednesdays With Andrew!
