South Bay's finest, Pennywise packed them in at the Hollywood Palladium for a sold out furious punk rock show. Pennywise had dedicated the show to Byron McMackin's(Drums) mother Dartie who recently passed away. It was a touching tribute with Pennywise turning in a razor sharp performance featuring plenty of moshing and circle pits by the dedicated Pennywise fans.
Special "C"
Special "C" must be a new band because I can't find their Myspace page or any other information about the band. I did gather they also hail from the South Bay and probably are good friends with Pennywise. In the sound department, Special "C" falls into the realm of ska punk influenced heavily by Sublime. The bass lines rumbled and the guitars were skanky. Special "C" quickly wrapped up their thirty minute set.
Update: Special "C" features Bubba McMackin (Drums) and their myspace page is here.
Black President
Black President didn't waste any time with their politically charged no nonsense punk rock. Black President is fronted by Christian Martucci (Vocals/Guitars) who venomously spewed lyrics while thrashing his Gretsch guitar. Charlie Paulson (Guitar) was an uncaged animal on stage jumping around while hammering out power chords through his Marshall JCM 2555 Slash model amplifier. I wasn't too sure if Charlie was still involved with Black President because I recently saw him with Goldfinger at the Grove in Anaheim.
Black President stuck mostly to their self titled album by playing "Who Do You Trust?", "Not Amused", Not Enough", "Short List of Outspoken Suspects" and "Ask Your Daddy". Roy Mayorga (Drums) made quite the commotion behind the drum kit that even impressed one of the security guards in front. The crowd seemed to enjoy their high energy punk tunes.
The Vandals
I never get tired of watching The Vandals. They had me in stitches during their Christmas show at the House of Blues Anaheim. Their performance at the Liskfest was one of the more memorable sets of the day.
Dave Quackenbush (Vocals) is the quintessential punk rock funnyman. Only Dave can perform such songs as "It's A Fact" and "43210-1" with a smirk on his face. He would later quip about how they "put lipstick on the pig" in reference to the renovated Hollywood Palladium. Dave also pointed out that the crowd should give Josh Freese (Drums) a hand since he recently quit his job (drumming for Nine Inch Nails) and had a third child.
I couldn't quite make out who was pictured on Joe Escalante's bass but it looked like Old Dirty Bastard from Wu Tang Clan. Warren Fitzgerald (Guitars) was his usual animated self doing cartwheels and soloing with the guitar between his legs. "Don't Stop Me Now" closed out the hilarity. Good times indeed.
Pennywise
In case you haven't heard, The Hollywood Palladium is adopting similar rules to that of the Wiltern due to fire marshall restrictions. In order for you to watch a show from the floor, one needs to get to the Palladium early to secure a wristband for floor access. The Pennywise fans didn't take too kindly to this request. Things seemed to have worked themselves out as the floor was packed once Pennywise hit the stage.
Pennywise recently moved over to Myspace records for their latest release, Reason To Believe which they gave away as a free download. "As Long As We Can" jump started the audience into action. Fletcher Dragge (Guitars) was using his same blue battered Ibanez guitar that must date back to the beginning of Pennywise.
Jim Lindberg (Vocals) summoned up the stage presence of Greg Graffin from Bad Religion by frantically pacing the stage and inciting the audience. Jim even later gave a shout out to Bad Religion saying that they had been ripping them off for years. Pennywise is one of those bands that won't change the inherent sound of their band just like Bad Religion.
Pennywise would venture way back into the catalog for "Rules" from their self-titled debut album. "Can't Believe it" was a fury of drums and guitars with the mosh pit swirling in unison. The energy of a fervent crowd at a Pennywise show is something to behold. I stood on the sides and watched the chaos unfold on the floor.
Fletcher would later take some time to announce that the remaining members of Sublime are reuniting to reconstitute the band. Adrian Young (Drums) from No Doubt would come out on stage to fill in for their Sublime cover tune. Pennywise usually dedicates "F*** Authority" to the LAPD but graciously changed their minds after the Fire Marshall had allowed the fans on the floor.
Some of the highlights from their set included "Every Single Day", "Unknown Road", "Society" and "Living For Today". Pennywise also covered "Stand By Me" with the help of two fans from the crowd to varying degrees of success with the female fan faring slightly better.
The crowd would later become unhinged for "Bro Hymn", as the circle pits churned with a vengeance. Jim reminded the crowd that the song was dedicated to Byron's mother who was always sitting on the drum riser at all the Pennywise shows. It was a touching tribute to say the least.
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