SOCIAL DISTORTION KNOCKS OUT DENVER

Saturday night and it was time for some live music with Social Distortion up there on the stage, the second of their three nights in town this weekend. Suedehead opened the show followed by Chuck Ragan.

Wikipedia says this about Social D:

Social Distortion (sometimes referred to simply as Social D or SxDx) is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness (vocals, guitars), Jonny Wickersham (guitars), Brent Harding (bass) and David Hidalgo, Jr. (drums).

Social Distortion temporarily disbanded in 1985, due to frontman Ness' drug addiction and troubles with the law, which resulted in extended stints in various rehabilitation centers, that lasted for two years. However, the band reformed around 1986 and have continued being active today, even after the death of longtime guitarist Dennis Danell, who succumbed to a brain aneurysm in 2000. Since its inception the band lineup has been a virtual revolving-door of talent, with many members coming and going – Ness has been the only constant member.

Westword wrote:

Early on in Social Distortion's Friday night show at the Ogden, the first of a three-night stand, frontman Mike Ness thanked the crowd for coming to the show and said, "I know you had choices tonight. There's the Christmas light parade downtown. You could have stayed at home and watched Sons of Anarchy, but you came to see Social D. I think you made the right choice, homeboy."

Most of the folks in the near-capacity Ogden would have probably agreed that they did in fact the right choice. After walking on to a darkened stage while Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy" played over the house system, Social Distortion launched into "Road Zombie," the burning instrumental that opens the band's latest effort, Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes. A back-to-back pair of tunes from 1992's Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell -- "Bad Luck" and "King of Fools" -- fired up the crowd early on while a fiery take on "Another State of Mind" took things up a notch.

​"I'm looking out and seeing some scary looking criminals," Ness said after "Bakersfield." It ain't all women either. Aw, fellas I'm just fucking with ya. When I gauge a person, I don't care about how many tattoos you got. They got tattoo shops on every corner. Kids going right to the neck -- instant bad-ass. So I don't look at your appearance. I don't care about that. I look in your eyes and I see the crazy motherfuckers. You know what I'm talking about. This one's for you."

Read it all here:
http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2011/12/social-distortion-denver-review-photos.php

More pictures from the Saturday night show here:
http://www.heyreverb.com/2011/12/05/social-distortion-ogden-denver-photos-review/

Someone posted a comment on the review of the second nights show: "Wonder how many boneheads showed up? I quit going to Social Distortion shows years ago due to the numbers of neoNazis who showed up and caused trouble."

Well I must have run into one of those people, Mr. Baldy and his girl. I was juiced and gyrating to the music all night long, while all the stiffs around me stood with hands in pocket. How can you go to a high energy show and just stand there. Does a dancing man humiliate all the macho guys around him? Well midway through SD this guy pushes me away, backward through the crowd. I let it go because I was enjoying the music too much, standing right back where I was before. During the third to last song of the night he and his girl turned to the back of the theater, looking like they were leaving. Wanting to make a point, I shoved him, but that set him off. He shoved me backwards through the crowd again, I grabbing his coat and we both tumble, he throws one good punch causing injury. All I could think of is protect the recording equipment and camera! My glasses fell off in the scuffle and I made sure he didn't leave with his either.

The crowd separated us, he immediately departed, and security was summoned. They would not listen to my pleas to watch the rest of the show, the blood running down my face looking far worse than it really was. The theater medic cleaned me up and patched the wound. He said stiches but the doctor I saw Monday morning said "too late" but that the wound looked good and not to worry. I returned to the crowd in the back of the theater for the last song of the show. It's surprising how many pairs of glasses are lost during a typical show, several crushed pair being found, including mine and his. I even ran into the keyboard player from the first band who was looking for a pair he lost in the crowd.

What an exciting punk experience night! Excellent recording of the show, capturing the event with his statement “You made a mistake b*tch!”, calls for security and their trying to get me to see the medic. I learned this morning that some people from the office attended that same show and had their jackets stolen, one guy being chased and observed dumping the contents of the pockets on the ground in search of any valuables.

Download the show here.  The scuffle happens during "Can't Take It With You," the last two song absent from the recording for obvious reasons.  Too bad because I wanted to enjoy them from up close to the stage.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=94FZUXM0