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Review: Rancid at La Zona Rosa
Tammy Perez FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
The punks got lucky Friday at La Zona Rosa when an ever-rowdy Rancid energized the crowd with a great big gob of spit-along favorites.
Missing in action because of various side projects (the Transplants, Lars Frederiksen & the Bastards, Social Distortion and solo pursuits), Orange County’s ska-punk hellcats returned to grease the gears of a forthcoming album to succeed 2003’s excellent, but overlooked “Indestructible.”
Opening with the bass-driven “Fall Back Down,” Rancid stormed the stage in front of a flickering black and white video screen that flashed grainy footage of warplanes, guns and other methods of destruction. Locking into a blitzkrieg pace, the band shelled the crowd with “Roots Radicals,” “Journey to the End of East Bay,” “Tenderloin,” “Nihilism” and the rump-bump shimmy of “Old Friend.” The dizzying bass blur of “Maxwell Murder” and the sore-throated slur of “Olympia” followed like bullets.
Dressed in his cleanest dirty laundry, guitarist Lars Frederiksen wore a hacked-off Exploited T-shirt with a haircut to match. Former Operation Ivy band mates Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman arrived in their respective bank-robber ski cap and Soprano-slicked hair. As the string-slashing trio traded ricochet vocals, newcomer Branden Steineckert, formerly of the Used, hammered the spiky beat.
Seizing a rare gasp for breath, Frederiksen twanged a solo version of “The War’s End” before the boil re-ignited with “Dreams Come True,” “Gunshot,” “Radio” and the final ticks of “Time Bomb” and “Ruby Soho” (a pair of hits that clashed with Green Day and Offspring when punk rock elbowed into polite society during the mid-1990s).
Except for a brotherly thanks to local openers Lower Class Brats and Ill Spent Youth, Rancid chose to chill the chitchat and crank the chaos. With no danger of shouting “Hello Cleveland” between a steam-choked set of alleyway anthems (including a whiff of new tunes), Rancid’s raw stab at punk-rock perfection was more than a minor threat.
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Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: In The Clubs, Music, Reviews
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By Rich
June 16, 2008 9:29 AM | Link to this
Hell Yeah!! RANCID was AwSOme!! The Lower Class Brats were solid also. But I thought Ill Spent Youth was great! Especially with that horn. Too bad they did’nt get to play a few more.
By MS
June 16, 2008 10:43 AM | Link to this
This review is spot on — an excellent synopsis of the night. But perhaps at least a mention of Lower Class Brats is in order, since their performance was also stellar! But as soon as Rancid took the stage, the sold out crowd went wild and did not stop until the music was over. It was a loud, sweaty, punk-rockin’ good time!