By: Jaime' En Fuego
Two straight nights with your favorite band performing is always a cruel Catch 22!
First and foremost, with how live concerts have skyrocketed in price, especially when factoring in the highway robbery of those abundant convenience charges tacked on the initial price tag, it's tough for many to afford to attend both shows. Then even if you can and are willing to fork out double the skrilla there's also the issue of schedule conflicts with family, work and other possible obligations to account for. With a laundry list of obstacles that sizable, most fans are forced to make the decision of which performance to actually be there for, which inevitably leads to the question of: Which setlist will be better? Will the band be a tad rusty the first night or exhausted the second? Are you familiar enough with the band's album cuts to appreciate a night of rarities or do you want a setlist filled with more hits? Obviously there will be retread of more popular material but that second guessing about deciding can be excruciating. Because there's nothing worse than hearing about how your favorite song was played at the other performance.
I was originally only supposed to be at the Marquee Theater in Tempe for the first SOCIAL DISTORTION performance on Tuesday, January 22, and in fact, there was originally only supposed to be a singular set by Mike Ness and his musical mates. Yet in a turn of events that's become customary the past few times they've rolled into the Valley, a second show was added "By Popular Demand." It's a testament to the undying devotion of Social D's veteran fans who have stayed loyally behind them for the group's near 30 year career but also to the newer generations jumping on the muscle car and making these Orange County punks more popular than ever before. My tickets to the first evening ended up so graciously being compliments of the Phoenix New Times so when I was randomly told my presence wasn't necessary for my second shift at the "Day Job" I figured that since I had intended on buying tickets in the first place I might as well donate to the cause of one of my all-time favorite acts and see what surprises were waiting at Noche Numero Dos, and I was FAR from disappointed.
Festivities got underway even before the scheduled time of 8:00pm since opening performer Mr. EDDIE SPAGHETTI of Tucson natives The Supersuckers was obviously quite eager to get to playing. It's ironic how many punks go outlaw country for their solo material, from Greg Graffin of Bad Religion to Nick 13 of Tiger Army and of course Mike Ness himself, though Señor Spaghetti might be one of the most adept as evidenced by not just his selection of songs but onstage demeanor as well. Enticing the crowd to chant "Cha! Cha! Cha!" and go wild style at the end of each song despite being just one dude with an acoustic guitar went over righteously as did his solo hit "Killer Weed," like Willie Nelson says: "The Stuff That Killed Elvis," as did a cover of Johnny Cash's crazed classic "Cocaine Blues." Plus it was nice to hear him oblige my shouted requests by playing a personal favorite Supersuckers song which is probably too vulgarly titled to list but my footage of it can be seen here on the Jaime En Fuego Rock Show YOUTUBE Channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYVOIqDNuqE&list=UUuxEil78EJ9S-zezp-2_23A.... Bottom line: his brief set was a pleasant surprise to a slightly less packed house of people who were likely incredibly eager to hear Social Distortion after missing them at the Sold-Out performance the night before.
Then the moment of truth arrived when Mike Ness took to the stage before a ballistic audience and likely to a few's surprise opened with "Through These Eyes," a deep album cut from 1996's more aggressively minded White Heat, White Light, White Trash, which was actually this 3rd Generation Social D fan's first exposure to the band in the walls of the OG Zia Records on 7th Avenue and Indian School Road. This was a welcome change of pace on night two after starting with "So Far Away," opening track on the group's most popular Self-Titled 1990 major label debut the night before. The differences continued with a punk rock rule breaking extended 'Jam' of "Story Of My Life," viewable here on my Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YIVmJruMfs&list=UUuxEil78EJ9S-zezp-2_23A, the most shocking omission from the first night's set since it's one of their most ginormous hits to this day on popular rock radio. After those two things veered to overlapping territory with "Highway 101," a swaggery stand-out from the group's new millennium comeback album, 2004's Sex, Love And Rock N' Roll, which sounded just as fantastic on the second night as it did the previous evening. From there Ness reached back to the beginning of the group's career by throwing out an ultra rare track from the band's first studio recordings for a 1981 punk/deathrock compilation entitled "Lude Boy" specially for the second night crowd then jumped into "Hour Of Darkness," a track from their first full-length release that got the crowd moshing like it was the early 80's the previous evening as well, courtesy of the hardcore sound found on Mommy's Little Monster. One more selection from that record was bestowed up the crowd's awaiting ears each night with "The Creeps" raising eyebrows the first and "Telling Them" energizing everyone the second time around.
Both nights had their fair share of novel moments with 1992's Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell getting loads of love on Noche Numero Uno as evidenced by the appearance of "Cold Feelings," "99 To Life" and a spirited version of "When She Begins," another tune that made it's way into both setlists. Rousing renditions of slow-burners "Crown Of Thorns" and "Dear Lover" had heads nodding for the first performance while a balls to the wall job on "Don't Drag Me Down," this humble journalist's personal favorite song from the band and the guilty party for my long-time devotion to their music, was definitely a second night highlight as seen here from the center of the crowd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNYSFQcxvLg&list=UUuxEil78EJ9S-zezp-2_23A.... Another second night treat was "Black Magic," a song Mike Ness wrote WAY back in 1994 that has creeped into the band's recent repertoire thanks to the new soulful direction taken on their most recent release, Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes, which audiences were serenaded with a quality amount of on both nights. "Gimme The Sweet & Lowdown," "Far Side Of Nowhere" and "California (Hustle & Flow)," the later sporting a back-up section of sultry Sistas Ness kept referring to as 'The Distortionettes' doing damn good backing duties, were all quite the hit at both performances as was their most well-known cuts "Ball And Chain" along with the closer for each set, their amped up cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire." Yes, there was a wide variety of both classic and contemporary, young and old, for each exciting evening with SOCIAL DISTORTION in Tempe these past few nights, with both sides of the coin sounding just as fresh! In the end there was something for everyone no matter which time you attended. Cheers to what will surely be many more years pleasing audiences of all ages!
Night 1 Setlist (Tuesday, January 22)
-So Far
-Bad Luck
-Still Alive
-Highway 101
-The Creeps
-Hour Of Darkness
-When She Begins
-Cold Feelings
-Far Side Of Nowhere
-Crown Of Thorns
-Gimme The Sweet Lowdown
-Ball & Chain
-Drug Train
-Dear Lover
-California (Hustle & Flow)
-Can't Take It With You
-99 To Life
-Ring Of Fire
Night 2 (Wednesday, January 23)
-Through These Eyes
-Story Of My Life
-Highway 101
-Lude Boy (Rare)
-Hour Of Darkness
-When She Begins
-Far Side Of Nowhere
-Telling Them
-Ball And Chain
-Don't Drag Me Down
-Black Magic (Unreleased)
-Don't Take Me For Granted
-Gimme The Sweet Lowdown
-California (Hustle & Flow)
-Drug Train
-It Coulda Been Me
-Ring Of Fire
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