(Almost) All Ages Show

Last Call Brawl/Brain Failure/River City Rebels/Street Dogs//Continental//10/26/05

I saw Street Dogs open for Flogging Molly last year and while I didn't love 'em, I didn't hate 'em, either. So when I saw that they were playing Continental I bought a ticket. I figured that if it starts to be a mobscene up front, it didn't matter if I retreat to the middle of the room. Of course, right after that I saw the listing for Soul Asylum @ the Bowery Ballroom the same nite. In a way I'm glad that I didn't end up @ Soul Asylum because I'd end up dredging up all the teenage shit I was going thru when I first started listening to them. And all the reviews seemed to chide them for the reunion. And no matter how wrong it would be for them to reunite since their material after Grave Dancer's Union wasn't all that great and their original bass player passed away in June, I probably would've had a ball and wrote a glowing review and how fortunate I was for the experience.

I think that I'm the only person who can replace a ticket I was using by buying one for a future date before the show. The theory behind buying the ticket for Continental (thru Ticketblaster, no less) is that I'd be let in ahead of all the others paying at the door and showing IDs for stamps for the bar, like how I jumped the line at the Adicts show from all the way around the corner. Instead, this time around I stood around to the left of the ATM for like 45 minutes, peeping in the window. Brain Failure were hanging around outside, eating pizza, and some other girl asked them if they had a guest list and could she be on it. A group of thuggish fratboys gather. Street Dogs have a red T-shirt that copies the Brigade Rosse logo but says Street Dogs instead. Jesus H, man. What's with all these fucking punk bands and their Russkie obsessions? There's nobody up front and I walk right up, unsure of how smart that is.
Last Call Brawl's lead singer is in a shirt with the NYHC logo on the back and their drummer takes off his shirt to reveal their logo (skull and crossbones on a beer mug) and a skull logo (couldn't see if it was the Dropkick Murphys logo or not) on his chest and N Y H C tattooed on his collarbone. He's in khaki shorts and I'm expecting them to sound like fratboy hardcore (FBHC? FBXHC?)--y'know, brutal and punishing music with rapidfire, barking, screaming vocals and the vocalist being an agressive jerk in his early 20s to prove he's punk rock and has a personality. Songs like "My Stomach Hates My Guts" are pitworthy, even though people were hanging back, waiting for someone to start it. I wasn't expecting LCB to be melodic as well as a band you could skateboard to, especially with their NOFX cover and with the singalong "Small Victories" I joined in on the chorus. The singer seemed like a nice guy, like he had an actual personality. I want to pick up a pin but worried about my spot, even though my jacket is in front of the stage. I'm thinking my new policy should be to buy pins ahead of time since they're not expensive and I can always throw them out if the band pisses me off. But then again, if the band pisses me off I don't want to give them any of my support. Sigh. What to do, what to do.
Brain Failure opened for DKM this past March, for one of the nights I didn't go and the Voice gave 'em a mildly negative review, though they landed an Honorable Mention from Papa Xgau and he gave them mildly positive blurb a few months later. Of course the Voice wouldn't get it. I figure they're punk rock like Stackers, right? Not close. Brain Failure are from China--"B-E-I-J-I-N-G!" as their song goes, first of all. I forgot that part from the bad review because I didn't want to listen to it. Brain Failure is closer to The Clash while Stackers are 90s punk, as well as Japanese. Songs have Oi!Oi!Oi! as well as Hey!Hey!Hey! chants and there was a small circle pit. "Coming To The USA" is chorused with "Touring! Touring!" "Secondhand Pogo" is one of their ska numbers--"Everybody dress up like old school yeah!" Amazingly perfect stuff that you'll be singing as soon as you hear it...."Hey! Let me take you all tonight to the punk rock show all my brothers come together!" Again the dilemma, what to do about pins because a small crowd is gathering for River City Rebels and I hope Brain Failure don't pack up early.

I don't know why Vermont's River City Rebels were on the bill--well, they are because they're touring with Street Dogs--because RCR have an entirely different sound/style. RCR have swapped punk rock for glam punk and have a horn section and a bigger band, no less. I've never been that close for RCR before but this time....holy shit. Right up front. How close was I? Close enough to French kiss the trombone slide (poetic for "smacked in the mouth," which thankfully did NOT happen.) In a way, it didn't matter if the CD I got at their rekkid release show didn't play since seeing them live--up close--was like seeing an entirely different band. Oh my God. Seeing them, their energy, was like I've never seen a live show up close before. There's just no way to explain it. The stage pounded, the crowd gathered and crushed, Bopper held the mic over the crowd. I felt like grabbing their ankles and thanking them for letting me be in their space. I was just so blown away. River City Rebels were so ferocious and out of control, killing a kick drum in the process.

Street Dogs' lead singer Mike McColgan used to be the singer for Dropkick Murphys before Al Barr came aboard and there was Murphy representation in the crowd--both Dropkick and Law. (I'm pretty sure their street dog is a Boston terrier but that one's much cuter--not that Boston terriers ain't cute, I meant among the offerings from Smileycentral) RCR's predominately young, female crowd gave way for all the guys. It just became whiteboy central and I stepped aside to give them room. Guys in scally caps, as was McColgan. And he was in a suit as well, like a Flogging Molly reject but they're nothing like FM or DKM. Which is refreshing....except the band really didn't do anything for me. McColgan's favorite pose is the Obligatory Punk Rock Stance (fist in the air), or leaning into the crowd and pointing. Actually, up close I liked 'em less than @ Roseland. It was just....OK, you all got birdie tattoos so I get it--you're punk rock, McColgan's got an Innes (rhymes with Guinness!) belt on and the skateboard brand line's logo is a bird. Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before. It's like close up I got a better look at how average they are. For their cover song, they offered us a choice, a process they don't usually do at every show. We had 3 choices. The guitar player has a Ramones tattoo, his favorite band, McColgan tells us, and a Ramones cover was one choice. Tepid response, which shocked McColgan considering where we were. Read the plaque on the wall, next to the Iggy Pop poster. Show some respect, Mike scolds. The bass player (in a Motorhead shirt) had a Black Flag tattoo on the back of his neck. Pretty much no response. McColgan chalked it up to being on the East Coast (not to mention the age and type of crowd). McColgan and the drummer's favorite band? The Clash. Place erupts. "Check the Help Wanted section of the newspaper for 'Career Opportunities!'" Grrrr! Place goes crazy, pit breaks out, crowd surfing. I think, Isn't your big cover number supposed to be the one thing that saves your act? The one song you can't fuck up because you didn't write it? Then again, everyone's going crazy and Mike McColgan stage dives and gets carried around--even though Street Dog's version sounds like an empty echo of the original. McColgan ends the set with both fists in the air, inadvertantly showing off the waistband of his Calvin Klein drawers. I head to the middle of the room--it's not packed at all--so I can get a Brain Failure CD and the attendant pins on the way out. To my left is a guy in a DKM sweatshirt and scally cap. Street Dogs come back onstage for their encore to the mandatory chant of Yankees suck! Yankees suck! Yankees suck!

Y'know what? I don't hate Street Dogs. I may dislike a lot of bands but to say you hate a band? That's a pretty heavy word and crappy bands just don't earn that word or the depth of the emotion that hate conjures up. Still, I don't dislike Street Dogs, either, don't think they're crappy. They definately worked and sweated and had their fans going. That's the thing--if I feel that ambivilous about a band, at least put in the extra effort so I could form an opinion one way or another.