Saturday, January 17, 2009

Pennywise & The Circle Jerks @ House Of Blues


So the first gig of the year - what better time to begin a blog.....

I am a Pennywise fan. Not a huge one. I only have About Time on CD and of course Bro Hymn is one of the greatest anthems of all time. I am also a fan of the Vegas House of Blues. A good size venue (ie not to big) and a spot to see the bands anywhere. (And as an old guy - it's nice to have it all over by 10pm).

I've seen the Circle Jerks before - supporting Pennywise funnily enough. Not familiar with their songs but love their style. Every guy in a state of arrested development must look up to Keith Morris. Still playing punk and by his rules after all these years. And never short on energy or sarcasm. Good show. Fave was Red Tape before they finished the set with 3 blistering Black Flag songs - enough to have me sing myself hoarse.

Half an hour later on come Pennywise and all of a sudden the floor is twice as crowded and from the go the crowd was wild. A Pennywise show seems like some sort of organised chaos. Friends onstage, pulling fans out of the crowd for great tattoos, guest singers - but best of all - fun. The band feeds off the crowd and vice versa. As usual they band play a great set, with the highlight being Keith Morris coming out to do Nervous Breakdown. For me I would of liked some About Time songs, but that is the trouble with bands who have been around for a long time, they have a tonne of songs to choose from and won't always play your faves. None the less a great show topped off by, of course, Bro Hymn. This is a song that I've seen live 6 times and it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up everytime.

They have a second show tomorrow night, but Fletch says they should be back in April with Pepper, so I'll wait for that one instead.




The Crap Facts:
This is my 274th concert.
This is my 30th concert at the House Of Blues.
This is my 77th concert in Las Vegas.
This is my 77th concert in Nevada.
This is my 82nd concert in the USA.
This is my 2nd Circle Jerks concert.
This is my 6th Pennywise concert.

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