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GBH, The Circle Jerks, The Bronx, and
The Missing 23rd
The Cleveland Agora
07-23-03
I had no idea what to expect from The Missing 23rd or The Bronx prior to
attending this show. Luckily both bands were quite good, proving that
there's at least a couple of decent up and coming punk bands left in
California. The Missing 23rd were sort of old school punk mixed with "screamo"
and The Bronx had a bit of an MC5 vibe.
The Circle Jerks were the main reason I was at the Agora this evening.
Sure, I was a little worried that they might just go through the motions but
my fears were quickly dispelled as the band hit the stage with "Letter Bomb"
followed by "In Your Eyes". Yeah, it was pretty much a nostalgia show
(the band hasn't released any new material since 1995's disastrous
'Oddities, Abnormalities, and Curiosities') but hearing songs like "World Up
My Ass", "Coup D'etat", "Wild in the Streets", and "All Wound Up" delivered
with passion by guys in their forties makes you realize just how weak most
modern "punk" bands are.
While I've never been a huge GBH fan, I'd have to say their performance
was even better than the Jerks. The only songs I really
knew in the veteran UK band's set were "City Baby Attacked by Rats" and
"Give Me Fire" but it all sounded good. Unlike the Jerks, GBH never
stopped cranking out new material, and they played a few numbers off their
new album 'Ha Ha' along with the older material. For the most part the
moshers in the pit were friendly and courteous throughout both band's sets,
but during "City Baby..." a couple of skinheads got in a fight with each
other. They were quickly evicted and the rest of the crowd got back to
the business of enjoying themselves.
While you might think that a show like this would have had a crowd of
mostly old timers, the crowd was probably two thirds younger punks. I
was pleasantly surprised, but it would be nice to see some of the same kids
showing up for local shows as well. If you guys liked GBH and The
Circle Jerks, come check out The Chrome Kickers, The Jacknife Powerbombs,
The Uppertanks, Dropgun, The Antisocialists and other area bands that have
the same kind of power and attitude. They'll give you just as good a
show and it'll cost a lot less than seventeen bucks (end of sermon).
(Bob Ignizio)
For pictures click
here.
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