Monday, December 6, 2010

When She Begins to Rock, I Begin to Roll

So last month I went to see Social Distortion for the second time. They do not play the East Coast anywhere near as much as they do the West Coast, so I drove up to Atlanta from Statesboro, which is approximately a three hour drive, seizing the opportunity to see them again.

Social D played the Tabernacle in Atlanta, and surprisingly enough, neither my friend nor I had ever seen a show there. I have seen several shows at the Masquerade, Variety Playhouse, etc, but had never been to the famous Tabernacle.

We picked up our tickets at Will Call without any trouble and headed inside to find our spot on the floor. I claimed my spot in front of the stage and knew I would have to be ruthless to keep it for the rest of the night.


I look rough after fighting the crowd for my spot, but I was excited. When Social D came on, I, naturally, became wedged between my friend and the front rail.

During my drive to Atlanta, I became a little wary and anxious at the idea of the opening acts: Frank Turner and Lucero. I had only ever heard of Frank Turner, so I listened to his MySpace music profile before I went. He seemed pretty decent. I was much more familiar with Lucero. 

Neither of the acts' recordings do them the justice they deserve.

At first listen, Frank Turner does not sound like the type of guy who would be touring with such an influential and notable punk band. I was soon under the impression that he was just a punk who enjoyed all sorts of music and knew what really mattered to him.

I was really impressed with Lucero when I saw them set their own stuff up (and later pack it up). It shows that even though they are touring with such a well-known band, they know where they stand and will not forget it. Their energy rose the crowd's energy far more than I have seen an opening band do.

Lucero

When Social D came out, they opened with old school tracks including "The Creeps" and "Another State of Mind." I was surprised to find they played a completely different set than the last time I saw them, which was only a year ago. They played a couple of new tracks off of their new album Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, including "Bakersfield" and a cover of Hank Williams' "Alone and Forsaken."

Mike Ness

After they played both "Prison Bound" and "When She Begins," which are my current two Social D favorites, I was content. As we were leaving, we ran into some guys who are in a punk band from Ringgold, GA.












Even though the show was on a Wednesday, and I had an 8:00 am world literature class back at school the next morning, it was well worth the trip.

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