So Cal punks Guttermouth hit Oakland’s The New Parish Wednesday night for a headlining set along with support from none other than the OG of OC, Agent Orange. The crowd gathered early for the local openers which included a stellar set by Civil War Rust who have somehow managed to evade these pages up until now. With Agent Orange thrown into the mix, it was a certainty that no one was going anywhere despite the lurking thoughts of having to be at work the next morning.
The crowd was sticking around but that didn’t mean that they weren’t watching the clock as the midnight hour came and passed while Guttermouth set up their equipment. Surprisingly, a shout from the back of the room of, “come on I have to work tomorrow,” (others were surely thinking the same thing) seemed to speed things up a bit though the shouter was not up for engaging Mark Adkins in a dialog about his profession and plans for the next day.
Once the music started, the complaints were silenced and the crowd stepped it up as Guttermouth held nothing back, tripping over (and unplugging) guitars mics and each other. For those that don’t know Guttermouth, the act is as much about what happens between the songs as during the songs and how the crowd reacts to that between-song stage banter is at least partially responsible for setting the tone for the show. Wednesday night found Mark a little more self-deprecating and a lot less hostile than normal, significantly reducing the threat of an all-out brawl that sometimes seems to haunt their shows.
Despite the ample flow of alcohol onstage, Guttermouth held it all together to end a great night of punk rock for which the crowd stuck it out til the end and which left the stage littered with empty Tecate cans and crumpled plastic shot glasses.
© 2013 Alan Snodgrass | www.digitaldiversion.net. Please do not use without express permission. If you like what you see, leave a comment below and subscribe so you can be notified of new posts. You can also become a fan on Facebook.
I hear The Swillerz kicked ass as openers that night as well………………………