Headed down to this one solo, literally worrying about parking in Olde City for like a day before I actually went down. One loop around and found parking within a block of the Khyber. Yay! As I was heading in I saw Joe Young from
Antiseen checking out the parking restriction signs on 2nd street, so I was stoked they made it and hoping they were not getting towed, etc.
PPA Must Die! I was also happy the Phils/Rockies game was postponed, not that the Khyber is a bad place to watch a playoff game, but ya know. Strolling up the street I saw lots of inked up punker types outside smoking and holding court. I honestly have no idea how popular Antiseen are these days, they haven't played Philly in 5 years, so I was definitely stoked to see a crowd already hanging out.
$$$!
Caught some of the opening bands who were not the bands listed on the Khyber calender to the best of my knowledge. First band was kinda Howlin Rain, southern rock. Decent jams and a great guitarist and the bass player had an awesome kinda dub sound compared to the Skynardisms of the guitarist. I can see good things once they tighten up, definitely. Not very punk but still a good band to play with Antiseen so that was rad. Not sure who they were, though. Alas. I was enjoying some Yuengling Porter at this point, but I had seen two sets of flashing lights pulling folks over on the drive down, so I was keeping it pretty much in check for this one. Saw Jeff from Antiseen and said howdy and commenced my deal of hanging outside, smoking cigarettes and watching the mess that is Olde City in the 21st Century. It really is pretty amazing, if you have been to any shows at Nick's back in the previous millennium, you know the deal. Used to be a ghost town, now I literally saw 4 bridal parties or whatever that shit is when the chicks wear crowns and get all drunk. So many short skirts and high heels, all having to walk/teeter between hulking skinhead looking types and lots of ink and leather and denim. Such a bizarre culture clash. Hilarious, but ya still want to drive a steamroller down the sidewalk sometimes (and I stole that line from the Cosmic Commander of Wrestling).
Man, the next band,
The Murderkill 100 were fucking great. Heavy as shit and gruff vocals, but tight and menacing. Again, not sounding much like "punk rock" or Antiseen, but totally perfect for opening for them. After checking out their myspace, I see that Dane from Derelict Hotel, Alcoholics Unanimous plays drums for 'em. Shit! I had no idea and didn't recognize him at all. Also... there were two other dudes with canes at this show! Antiseen brings out the handicapped. Awww!
Made my way up front for the Badwill Ambassadors themselves, the masters of disaster... and all that. Antiseen. The only punk band that matters. Sorry kids, keep trying. I had high hopes, I mean I haven't seen 'em in five years, they have a new bass player and drummer and they are one of my fave bands of all time, and live, they really have no equals. Some days I think all I need is Antiseen and Acid Mothers Temple. And the Grateful Dead. Seriously.
They blew up immediately, fucking perfect. A few old songs and lots of feedback, "Wifebeater" was great and all that jazz. The new songs they played were cool, too. They amaze me how they have a sound more or less and don't vary from it too often, but they continue to make insanely memorable songs that all stand out. If this was 1980 I would put them up against the Misfits as a perfect singles band. At this point I noticed long time drummer/Triple H lookalike Sir Barry Hannibal was on the drums, most awesome! Glad he is still playing with Joe and Jeff. New bassist was really awesome, he had a melodic sound that reminded me of whomever played bass on the NC Royalty EP. I was wedged up front on the left side of the stage and just as I was thinking "the crowd is kinda mellow" (though super into it, there were lots of
sing alongs with the crew, haha) a bunch of fellas got all punky and started running around and jumping into each other. Of course this pile of male bonding wound up plowing into me and everyone else in the front. My knees were about stage level, a little higher and I was knocked over, but my knees stayed still, ground into the stage. Ouch. While I think some of these fellas were a little old to be running into each other all hyped up on suburban angst, perhaps I am a little old to be standing up front at an Antiseen show? Regardless, my knees are pretty bruised up and hurt a lot more the next day. A few brave chicks were in there mixing it up as well and one actually helped me up! Oh well.
The band just kept right on trucking, a well oiled machine plowing through "Up All Night," "Funk U," and the always awesome Ramones cover "Today Your Love" into the 'Seen original "Stormtrooper." While I definitely missed them playing "Sabu" and I really, really wanted to hear "Run My World" and "FTK" I was quite alright with the setlist and the buzzsaw blitz that ended with the anthem "Fuck All Y'all." Around this time Thee Cosmic Commander of Wrestling arrived! Finally! He took the stage to harangue the audience a little and hype everyone for the encore and such. A cooking version of "Fornication" and great singalong of "Animals, Eat 'Em" was an amazing and exhausting finale. Fuck yeah. They do what they do and they keep it fresh and man... kudos to them. 25 years and counting. Awesome. I need this kind of cleansing/purging on a yearly basis, damn!
After blabbing with Cosmo and watching the cops close down the streets as the bars all let out and the fights start (I didn't see any this time around, but my car was only a block away)I hit the road like an old man. My knees are still incredibly sore and bruised, but the Phils won and Antiseen are STILL the best punk band in the world!
