Bad Brains
Hometown: New York City, NY / Washington D.C.
http://www.badbrains.com/index.html
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
House of Blues (Anaheim, CA)
Opening acts: Whole Wheat Bread, Ignite
I looked forward to this show more than I can remember any other in the recent past. And why wouldn’t I? It’s the freakin’ Bad Brains! For those not familiar, the Bad Brains are long considered one of the founding bands of hardcore punk. Originally hailing from Washington D.C. and finally settling in New York City, this eccentric reggae punk outfit went on to influence many of top bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Beastie Boys (Adam Yauch produced the Brains’ current release).
The opening band was a very interesting three piece band from Florida named
Whole Wheat Bread. I was given heads up from a friend up in San Francisco to make sure I saw them play. My buddy Mike could only describe them as “ghetto punk.� I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. WWB hit the stage and entertainingly moved thru a variety of music types, from a very Blink 182-esque type song straight into a hardcore rap back over to a country type rock song and so on. It sounds all over the place, but they pulled it off very well. They were a very fitting band to open for a pioneer hardcore punk band that somehow knew a fusion of reggae and punk would work.
Following Whole Wheat Bread was a local Orange County band called
Ignite. Ignite was added to the bill at the last minute as they literally flew in from a European tour earlier in the day. Ignite is a super masculine driving hardcore band with a sound much like a few other similar type bands from the area a la 90s straight-edge hardcore band No For An Answer. There was a good amount of support in the house and the set was enjoyable.
The Brains were up next and the bottom floor of the House of Blues was packed. This tour is in support of recently released CD,
Build a Nation. HR, Dr. Know, Darryl and Earl came out and just killed it starting the set with a classic called “House of Suffering� from the
I Against I record. I was bouncing around towards the front of the stage and realized I was suddenly been shot back ten years. The crowd reminded me of some of the old Fender’s Ballroom punk shows. Bodies were flying. The pit was harsh. And I had slight whiplash at the end of the night from the myriad of boots to the head from all the crowd swimmers. Ahh, the old days! The Brains went on to play a great set of songs from
Build a Nation to
I Against I to
Rock for Light. The only negative thing I can say is that HR sang from one spot on the stage. I was looking forward to seeing one of the most energetic front men in the history of punk. I’ve seen old clips of HR doing back flips from six foot high speaker set ups. I can only guess age (HR is 51) has finally taken its toll, but who am I to judge a legend. Highlights of the set were, “Sailin On,� “Banned in D.C.,� “Pat to Cum,� and “Re-Ignition.�