A) Although Mike Ness did play a solo show at the Variety Playhouse last year, which I did attend, Social Distortion had not played in Atlanta since the fall of 2007.
B) I had not ventured across the Georgia state line since last Christmas.
Since they decided to skip Atlanta this time around (a rather bizarre development, being that they have sold out the Tabernacle at least the last four times they have played in Georgia), and upon realizing what a lame-ass I've been, I saw fit to make a road trip out of it and catch two shows.
40 Watt Club
Athens, GA
10/23/09
Apparently, Mike Ness would like to remind everyone that while Social Distortion may not have released what most people would call a true punk rock record since the 1983 classic Mommy's Little Monster, they are most definitely still a punk rock group. They established this by beginning their set at the 40 Watt Club with three songs off that album: "The Creeps", "Another State of Mind" and the titular track. It was like a left hook to the jaw right after the opening bell, and they refused to let up after that, tearing through 15 or 16 more songs in a set that lasted approximately 90 minutes. With the exception of three new songs, "Can't Take It With You", "Bakersfield" and "Still Alive", the rest of the set consisted almost entirely of crowd pleasing sing-alongs. I guess that must come fairly easy to those guys, as a good bit of the SxDx catalog would fall under that category. Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell was heavily represented ("Bad Luck", "Sometimes I Do", "Making Believe", "99 to Life"), as was the eponymous release from 1990 ("Ball and Chain", "Sick Boys", "Ring of Fire", "Story of My Life"). Throw in a few newer classics from 2004's Sex, Love and Rock and Roll ("Reach for the Sky", "Highway 101", "Nickels and Dimes"), and the live staple "Don't Drag Me Down" and you have a raucous hour and a half long slugfest that didn't seem to leave a single person in the jam-packed 40 Watt Club feeling like he/she got cheated.
Being able to put together a 90 minute set of classic songs that everyone in attendance knows all of the words to is an impressive feat, indeed. What I find equally impressive is that Mike's got at least another 90 minutes worth of classic songs under his belt that the band didn't play. They didn't play any songs off of Prison Bound, nor did they play anything that predates Mommy's Little Monster ("1945", "Mass Hysteria"). They only played one song off of White Light, White Heat, White Trash (overall it's an uneven record, but "Dear Lover" and "I Was Wrong" are excellent live numbers), and while they did go heavy on the Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell and self-titled albums, they omitted some of my favorites from those two ("King of Fools", "When She Begins", "Born to Lose", "So Far Away", "Drug Train"). Yeah, that skinny junkie from the Another State of Mind film sure has come a long way in the last three decades.
It was also refreshing to check out Social D in a more intimate setting than is the norm. The 40 Watt is a stellar live music venue, and seeing the band play there was a refreshing change of pace from seeing them at the much larger Tabernacle. The Tabernacle shows are always fun, but they're also always claustrophobic and overloaded with the overly aggro Rockabilly kids. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of overly aggro Rockabilly kids at this show, just far less than there typically are at the Tab. I don't know why they decided to play a gig at the 40 Watt, but I sure am glad that I got to see it.
The two opening acts on the tour both took full advantage of their respective opportunities this night. Sacramento's Middle Class Rut (also known as MC Rut) are a guitar/drum 2 piece, but interestingly enough aren't out there trying to make lo-fi noise, which is a change of pace from what seemingly every other 2-piece is trying to pull off. They sound really good, as a matter of fact, and I would definitely pay to see them headline in a smaller club. The Strangers, from Los Angeles, went on second, and played the role of warmup band extremely well. Singer and rhythm guitarist David Stucken went out there and did his best Mike Ness. From the stance, to the swagger, to the Les Paul goldtop with P-90 pickups, he made no bones about who he's trying to sound like. I don't mean that in a disparaging way, either. This guy is pretty good at it. The Strangers are a pretty decent band and I would go see them again, as well.
In the end, of course, the show is all about Mike Ness. He has always been Social Distortion (he's been the only lasting member of the original band since the passing of Dennis Danell), and the band can only be as good as he allows them to be. And just like every other time I've seen him play, whether it be with Social Distortion or with his solo project, he delivered the goods. His singing, his guitar playing, his tough guy banter was on point. And maybe none of the things he does is all that hard; but then again if it's that easy, then why is nobody else able to do it anywhere near as well as he does? There is a reason why he's essentially outlasted all of his contemporaries, and the reason is because he's Mike Ness. He's still consistently selling out 1000-2000 capacity venues at $30-$40 a pop every time he tours; if a band like The Adolescents, T.S.O.L. or The Vandals is playing to more than a couple hundred people who laid out ten bucks a head, they're probably doing it on the Vans Warped Tour. Ness is a man who made one seminal hardcore punk album, Mommy's Little Monster, and then found a niche, call it cowpunk if you'd like, where he could really make his mark. And not only did he make his mark, he somehow he found a way to keep building on it. Social Distortion has been around for three decades now, and with a new album in the works for early 2010, they don't appear to be letting up anytime soon.
To paraphrase Jonathan Richman, Mike Ness was never called an asshole. Not like you. Not in New York. Ok, well he probably has been called an asshole quite a few times, but he's still a bad motherfucker and he can do whatever he wants, as far as I'm concerned. I'll keep drinking the Kool-Aid.
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