Review & photos by Andrew Bansal
April 8th 2014, Amoeba Music, Hollywood CA: Los Angeles-based hardcore punk supergroup OFF! released their third album ‘Wasted Years’ yesterday April 8th via Vice Music, and to celebrate the occasion, they played a free all-ages in-store show at Amoeba Hollywood. OFF!’s hometown fans lined up outside the store starting at 4 PM, were efficiently escorted into the aisles facing the stage at 5, and about an hour later, OFF! came on to deliver a 30-minute, 16-song set of unabated old-school hardcore punk glittered with material old and new.
Frontman Keith Morris is known for his founding roles in Black Flag and Circle Jerks, and is heralded as quite the legend in this genre. From the ashes of Circle Jerks, he formed OFF! in 2009 with Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides) on guitar, Steven Shane McDonald (Redd Kross) on bass and Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket From The Crypt/Hot Snakes) on drums. The band released ‘First Four EPs’ in 2010 and the self-titled album in 2012, both solid representations of the genre, and the newest effort ‘Wasted Years’ is even more pissed-off and to-the-point than its predecessors, as was very clear from the five songs they played off of it at this show. Aside from the music, the set had its expected dose of Keith Morris’ monologues and speeches, and his salute to Aerosmith as one of the earliest ‘punk’ bands seemed very heartfelt. Whether his speech was a result of Aerosmith’s secret gig at the Whisky earlier in the day or a mere coincidence, it’s hard to say. After the set, the band signed copies of their new album for everyone who purchased it at Amoeba.
As compared to the only in-store I’ve attended at Amoeba in the past when Death (proto-punk) played here last year, the sound quality at this OFF! show was a lot better. It was clear, crisp and aptly loud, proving that in-store setups don’t necessarily have to sound horrible. Performance-wise, the band didn’t disappoint any of their fans, and even at the age of 58, Morris clearly possesses what it takes to pull off live vocals for this style of music, channeling all his energy to lend a great degree of expression into these songs.
With the material on ‘Wasted Years’ and the strength of their live show, OFF! are taking positive strides but at the same time maintaining the old-school essence of the musical style they’re attempting to portray. If you’re not familiar with OFF! or haven’t given them a chance yet, his is as good a time as any to do just that.
Check out more photos from the performance below (view them here if you’re on a non-Flash device):
Visit OFF! on the web:
OFFofficial.com
facebook.com/OFFband
twitter.com/OFFofficialÂ
Set List:
01. Void You Out
02. Poison City
03. King Kong Brigade
04. I Don’t Belong
05. Hypnotized
06. Wiped Out
07. Black Thoughts
08. Legion of Evil
09. Red White And Black
10. I Got News For You
11. Crawl
12. Jeffrey Lee Pierce
13. Over Our Heads
14. Upside Down
15. Darkness
16. Panic Attack
OFF! North American Tour Dates:
4/09 – Metro Operahouse – Oakland, CA
4/11 – Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR
4/12 – Fortune Sound Club – Vancouver, BC
4/13 – El Corazon – Seattle, WA
4/15 – Neurolux – Boise, ID
4/16 – The Loading Dock – Salt Lake City, UT
4/18 – Black Sheep – Colorado Springs, CO, NM
4/19 – Marquis Theater – Denver, CO
4/21 – Club Congress – Tucson, AZ
4/22 – Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ
4/23 – The Roxy – Los Angeles, CA
5/07 – Triple Rock – Minneapolis, MN
5/08 – Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL
5/09 – Small’s Bar – Detroit, MI
5/10 – Mod Club @Canadian Music Week – Toronto, ON
5/12 – Asbury Lanes – Asbury Park, NJ
5/15 – Ottobar – Baltimore, MD
5/16 – First Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, PA
5/17 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
5/18 – Middle East – Boston, MA
5/26 – Punk Rock Bowling – Las Vegas, NV
Visit Amoeba Music on the web:
Amoeba.com
facebook.com/Amoeba
twitter.com/AmoebaMusic
instagram.com/AmoebaHollywood