OFF! Show Recap

The punk rock super group OFF! played to an enthusiastic crowd this past Sunday, May 2nd at the 6th Street Warehouse, in the eastern section of downtown Los Angeles. Off! consists of the legendary Keith Morris of Black Flag and Circle Jerks fame on vocals. Former pro skater Mario Rubalcaba, of Rocket From the Crypt, Earthless, Pinback and more on drums.



Mario is one of the top drummers going right now; just watching him is worth attending any show. The talented Dimitri Coats of the band Burning Brides plays guitar. Steven McDonald from Red Kross plays bass, Steven has also contributed to projects with Tenacious D, The White Stripes and more. Not only does the band consist of top notch musicians but the venue was also filled with the iconic anti-authoritarian art of Raymond Pettibon. Mr. Pettibon himself was wandering around talking to people, signing shirts and so on.




As if punk rock and live music was not enough but Keith Morris and the one and only Tony Alva served as DJs when the live music was not going down. Oh, did we mention that, thanks to the sponsors, the event was free and beer was free to those over 21.




It seems that when events like this are put on by sponsors, they try to make it inappropriately over the top, choosing overly fancy venues with foo foo drinks. Such was not the case on this night, if there is any hope that punk rock exists, it would be at places like the 6th street warehouse. The stage is actually the flat bottom of a mini ramp, the bathroom is beyond dirty. Dont worry about the bathroom though, the very friendly homeless looking door man directed us to a spot too go pee in the parking lot but not poo, (wait in line for that). The bar was a garbage can full of beers and ice around the back set in between the old railroad tracks. Lets just say the venue was appropriate for the occasion, as punk as it gets in 2010, the era of Dancing With the Stars and American Idol.

The set was short but blistering. Just before starting Keith told the audience to pay attention because -We are only going to play for 26 minutes-. Come in hot, attack and leave the crowd wanting more. Short sets remind you of the Dwarves or even Earthless, the other band that OFF Drummer Mario Rubacalba is in. This is not a Circle Jerks cover band, these talented veteran musicians are writing original music as the band OFF. They did play a Gun Club cover dedicated to the former Jeffrey Lee Pierce. After the show was over Tony Alva continued to spin discs and free, warm beer was available for a while. To sum it up, free, epic music, free beer, all ages, cool crowd, legendary talent of all sorts taking part in the show and present in the crowd - a great night.


Thanks to George Crosland of SNOWREV for sending in these photos & post. If you are into 'foo foo drinks' & now you're super sad take it up with George.