The Unsinkable Specials

THE SPECIALS

LITTLE HURRICANE

VENTURA THEATER, VENTURA, CA

22 MARCH, 2013

Rising up in Coventry, England to spearhead the Two Tone Movement in the late '70's, The Specials preached a gospel of unity, a devotion to old ska and reggae, and cast a jaundiced eye at the Thatcher-bedeviled state of the nation. While shorn of founding member Jerry Dammers, and with Neville Staple stepping back for health reasons, it was not untoward to expect the group to be a shadow of itself. But, this is the Specials, and the flame still burns. Powering through a lengthy set resting heavily on their two albums and fistful of singles, the men showed all the energy of yore, and kept a frightening pace, turning the floor of the Ventura Theater into a seething dance party.
Stateside appearances by the band have been all too infrequent...most recently in 2010 they did a short tour around an appearance at Coachella. This year it was popping up at SXSW in Austin that found them tacking on some west coast gigs, including this one.
The faded glory of the Ventura Theater, in a city that's seen it's fair share of gang-related issues, turned out to be the perfect place to see them. All their touchstones were present and accounted for, from "Do The Dog" to "Too Much Too Young" to "Rat Race" to "Gangsters" to "Monkey Man", song after song in an unending rush. For the most part, they let the music manifest the message, but made a point to have the youngsters in the frenzied front lifted into the photo pit, then, in a touching moment, brought up onstage, and blessed with a dedication to them of: "A Message To You, Rudy".
Their epic English #1, "Ghost Town", was a fitting encore, and they polished off the night with their untouchable cover of "The Guns Of Navarone", causing one last wave of dance commotion on the floor.

 Coachella 2010

 Kicking off the evening was San Diego's Little Hurricane, a guitar(s) and drums duo that made a hellacious racket in service of debut LP, Homewreckers. Most people would plump for the obvious White Stripes comparison, but for me it was more like Two Gallants crossed with a dose of Sabbath sludge for good measure. Very much look forward to seeing them again.

From Here To Eternity...X (live)

X

Ventura Theater

December, 2010

As the missing link in reappropriating American ownership of the punk phenomenon after the mid 70's English uprising, X sprung from Los Angeles, spearheading the scene before hardcore took over in the '80's.

 As has been the trend, classic LP nostalgia, (in this case their debut: 'Los Angeles'), is the instigation for a Xmas west coast swing. Using their own movie "The Unheard Music" as an opening act proved to be the perfect table setting...serving in this theater as a punk happy hour, witnessing numerous reunions of the faithful. At it's core, (for me), family, no matter how dysfunctional, was always the message of X.

The original group: John Doe, Exene Cervanka, Billy Zoom, and D.J. Bonebrake still keep the flame fully lit, picking up right where we last left off, at the 2009 Coachella Festival. Then, they performed a set elected by ballot on their webpage that tilted heavily to material from the first four records.

Here, the scope was pulled back to Los Angeles, before a second set played hit and run with the rest of their canon. Despite a recent diagnosis of MS, Exene Cervanka anchored the lead with John Doe, and interestingly, the band played longer than they did in the 'good old days'...No small feat considering the advancing age (of all of us), and the intensity of the songs. All in all, a nice homecoming for one of America's long.standing punk treasures.

  (Ed. Note: Amazing what you discover in the draft file...Would have sworn it got published.  At any rate, enjoy this 'vintage' blast...)

Gang's All Here: Broken Social Scene live

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE VENTURA THEATER 19 APRIL 2011

Fresh off the heels of their Coachella performance, and a special fan club show at the Masonic Lodge at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Broken Social Scene found the time to drift north and grace the Ventura Theater.






Australia's 'Black Rider did the opening honors, acquitting the selves well, and setting the stage for what was to come. Sales must have been soft, for the balcony was closed, and the downstairs was curtained off. Sad to see, but the faithful that were there more than made up for numbers with their enthusiasm.







Like Bright Eyes, Broken Social Scene to me is as much a personal vice as a band. I don't interact with a lot of fans of either, and it's always fascinating to see the makeup of the audience at the shows...

Brendan Canning was back to being his usual unflappable self, recovered from the bug that he fought gamely in last years May appearance at the Wiltern in LA.





Kevin Drew settled into his role as MC for the evening, likening, (and not wrongly), the old theater to a high school gym, and keeping the proceedings in order.





They led off with a spirited charge through tunes from last year's Forgiveness Rock Record, and kept the spotlight on that stellar effort for the most part, but leavened the set with cuts from 2005's self titled record, and the highlight of the evening: a charged and dynamic reading of "Cause/Time" from You Forgot It In People.


Altogether an excellent night among old friends that felt like your favorite worn but welcome hoodie...

Oh Morrissey...

When last we checked in with one Steven Patrick Morrissey, Spring was in the air, (along with the smell of burning flesh...the smell...of victory, etc).

Today's quick off topic quiz: After Bob Duvall's 'Napalm In The Morning' speech in Apocalypse Now, what is his very next, (and maybe the movie's finest), line?

Ah, sweet digression...but back to Morrissey. At Coachella in April, he came on strong, but ultimately fizzled out with an up and down set marked by his patented pronouncements/tantrums, (indeed, part of his charm...), so it was interesting to see where we were at presently. Most recent Moz notes were a spot of ill health, (stage collapse in Swindon), and being bottled in Liverpool, (left stage after two songs, see ya...), as well as a recent cancellation in California, (Indio-bad voice), so it was definitely w/baited breath that we awaited the man, the legend, for yet another go around, this time supporting 'Swords', a b side collection that he's already unloaded in the press about his label butchering.
The stage was, as they say, set.

Call it home field advantage, but the Mozzer ruled, from the opening get down on out...threw in enough Smiths tunes to keep the wolves at bay and the crowd churning, lost his shirt 10 minutes in, and never looked back. He was in control the whole ride, and in his own arch way, loving it. Last show of the tour and the band was ferociously tight. A pleasant reminder that when he's on form, there's really only one Morrissey.

(oh yeah, quiz answer: 'Someday this war's gonna end...')