Pennywise Show full of Underage, Drunk Kids!

So the Jaegermeister sponsored Pennywise tour rolled into NYC Saturday night. I had just watched an amazing show from the more old school British punk rockers from across the pond, "The Damned: at Irving Plaza the previous Thursday.

The Damned put on a damned good show and the Irving Plaza was packed full of pretty 30somethings and older punk fans who were very enthusiastic but behaved (no mosh pit at all).

I contrast that with Pennywise's show at Terminal 5, which was quite the opposite. I thought I knew what to expect as I had experienced Pennywise live just the year before at Irving Plaza and knew it was going to be some young dudes, slamming into each other all over the floor with lots of testosterone in the air. That's cool, I'm a dude and while older than 20 something these days I can hang on the floor with the best of em.

That being said, as soon as I walked into Terminal 5, I knew this hard liquor sponsored event was going to be different. I was immediately almost knocked over by two drunk teen girls, so drunk they didn't know where they were at. My friend and I went upstairs to the bar to get a drink and he was accosted by some drunk 15 year old (she said she was 17) begging him to go to the security guard and get her confiscated flask of vodka back and to claim he was her father. Dude's not even 40 so he was bummed but I reminded him, due to her youth and our advancing age, it was more than biologically possible he be her father. While he's somehow entertaining this ridiculous proposal, some other young dude comes up to me asking me to buy him a beer. I'm like bro, no f..ing way, I got a lot to lose, not going to do that.

Don't get me wrong. I started drinking at the age of 17 and because my family were some religous tea totlers, I had learn the good old fashioned way (close calls, Hit and Run, Arrest for underage drinking) how to finally drink responsibly. Now I can barely drink two beers back to back without a hangover.

But for Jaegermeister, one of the hardest most f..k you up liquors around to sponsor an all ages (or maybe it was 16+) show is the height of irresponsiblity. I'm no prude, but I do work in marketing and I know the restrictions for even beer advertising on TV are mad strict. Why isn't a similar standard held for live shows where underage teens will find a way to get alcohol?

I want everyone to be able to enjoy Pennywise. but to have it sponsored by a hard liquor when they know so many of their fans are underage is just plain wrong.

Punk Outlaw Presents NOFX on LatiNation

Punk Outlaw Presents a rare interview and segment on Legendary punk rockers NOFX.

The segment is debuted nationwide on LatiNation May 9th-10th but is set to re-air June 28th-29th, 2009.

www.LatiNation.tv/wheretowatch for local listings.

Social D MulcaheysIntro

NOFX.. putting the "punked" in Punk Rock

yep, that is me they are talking about.. Could have done my research better I guess but their site is useless, mixing fact with fiction. Or if I were a bigger fan I would have known better.. but I can't help it, I like what I like.

All in good fun.. stay tuned for the segment.

2008 Punk Music in Review.. Nahh.. Not really..

What we don't need is another list for 2008. As a matter of fact, given the state of the economy thanks to good old Wall Street (on the bright side, now I can hate those clowns relatively guilt free). Off on a tangent, Hey NYC, what happenned to all that freaking revenue when times were good? What the hell did you do with it? Spend the whole Goddamn thing? Didn't you think the "good times" might end some day? Jesus, who sucks worse, our corrupt/incompetent government or the fucking greedy motherfuckers who bribe their asses.

But I digress, back to the music. Twas a good year to be into punk music, if you were me and got to do a bit of West coast travel to help satisfy your urge.

Lets start with the Motherfucker of them all, Mike Ness. Social D. took a hiatus this year but I had the good fortune of seeing Mike Ness in NYC @ Irving Plaza, then later in the summer at the annual Hootenanny and then in December, I capped the year off in LA with one of his final performances of the year at the El Rey Theatre, with a bunch of other misfits, outlaws and punks.

Other notable concerts I witnessed in 2008 included
Rancid-NYC
GBH-NYC (I think my Favorite)
Pennywise- NYC (damn good show)
Tiger Army (Orange county- Hootenanny and NYC)
The Germs- NYC
Murphy's Law (Great show - NYC of course!)
Pennywise-NYC and NOFX - NYC (with Dillinger 4 and Flatliners opening)

The Psychobilly Showdown at the Knitting Factory in LA put on my good friend Rich from Black Cat Entertainment was pretty solid as well. Los Difuntos and The Slanderin my favorite bands that I witnessed there.

2009 should be a good year if we can get past the damn economy again. Already, one tour that had Social Distortion on the bill has been canceled because of the bad economy.

The movie studios love a recession because people will still go to see a movie, maybe even more so during a recession (or is this a depression, remains to be seen). To me, concerts are similar. No matter what, you gotta keep your spirits up and there is no better way than to gather with some fellow music lovers and celebrate the music we love. A good mosh pit does wonders for stress. Maybe our Wall Street brethren will join us now that they are all out of work and have nothing but time?
You have to admit, punk rock shows are still the best value for the buck out there. Its expensive being a Madonna or Bruce Springsteen fan. BTW, you ever been to a Springsteen concert, fat, bald yuppies trying to dance (nothing against fat bald people, just Bruce Springsteen fans).

2008 was a good year for punk rock. I think, think.. not 100% sure, i saw more representation out there. Could it be young people are finally sick of the side show that is Hip Hop and pop and are ready for some real music from some real artist?

2009 should be a good year for punk.. so stay tuned.

Punch Him In the Face!

Punch Him in the Face!

Slick suite and Pretty Lies
Greedy bastard with beady eyes
Sweaty palm and neurotic stare
Punch him in the face! Right there!

Trust no one, your on your own
Come and leave this world alone
And you know life is unfair
So punch him in the face! Right there!

Punch him in the face! Right there!
Don’t let him win without a fight
Punch him in the face! Right there!
He may win but he’s not right!

Copyright 2008 Robert G. Rose

NOFX - Are they ever serious?

Yeah man... they are. But it sure is hard to conduct an interview with a whoopee cushion going off during or just before every answer. Fat Mike and El Hefe came to our studios EARLY (wow!) for their interview, all hung-over/sleep deprived. Or so they say.

I learned during the interview and afterward at the concert, that not necessarily will you get the straight dope from these guys. They don't give many interviews and I can see why. They looked bored stiff during the entire Q and A and it was the most difficult interview I've ever conducted. If they weren't in their 30s and 40s, someone could use the word brat. So we'll go with surly and mischievous.

I thought I was prepared, thought I was a fan who knew his stuff but obviously not, as one carefully crafted question after another simply met either a response of one word answers in the affirmative or negative, barely audible grunts, eye rolls or "I hate that" or just a pure look of boredom from Fat Mike (El Hefe however seemed quite amused at the Whoopee cushion and my cameraman was having a ball as well, he's Dominican and was like, "these crazy Gringos and their music").

But to be clear, even when he's being an ass, Fat Mike was cool. Mad cool. El Hefe was cool too, just working that Whoopee Cushion like it was a musical instrument (and in his hands, maybe it is).

Yet when I review the tapes, there were will be some gems in there. Like Fat Mike showing me his latest injury, a nasty bruise in the ribs from the previous night's show in Canada. The look of awe when describing the punk scene in Latin America and how they all "stick together" like their lives depend on it, which it does; Or when Fat Mike gets serious for a minute and talks about the state of the music industry and how despite their success these guys STILL don't live like Rock Stars, choosing the Holiday Inn over the latest $500 a night, minimalist design flavor of the year hotel, etc.

They did answer with some enthusiasm about the influence of American Latinos on Punk Music over the years, the difference in the West Coast and East Coast scene, El Hefe's horn work, the influence of Reggae, their admiration of Social Distortion. They would see Social Distortion perform live just when they were at the beginning stages of forming NOFX’s own politically controversial, sometimes just plain amusing sound.

* Hint to all future interviewers of this band. DO NOT rely on the bio posted on their website. Dig deeper. The online web bio is hard to decipher fact from fiction and seems designed to throw people off and most importantly amuse.

All in all, the dudes were gracious with my missteps, let me off the hook a couple of times when I totally goofed a question (I'll admit it, I was nervous, they seemed bored and the interview was a long time coming AND I am a big but relatively new fan of theirs). Fat Mike wasn't vicious when he could have been and corrected me nicely when telling me that "Separate the Church and Skate" was not about Skateboarding at all, but really about how corporate marketers and record labels had created Bubble Gum Punk and kids who were really not fans but liked to dress like punks, etc. etc. All stuff I knew already, but it’s cool to hear him say it on tape.

El Hefe referencing Fat Mike posing as a Jewish-Mexican American Latino the whole interview (I should have known!) later called me out on stage (check the video below) on my gullibility. I wasn't embarrassed but instead shocked to have made an impression. As a matter of fact the whole concert was amusing, they are genuinely very, very funny and intelligent band.

In the end, these guys are big time and I felt it. Yes, they protest like they aren't rock stars and I believe them when they say they stay at Holiday Inns when they travel, but when I congratulated them on selling out Irving Plaza for 3 nights solid, they were like, "dude, that's nothing". And they are right. I was just nervously twittering some stuff to fill their bored silence. These guys have sold 6 million records independently before myspace, itunes, youtube all that stuff made it much easier (or at least possible).

NOFX represents not only good music but the essence of West Coast punk. They struggled to make it against all odds, and made it but stay under their own terms and now are helping others do the same.

These guys have their own record label "Fat Wreck Chords", which has a ton of great punk bands on it (including Dillinger 4 and Flatliners, who opened for them and I'll get to in later posts). They led the anti-Bush movement in 2004, before the incredibly low approval ratings on Bush and the War. And they mix enough influences into their music to make any world music lover proud. They are not your run of the mill band or even punk artists. They are smart, obviously talented and above all funny as hell!

And yet gracious and cool. Even when you’re the butt of the joke, you still feel like, hey man; I could hang with these guys some weekend. Or maybe because they make you the butt of their jokes you feel that way.

But alas, they have sold millions of records, sell out concert halls, even stadiums and tons of merchandise and though Fat Mike says the Record Business sucks now and he DISCOURAGES young bands to get into music, he is very savvy, you can tell.

He did not agree to sign the legal releases before the interview, waiting to see if he liked it first and if the questioning wasn't just too stupid for words. I guess I passed the test as they graciously signed the releases and took photos with me and one of our editors, Angelita, who is a big NOFX fan from her West Coast teen years.

I'll post about the NOFX Show which was awesome as well as the Flatliners and Dillinger Four later on. But for now, let me revel in getting one of the rare TV interviews with one of the most legendary punk bands of all time, bar few. Shit man, I'll be the butt of that joke any day of the week. My ego can take it.