January 24, 2003

All photos and story are © Skate Scene Media 

.
As the old school Punk crowd grows older, the new kids coming up are getting into the old stuff that is 100% legitimate Punk Rock verses the weak new stuff out there. Tonight two old school dads were able to share the excitement they felt 20 years ago over seeing GBH the first time they played in the United States on August 6, 1983. The vest you see here was worn at that show in 1983 and was worn by his son at tonight's show nearly 20 years later.
Below are photos that were taken with a pocket camera that was pretty lousy, yet they still capture the show that went down at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on August 6, 1983. Thousands of Punks showed up that night and I know that young Punks today find that hard to believe, yet shows back then attracted that many people. Pictured here is the flyer from that show 20 years ago. On the flyer you will note how cheap it was to see a kick ass show.

That show 20 years ago was a rag'er and we hoped that someday we would find the right opportunity to show these photos off.
OK....here we are back in the year 2003. Tonight, Team Goon groms David Robarge and Chris Graham were VIP guests of GBH for tonight's show. It was pretty cool on the part of the groms to bring their old man along to show and give them a second round at being 17 again. The groms presented the band with one of their decks as a way of saying thanks for inviting them out to the show.

The dads got a chance to have a photo op with Colin the lead vocal of the band they loved as kids. Colin is probably the coolest dude you will every meet and just loves the energy that the new generation of Punks have for their music.

Cruising around the venue we found plenty of GBH merch as well as tons of kids all over the House of Blues grounds. Hanging out back stage we found plenty of cold ones as well as alot of crows from the local OC Punk set. 

With 30 minutes to go before the show the stage manager gets that band rounded up for their set. Ballsee, road dawg for The US BOMBS and local bro had to be told to cut his conversation short so that Jock could get ready.

Back upstairs we found allot of the guys from numerous Orange County bands hanging out in the VIP loge. Chickenhead from DI was hanging out with his favorite groms with Steve Soto of The Adolescents and David Chavez of El Nada not far away. With a birdseye view, the kids were enjoying their cokes as they waited for GBH to come on.

The House of Blues show was the second stop on their 13 city tour of the west coast tour. The set list we saw for tonight's show was killer. They would be opening up their set with the title track "Ha Ha" off their latest CD and then going into an excellent mix of all their songs.

GBH was announced to the stage as the crowd made up of 16 to 40 year olds roared as the curtains were pulled back and Colin was there to greet the sold out house. Colin thanked everyone for coming out and promised that they would be in for a kick ass show.

The show was now under way as pit went off and the crowd was yelling as the boys from England were before them. The last time this crowd saw them play was at The Inland Invasion over the summer in 90° heat. GBH put on a great performance then and tonight was no different. A shout out goes to the guy in the front with killer liberty spikes - true old school style.

The GBH line up comprises the original core of the band with Colin on lead vocal, Jock on guitar and Ross Lomas on bass and Scott Preece who is the 4th drummer the band has had. Scott is quite the cut up and we enjoyed hanging out with him...what a card...it should be and interesting tour with him on the bus.

The best thing about seeing a show at The House of Blues is that the sound is first rate. The crowd took full advantage to have a good time as GBH went through their set list as the kids crowd surfed, skanked and even a pretty good chicken fight.

The David and Chris were having a great time as they played all their favorite songs, Maniac, Catch 23, Give Me Fire, Sick Boy and City Baby Attacked By Rats. The crowd upstairs seemed just as rowdy as the crowd on the main floor - everyone was making the most of the moment.
The second to the last song Colin puts a call out to Eddie Tater, the current bass player for DI to come up and play a song. Colin was mentioning off all the bands that Eddie has played bass for, Aversion, currently in DI, he used to be in The Village People (he was kidding) and that he's got a good track record, we trust it. All his local OC bros were very proud to see one of their own on stage with this legendary act..

They played their last song as a tribute to the memory of Joe Strummer of the Clash. At this point the groms were on their feet singing along to the last song of the night. The song came to an end, the lights went down and Colin wished everyone a good night and that he would see them next time. This was a show that we will not forget for a long time. It was very cool to share a night of Punk rock that the dads enjoyed as kids 20 years ago with their kids.
A special thanks goes out to Colin for inviting the Team Goon groms out to the show and to John Fletcher, GBH's tour manager for making all the arrangements for our riders to enjoy this special night. Make sure that you go and check out the GBH website and stay up to date on everything the band is up to. From here they continue on their west coast tour. Make sure you get to their show when they play in your area. You can see all the cities and dates that they are playing HERE.

Win some cool stuff .... Click Here

             

Vert - Punk Rock - Free - Skateboard - Pool Skating