Social Distortion

House of Blues, Anaheim

I'm sure I'd be saying the wrong thing here if I said these guys don't really live up to their reputation. I would have thought that a band that sells out countless nights at House of Blues would have been one of the best acts going. I was wrong, and not without a tinge of regret. Maybe it was just a bad night for the boys. The crowd, who consisted of a good mix of young and old, loved them, even if I didn't. While Mike looked great (you've got to just love a guy with his eyes done), and sang great, and the band was right there along with him. BUT ... he spoke too damn much. I can't keep saying this enough that fans don't really want to hear much more than the music. Keeping the stories short and infrequent keeps the interest and energy of the audience going. I probably would have cut them more slack if they didn't just walk off the stage at the end of the night without really saying goodnight. Maybe it's a punk thing ... something went wrong though that night. To my deep dismay, they didn't play Ball and Chain either. Oh well. For a $20 admission, though, they're still worth it.

Social Distortion ... again ... one week later.

Pretty much the same show. I only went because a buddy wanted to go. The only real difference between the shows were small changes to the play list and some of Mike's rantings. Other than that, not much changed. Not as many kiddies at this show, and the moshing was a little more intense. And parents ... stop taking your little ones to the pit. Some idiot took his 3-5 year old daughter up to the front on his shoulders. Naturally she almost fell and had to be helped out of the pit by security. Moron.