One of the things I was most looking forward to about this year's Lollapalooza was seeing Social Distortion. Some how in all my years of concert going, and all their years of touring I had never seen them before. While we were there Mike Ness also announced a new album coming out this fall, which I am looking forward to.
I have been in love with Social Distortion this year. I have listened to them off and on for 20 years (which makes both Mike and me sound horribly old), but for some reason it has really seemed to have more to say to me now. Back over the summer when I was in line to meet Danzig, I had some young punk kids behind me and one of them was saying how much he thought Social Distortion sucked. I told him to be patient. Social D is not a teen angst band, but a school of hard knocks band, one that you start to get closer to the more you live and experience, and get beat up by the world and fight back. By the looks of it, those kids were well on their way to becoming Social D fans.
There is something to be said for seeing the newest up and coming bands, but there is a fluidity that long-time musicians have that makes for some of the best shows. They have had enough time to work out all the kinks, have enough roadies on hands to make sure all the technicalities are smoothed out ahead of time, and if they are smart, have figured out which songs fans want to hear. Social D has mastered that. It helps that they have tons of great songs in their catalog to chose from, but every song was flawless and all they played all my favorites.
Mike Ness is looking less hot and more like my grandpa these days, but he is one of the Godfathers of rock and roll, so he has earned it.
SONG OF THE DAY: "Story of My Life" - Social Distortion
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