Glan's Social D/Mike Ness thread

[Glenn]

[Glenn]

Chuck Biscuits' drumwork is so classic here, you guys.

[Glenn]

Crank it!

[Timone]

How'd it go, fam?

[Glenn]

Musically, it was great. Great set list, good mix of old and new stuff.

The atmosphere was odd. State Theater in Kzoo is one of the old "churchlike" theaters, so they have permanent theater seating bolted into the floor and very little floor space in front of the stage. They decided for some reason, that only the first 150 people to show up would get wristbands to get to 'the pit'. Baffling move because there was probably room for 400 or more. They then parked security up front to block anyone that tried to get down there without a wristband. All this process did was give a bunch of drunk dudes about two hours to get pissed off and plot their master plan for how to get by security. I was in the front row of seats, so I had a clear view of the brutality. So violent. One of the security dudes basically looked like a crazed skinhead. He was just lining up dude after dude, grabbing them and bascially driving heir heads into the concrete floor like a piledriver. Cops were taking people out (arrested, I assume) left and right. It was basically a riot.

And then something really shocking happened. About 3/4 of the way through the set, some big fat dude up front yelled "Fuck you, Mike Ness!" during a lull. Mike just laughed and said, "there's always one asshole in the crowd. You just keep being you, pal." Apparently the dude like the attentuion and about 10 minutes later he launched a full beer directly into Ness' face. Ness turns around walks to the front of the drum kit. Spits out the beer that landed in his mouth, calmly removed his guitar, and walks back towards the mic stand. But instead he jumps down into the crowd, finds the guy and pounds the guy in the face about 4-6 times. They took the guy out right by where I was standing and he was clapping and laughing, lawsuit?

Anyways, great music, strange show.

[Glenn]

Oh, and the cops left with the skinhead security guy towards the end of the show and he was not pleased. My assumption is that they kept hearing a consistent story from the people that they were taking out about him.

[Timone]

And then something really shocking happened. About 3/4 of the way through the set, some big fat dude up front yelled "Fuck you, Mike Ness!" during a lull. Mike just laughed and said, "there's always one asshole in the crowd. You just keep being you, pal." Apparently the dude like the attentuion and about 10 minutes later he launched a full beer directly into Ness' face. Ness turns around walks to the front of the drum kit. Spits out the beer that landed in his mouth, calmly removed his guitar, and walks back towards the mic stand. But instead he jumps down into the crowd, finds the guy and pounds the guy in the face about 4-6 times. They took the guy out right by where I was standing and he was clapping and laughing, lawsuit?

I get that Vinny doesn't like them, but why show up at a show just to cause trouble?

[Timone]

Terrence S Thomas I purchased tickets for my teenage son and I, because I love Social Distortion and wanted him to experience them live. I always try to expose him to everything from rock to the blues, to the Philharmonic. My wife and I saw Social D four years ago at the Orbit Room in Grand Rapids. There were plenty of seats there, but I remember few people sitting down. The tickets I purchased for The State Theatre show were advertised as General Admission, Period. After having dinner at Harvey's, we walked half a block to "The State Theatre". Since Social Distortion is the type of band best enjoyed standing, and as close the stage as possible, we made our way down front. The very first band was playing, and we were pleased to see the front standing area by the stage only about one third full. We were stopped by a apparent security personnel, and told we could not progress past the regular seats without a wristband. We sat down and watched this happen over and over again with people who were also given the impression they had bought "general admission"tickets. I commiserated with a lot of those people, and we all agreed that advertising general admission and then only admitting the first 150 people that got there to the floor area was fraud and false advertising! Apparently the very unfriendly security personnel that now rule the place, didn't like that I was myself, my high school age son, and other disappointed fans were sharing our disappointment with each other. Three stocky guys with no necks, walked me to the front door, with threats if I did not comply. When asked what I could do to help them their reply was; This is private property and we don't have to have a reason. I asked if I or they, could go back to get my son, and they said, "not unless you want to go to jail". Luckily my son had sensed something wasn't right, and come to the entrance. We then left. Basically we did not get what we told we were paying for, and because I dared to voice my displeasure ( no swearing or violence ), my family and myself were bullied out and missed what we paid for. The new owner has hired and trained thugs and employees with no people skills, and the "State Theatre" will never be the same. Rock and Roll might not be dead, but it is at " The State"! If you are worried about liability from booking a punk band, then either don't book them to start with, or don't false advertise your tickets. They tried to blame it on the "Fire Marshall", but the reality is, in order to host a band like Social D, they decided the liability cost too much! Thank you State Theatre for ruining my son and I's night out, and for showing them exactly how a music venue should not be run!

[Glenn]

I shot some video right after the punch, includes Ring of Fire, might try to figure out how to host it on youtube or vimeo or something.

[Glenn]

I shot some video right after the punch, includes Ring of Fire, might try to figure out how to host it on youtube or vimeo or something.

Success!

[language]