Suicidal Tendencies – December 8th – Summit Music Hall

Estimated read time 5 min read

DSC_4423Photos by Johne Edge

The Scene: Punks and old Metal heads of all types showed up to the Summit Music Hall on Monday night to see one of the most influential Punk bands of all time. The venue quickly filled with some of the scariest dudes in Denver, the type you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley, and a larger amount of the Hispanic community was represented than usual for a Denver Punk show. Serious fans didn’t care about the unspoken rule to not wear the shirt of the band that you are seeing, instead a good third of the audience showed up in their best Suicidal Tendencies garb with their hat bills flipped up (a trademark style of the band and fans), and fans swarmed the merch booth to purchase more ST products. The doors to the Summit opened at seven but the music didn’t begin until eight, ensuring a good size crowd (especially for the size of the venue and for a Monday night) right from the start of the show. Three possibly homeless girls entertained people outside the venue, holding a sign reading they were trading inappropriate jokes for tips.

Opener: Line Brawl. The Denver local band Line Brawl got loud whistles as they began their set with the song “Fence Walker,” as many fans were excited to get the night rolling. The hardcore Punk band had a loud and heavy sound, and vocalist Gary Cherny’s screams quickly had guys knocking into each other in the moshpit. The five-piece band (two guitars, bass guitar, drums, and vocals) had a loud sound with lots of power. The sound engineer did a great job, and every member of the band was crystal clear, including the vocals, which are so easily drowned out during a Punk show. The band dedicated Black Flag’s “Fix Me” to Suicidal Tendencies for playing music for so many decades, for being so influential of a band in general, and for still going strong after all these years. Cherny was very entertaining, throwing his microphone around and jumping off the stage several times. He seemed genuinely grateful to be a part of the night, and the audience seemed to enjoy Line Brawl’s performance in return.

Opener: Trash Talk. The Sacramento, California based Thrashcore band Trash Talk had many fans in the audience. As they began to play the first song, “Walking Disease” smartphones rose up in the air as people took photos and people began to violently rock out. During “Manifest Destination” the singer, Lee Spielman, did a flip into the audience, simultaneously crowd surfing and singing. Spielman continued to be an incredible showman throughout the bands’ performance; headbanging, swinging his microphone around and repeatedly jumped into the audience. He goaded the crowd, calling for a circle pit around him. Later on in the show he might have regretted that decision, saying, “One of you motherfuckers cracked me just right.”  And even later on during the performance he said he was going to retaliate, saying it was, “Kill or be killed.” Spielman was good at getting the crowd worked up, calling for fist pumps from the audience, stage diving several times, and with jokes. During “Uncivil Disobedience” he talked about security at shows, saying there should be no guards and no barriers that we should be able to police ourselves. During the last song he called for the crowd to help each other up, to get over the barrier, to make the security guard work for his money, to which many fans obliged.

Suicidal Tendencies: Fans threw up devil horn signs and chanted “S. T.” repeatedly when the Los Angeles based band started with an instrumental. They began the set (and the first night of this particular tour) with the song “You Can’t Bring Me Down” which featured a killer wailing guitar riff. The band members wore Suicidal Tendencies shirts and hats themselves, even more of a taboo than for the fans.  The song “Ain’t Gonna Take It” featured great drum work (Eric Moore) and sound quality, as well as excellent bass (Michael Morgan). Dean Pleasants on lead guitar was (as always) a delight to watch, a true master of his craft. The venue was filled with truly dedicated fans, and when the band sang “War Inside My Head,” the lyrics sung by the fans were just as loud as from the singer, Mike Muir.

Muir was his usual preachy self, especially before the song “We Are Family,” when he gave a talk about family, saying the most important things in life were truth, honesty, and family. Moore threw out guitar pics to audience members throughout the set and fans scrambled to catch them.  Muir dedicated the track “Possessed to Skate” to his brother who has been skating for over forty years, and who was recently inducted into the skateboarding Hall of Fame. During the song “I Saw Your Mommy” the entire band played at a furious pace and later they brought three lucky fans onstage for the song “Slam City.” The kids onstage were as awkward as many of the fans in attendance; white people frantically and feverously gyrating with all their might. Suicidal Tendencies finished the show with their most well known song, “Institutionalized.” Fans left the hall dripping sweat, happy to see a favorite band and a great performance.

Energy: A+
Musicianship: A
Sound: A
Stage Presence: A+
Set/Light Show: A-

Overall: A

tdwenger http://www.listenupdenver.com

Music has always been a part of my life. It probably all started listening to old Grateful Dead, Peter Paul & Mary, and Simon & Garfunkel records that my parents had, but it wasn't long before they were taking me to concerts like Starship, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and Huey Lewis & The News. I got the bug to write about music after reviewing an Eric Clapton concert for a creative writing project in high school but didn't really take it up seriously until 2002. Since then I have published countless articles in The Marquee Magazine and done some work for Jambase.com, SPIN Magazine, and various other outlets. I started Listen Up Denver! as a way to share the music information that is constantly spilling out of my head with people who care. Please enjoy!

More From Author

+ There are no comments

Add yours