T.S.O.L – October 31st – The Oriental Theater

I am old, even if I did not realize it. This epiphany first came to me back when I covered the Sabroso Craft Beer, Taco, and Music Festival earlier this year. Bands like the Dwarves, the Vandals, Bad Religion, and the Offspring were no longer the young punks I had seen when I became a member of the scene – and why should they be that was over 30 years ago. I have started going grey like Greg Ginn the only original member of the 2019 touring lineup of Black Flag. If the aches and pains that come with aging weren’t enough a constant reminder, I just shot the split bill with Social D and the background for the show served to remind that one of the bands I grew up with has been around for over 40 years. Are all these bands from the 80’s just tapping into nostalgia, or is Punk still relevant?

Showing up at the “O” before local act Pitch Invasion took the stage to warm up the audience I scanned the crowd to see if it was just full of older people like myself. Although there were people reminiscing about having seen T.S.O.L when they were a teenager, there were plenty of kids in attendance with underage “X’s” on their hands. These kids weren’t at the show with mom and dad, these were kids looking for someplace to sneak out to smoke since no one underage was allowed re-entry into the venue. This gave me hope, it really seemed like the kids wanted to be there. Still not 100% sure, I asked Oriental Theater owner Andy Bercaw if he thought Punk music was still relevant to kids and if so why? Andy said, “I think younger crowds are gravitating towards old school (and new) Punk acts as a way to avoid the mainstream of Rap and Pop, which has such a mass appeal to most youth these days. Exactly the same reason I was – and still am – into the culture; I was tired of popular radio which didn’t seem to speak to me at all when I was growing up. I have noticed younger crowds at these shows, and I love it. It just shows us that Punk isn’t dead!” Growing up it was always the DYI aspect of the Punk scene that impressed me the most. Nothing could be more DIY than owning the last large independent venue in Denver. I asked Andy how everything was going. He responded, “Being one of the last independent venues in Denver is great. We control the content, and the way we run the business. However, it gets tougher to compete every year as entertainment superpowers like AEG and Live Nation take a stronger foothold in Denver. We just continue to stay creative with our content, being accessible to people, and working a little harder than the year before.”

As if Andy’s platitudes had not convinced me that Punk was relevant, the band touring in support of the headliner did. Noogy took to the stage and whipped the crowd up into a frenzy. All the skate thrash band members on stage were younger than my sons. Noogy played an impressive set of original songs. The sound was familiar, raw, crude and often political. In between sets I caught up with Noogy singer and guitarist Andre Vorhis. I asked Andre how it felt to be almost 4 years old as a band and touring with a band that has been around more than 40 years? Andre replied, “It feels like we’ve just jumped into something that’s been here long before us, but that we still have a lot of crazy times ahead so I feel grateful to be young. T.S.O.L seem just as in it now as they must have day one.” Pushing for a little more insight, I asked him what about the musical style that you share with bands like T.S.O.L, Rancid, and MDC makes Punk still relevant after all these years. Andre retorted, “Well with that 80’s style hardcore, the aggression of the music and straight forward lyrics are what defines it to me. I think that people still have the same problem now that they did then, and are pissed off. Most punks are the type to go postal at their job or school if they didn’t have a way to feel expressed. Rancid has great style mixed with storytelling. So we rip off Rancid, T.S.O.L, and MDC because they are all sick and we don’t discriminate. We rip off everybody! People have more reason if anything to be angry now with Trump as president, and pollution destroying our forests and oceans. We are all running out of time and half of the Americans are too stupid and brainwashed to notice.” After seeing True Sounds of Liberty original members from 1978, vocalist Jack Grisham, guitarist Ron Emory, and bassist Mike Roche perform favorites from my youth like “Abolish Government,” and “Code Blue” and listening to Andre from Noogy’s rant I am sure about one thing. Punk is not only not dead, it is alive and well, and I am happy for it.