CH3 / GPC / Sick Sense / Since We Were Kids! / VCS – Backyard Benefit Show At Monkey’s Pad

Why do I write so many show reviews about CH3? Because they’ve been playing and I’ve been going. Also, this show was a backyard benefit event for my friend Davey Alvarez (AKA Monkey), to help pay for his medical bills. The man had a cancer scare, and fortunately, it was not cancer, but he apparently owed a lot. The punk rock community came together to help this OG Badlander and longtime local of the original Pipeline Skateboard Park. The show was a great success, all the bands were jamming, people were slamming, raffle prizes were won, tacos were on the menu, and money was raised for a good cause. Davey is also a professional concert soundman, so he had the high-tech sound equipment and an impressive stage setup in his yard.

First up was VCS (Violates Community Standards). These four guys blast out some really good melodic thrash punk with certified skateboarder attitude. Despite singer Bryan’s initial joke that VCS stood for “various crappy songs,” it was anything but that. Bryan and his cohorts Chris (drums), Josh (guitar), and Rick (bass) generate great, high-energy, straightforward punk rock of the skateboarder ilk. This is exactly the kind of music we skated to back in the late 1980s when I had my vertical halfpipe and mini halfpipe in my backyard. “Planet Circus” and “Unplug and Unite” are the kind of tunes that really get you going and make the neighbors nervous. It was still early, and the pit had not yet started, but VCS set the mood and the tone of the evening: High energy and positive attitudes. To further the band’s punk rock/skateboarder credibility, the set ended with a shredding rendition of Agent Orange’s “The Last Goodbye.” 

Then it was time for Since We Were Kids! Like me, these guys are older skateboarders with a definite preference for vertical terrain. They hail from the nearby high desert, somewhere out there near Victorville, the land of motorcycles, meth labs, and empty pools. This band just charges. As it says in their song “Past Tense,” “Get with the program or get out of the way!” This band sometimes reminds me of Motorhead engine with a Slayer overdrive that shifts into the higher gear of punk/thrash/metal territory. The band was going full tilt, but I had forgotten my little digital camera and I cold not figure out how to use the flash on Cathy’s camera phone. Reluctantly, but out of necessity, I had run out of the show to quickly drive the ten miles to my house and get my camera and then back again. Sorry, but no photos of Since We Were Kids!, but you can see what they look and sound like by going to see the band live (or on the internet.) I hope they played “Grind” while I was gone. There’s a screen shot from one of their videos below so you can get a visual on that.  

I returned at the precise moment Sick Sense was about to play. If you did not already know, Sick Sense are your typical skateboarding, surfing, boxing, punk rock, vatos. Think like Suicidal Tendencies, but with more ese’. In fact, guitarist and vocalist Mando also sings for the band Luicial, now with Rocky George (Suicidal Tendencies / Fishbone) on guitar, and other OG Suicidal members. By this time, more people had shown up, and they started coming forward toward the stage. The band just exploded and the slam pit was going strong and it was way too rough for me. The first song was “Pride,” one of my favorites. The aging punk rock crowd was going off harder than most people half their age, but Cathy and I stood our ground at the edge of the pit. Well, Cathy was sitting, and she took a fist to the forehead. It was a wonderful, huge wall of buzzing sound. I told the guy who clocked Cathy what happened, and he went over and said he was sorry. He then kissed her on the forehead, and held her hand….for a strangely long time. Sick Sense jams. Simple as that. I love cholo-inspired thrash punk/metal. Don’t you? Listen to “Suicide by Cop” and you will know. 

GPC is one of those local bands I had known about for over two decades, but for some reason, had never seen live. For the uninitiated, GPC is a brand of low-budget cigarettes here in the US, so I am pretty sure the band’s name is a humorous take on that. It was surprising to find out that the man of the hour, my old friend Monkey was on the drums. (How did I not know that? The guy is really good too!) GPC was not as fast or hard as Sick Sense, so the slam pit crew took a break so the those of the dancing sort could do their thing, while the rest of us smiled and nodded our heads. The cover of Dramarama’s “Anything” was a big hit. Singer Archie occasionally left the stage to mix it up and dance with the audience a bit. I am glad that I was wrong in that I expected GPC to be a goofy thing, but this is a serious band with great melodic songs and a gritty punk edge. They kind of remind of Face to Face at times. *Fun fact: a couple of the guys in Face to Face used to hang around my skateboard shop when they were kids in the early 1990s. 

Time for Channel Three. Lead guitarist, vocalist extraordinaire, and published author Mike Magrann told me their set was entirely old songs in recognition of this event being like the backyard shows they used to play when the band was first starting out in 1980. Those moments back then became the moments of that present moment (this is the eternal now you know.) I was having such a good time that I neglected to take accurate notes, so if you want to know what was played, I refer you to the band’s first EP, CH3, (1981), the Fear of Life LP (1892), After the Lights Go Out (1983), and a couple from the big hair album The Last Time I Drank (1985). For me, the band’s set was another opportunity to just close my eyes and let myself become lost in the timeless space that is musical nirvana. I do remember hearing “I Got A Gun,” the mainstay “You Make Me Feel Cheap,” “What About Me?” and the almost never played ode to precum, “Wet Spots.” The old guy slam pit sprang back to life and I took particular pleasure in watching a woman who appeared to be in her 60s do her version of the punk rock robot dance right up at the front of the stage. 

No fights all night. No cops coming to tell us to stop. Nobody got hurt (except for Cathy’s knot on her forehead), No bad attitudes. Davey’s fundraiser was a big success, and most important of all, he does not have cancer. Now, take the time to check out Mike Magrann’s thoroughly-enjoyable and thought-provoking book Miles Per Gallon. Mike told me he is almost done with his next literary gem and I eagerly await its publication.