The Avengers, The Zeros ’77 & The Brat Live In California

  • Marcus Solomon posted
  • Reviews
The Avengers

The Avengers / The Zeros '77 / The Brat

The Lodge Room, Highland Park, CA - 1st December, 2024

The start of the holiday season began with another one of those “best shows ever,” with this performance of three classic punk rock bands that helped create the punk rock genre and set the stage for all others to follow. All three bands put on stellar performances that I will always remember. As usual, I was front and center all night so I could immerse myself in the experience as much as possible. I had never experienced The Avengers or The Zeros ‘77 live, and I was fortunate to have enjoyed the reemergence of East LA’s The Brat a week prior, having missed that band during its heyday back in the early 1980s. I felt kind of special when The Brat’s founding member and lead guitarist Rudy Medina remembered my name and said, “Hey Solomon!” when I first entered the second level performance area. I felt the same way when vocalist Teresa Covarrubias also remembered me from the previous show when she said hello, and told me she remembered how I had to put one foot forward onto the low stage to brace myself from the force of the pushing crowd. Prior to that, my ever-present cohort Cathy and I waited patiently for the venue to open, and little did we know it, but we were making small talk and shared the tiny elevator with Martin Wong, the father of Eloise Wong and the uncle of Lucia de la Garza and Mila de la Garza of The Linda Lindas. You know, those talented young women whose band recently toured with The Rolling Stones and Green Day. Martin had a broken foot and was on crutches.

The Avengers

The Lodge Room is located in an impressive brick building that was built in 1928. It was a Masonic Temple for 60 years. Knowing this, I marveled at the intricate woodwork within and wondered where the secret passages were located. Nice places like this always make me feel like a burglar who is not supposed to be there. I am used to dingy halls and tiny clubs. The stage was spacious, the sound was excellent, and the staff was more than friendly and helpful. As I mentioned in my previous show review with The Brat, this band seemed destined for great fame, before they mysteriously vanished. The Brat’s sound is not only phenomenal, it is timeless. The music was created in the late ‘70s, and the early ‘80s, but it sounds like it may have been created yesterday. Looking back at the crowd behind me, I saw those in attendance were definitely the older set with a few 20-somethings and a few kids here and there. Well, it was a Sunday night.

The Brat

When The Brat band members walked onstage, they were greeted by loud cheers and much applause. Without hesitation or meaningless banter, they launched directly into “Starry Night.” It gave me the pleasant chills. Incredible music does that to me. This was received with great applause and many smiling faces. I am not sure what was played next, because my notes read: “?”, but I do know that the once upon a time radio favorite “Attitudes” came next and as it played I remember thinking: “Wow, this is happening. Three of my all time, old time, favorite bands are happening tonight”. Of course, that song generated great applause and shouts of approval. “The Wolf” was somewhere in there too. 

The Brat

Rudy made a quick joke and said: “We’re going to do a ballad,” and then he immediately tore into the opening thrash chords of the one-minute masterpiece “High School.” Can you guess it was about how much Teresa hated high school? Next came “Leave Me Alone,” and I suddenly realized I had been incorrectly singing this solemn ode as “Leave it Alone” for over 40 years. Looking behind me once again, I saw people were singing, dancing, smiling, but no slam dancing yet. “Swift Moves,” the reggae-like, Calypso-ish song soon followed and I closed my eyes and remembered hearing that on the radio too. I am not exactly sure what “Pledge of Allegiance” is about, but it sounds uplifting, and it seems to drip ominous irony. The set ended with “The Cry,” but something went wrong, so Teresa said: “We’re going to start that one over.” I was glad, because I love this band so much, I got to hear them for 20 seconds longer. If you are not familiar with this band, take the time to find out and let’s hope they keep playing shows for a long time. I honestly cannot say enough good things about this band. 

The Brat

I have been a fan of The Zeros ‘77 for decades (not The Zeros, the silly glam band from the ‘80s) but the rocking punk band from the early ‘70s, hailing from Chula Vista CA (somewhere near San Diego). As expected, I was not disappointed. When he took the stage, founding member and guitarist Robert Lopez smilingly pointed out: “We are the second all Latino band for the night!” He was there with fellow founding member and bassist Hector Penalosa. On the drums, I am 99% sure that was Lety Beers from San Diego’s The Schizophonics. She was incredible and fun to watch. On the rhythm guitar was an adept young man who was Robert’s cousin, but I did not get his name because I lag. Robert teased Hector a bit by saying he was dressed as El Vez for the evening because he was looking flash. In case you did not know, El Vez is Robert’s other musical project wherein he puts on Elvis-inspired outrageous costumes and performs Manic Hispanic-like versions of Elvis’ material and classic rock songs. 

The Zeros 77

The Zeros ‘77 sound is more of a traditional ‘50s rock sound delivered with more speed, sneer, energy, and a lot more buzz. “Rico Amor” is a perfect example of that, and I enjoyed finally hearing it live. Robert explained he wrote the song with he was 16-years-old. Looking around behind me, I noticed no slam dancing, but a lot of smiling people who were dancing like people normally dance. Up on the stage, I saw Penelope Houston standing just offstage smiling and nodding along to “Sneaking Out.” Just before “Beat Your Heart Out,” Robert explained it was another song he wrote when he was 16, and it was about a boy who also went to Chula Vista High School. After that rocking tune, my friend Daisy turned to me and said: “That was a gay love song from the 1970s! How hard is that?” Hard indeed. The classic “Wimp” soon followed and the band had guest vocalist Martin Wong come up to sing his alternative version of the lyrics. I have no idea what he said, but he really put his heart into it. He often looked like he was going to fall down as he teetered on those crutches. My Zeros’ favorite “Don’t Push Me Around” was on the bill, and “Wild Weekend” finally got the people slamming at the end of the set. So good! 

The Zeros 77

And then, the moment we were all waiting for….The Avengers! Hector from The Zeros was filling in on the bass, with original guitarist Greg Ingraham still doing his thing, and I am pretty sure that was Luis Illades on the drums. Penelope said: “I was born in LA, so this is sort of a homecoming for me.” Without further hesitation, the band launched into “Cheap Tragedies,” and I was instantly transported to 1983 punk rock bliss. I remained there for the entire duration of the set. “Thin White Line” was next. I did not look, but I could feel the turmoil behind me so I knew the slamming had begun. It was really incredible to have The Avengers playing only a few feet away from me. I felt like one of the luckiest people in the world. I am. I know this. It was a wonderfully long set, which included the classic “Corpus Christi,” “Desperation,” “End of the World,” “No Martyr,” “Car Crash,” and so many more! 

The Avengers

For “Teenage Rebel“, Penelope called Eloise Wong and Mila de la Garza of The Linda Lindas onto the stage to sing “Teenage Rebel.” It was intense. So intense that Eloise fell down and appeared to injure her leg, but she did not let that stop her at all. Somewhere in the mix was a fairly new song Penelope wrote with Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day. It was called “Miss Me,” and it was about divorce. I liked it and it was an interesting synthesis of The Avengers and Green Day.

The Avengers

This was followed by the ever-popular anthem “We Are the One.” Teresa from The Brat joined Penelope for this one, making it a stellar duet. The audience was all singing along. I smiled to myself when Teresa was so overcome with joyous emotion she started dancing like a frantic child. Believe it or not, it just got better with “Car Crash,” and the astonishing cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black.” To my astonishment, Penelope put the microphone in my face during the last song, “American In Me.” It was a good thing I actually knew the words. No encore. It was not necessary. The entire evening was an epic encore.