Well this show was first set up to be at the Safari, but when Shawn called it quits(on November 15th) I contacted Dave and Peter to have it moved to Sioux City. The thing that sucks is this is one of the shows that people were looking forward to. The other show I was sad to see go was Nashiville Pussy but easy come easy go I guess.
Anyway I hit the road with Frank (who drove) and my girl Jessica. The weather was shitty but about 20 or 30 miles later we stopped at a truck stop to get beer and ran right into the Bombs. It was cool that they remembered me and we caught up a bit and then hit the road. I downed a few beers as I watched the snow start coming down.
Got to the hall and no one was there, so we hit this Mexican place up the street and got more beer. When we got back to the hall the bands were setting up and we decided to hit the Red Room. The Red Room is this red neck bar up the street that is a cross between a Twin Peaks set and a bar out of Bar Flys. We hit the Scotch and Sodas and talked about life and the Bombs and etc... After a buzz was caught by all we headed back to the hall.
I grabbed the Spank tape recorder and tracked down Kerry and did an interview which is in Spank #24 (see interview on my page http://www.axiompiercing.com/davousbombs). I thought it went well but when your drunk everything seems to go well doesn't it. We finished just in time to see the Drop Kick Murphy's. The buzz I had heard was they were like an American Stiff Little Fingers mixed with Irish. Being a fan of SLF it goes without saying that I dug them. They busted out an Oi sound with a few traditional Irish songs for taste. After buying the CD I have to say that they are a band that conveys the songs better live. I guess that they broke up and I haven't heard the Hell Cat release yet but if you have had a chance to see these guys and stayed home, you're a loser.
Now for the U.S. Bombs, they are by far the last great OC punk band. Screw all that old school east coast Oi! shit. I have always thought that the main difference between east coast and west coast was the west coast had better songwriters and this band proves it. They did it all from stuff off the first LP and EP to the new stuff. Duane was and is true state of being falling all over. Darby Crashing it with the mic ain't working thing to forgetting lyrics. Anyone else and it would have destroyed the show but with him it's a strong part of the show. They closed with my favorite "So Long Good Bye" and left.
The ride home was hell, Frank was too drunk to drive, so I took over. We stopped at the same truck stop and this time ran into Drop Kick Muirphy's. It was strange. Got home and went to bed after a well spent day.
