Goldenvoice is one of the most prolific punk concert promoters of all time. Founded by Gary Tovar, you guessed it, 30 years ago, the legendary promoter was able to bring the different factions of Southern California\u2019s burgeoning punk rock scene together, give it just enough structure and kick in the pants to take off and become something truly special in the world of music.<\/p>\n
Now 30 years later, it\u2019s hard to believe what a force West coast punk (my personal favorite and I\u2019m not from here btw) has become in the rest of the world. I mean if I listed all the influential west coast punk bands here, I\u2019d still be listing the bands by the time you\u2019d be reading it.<\/p>\n
There are simply too many to count and whether you consider Offspring and Green Day to be true punk rockers any more, the reality is that bands like them along with NOFX, Pennywise, Rancid and\u2026.geez, there I go again listing the damn bands.. well let\u2019s just say there are not only a bunch of Cali punk bands still playing to this day, but they are as influential as ever.<\/p>\n
Well on this magical night, the 1st of the 3 day Goldenvoice 30th Anniversary shows, I was honored to be able to photograph the legendary promoter himself, Gary Tovar, as he introduced 3 legendary punk bands.<\/p>\n
The night began with the Adolescents, who I assure you are no longer Adolescents at all, but that didn\u2019t keep em from rocking the house. This Fullerton, CA band was formed in 1981 right around the hey day of West Coast punk. This was my first time seeing these guys live. I shot the first 3 songs in the photo pit and then headed dutifully back in the crowd to hear the rest of their set which was pretty tight.<\/p>\n
Now I\u2019ll admit, I only have a few tracks of Adolescents, \u201cKids of the Black Hole\u201d and a couple more. But after seeing them live, well, they are one of those bands that will probably be top of mind when I get ready to refill the old ipod. The band members have played in other notable punk bands like \u201cAgent Orange\u201d, \u201cSocial Distortion\u201d and more.<\/p>\n
Next up was the legendary LA punk \/ folk band \u201cX\u2019, whom I\u2019d seen in NYC about 2 years ago. Once again, I don\u2019t have a ton of \u201cX\u201d material but what I do have I love. Lead singer, Exene Cervenka was once married to one of my all time favorite actors, Viggo Mortenson (see him in \u201cEastern Promises\u201d if you haven\u2019t already). Exene is also an accomplished artist, but she\u2019s had some serious health issues of late. She announced a couple years ago that she is suffering from Muscular Sclerosis, a serious disorder with no known cure.<\/p>\n
But on this night, Exene showed little signs of anything but energy and love for her craft as she and her talented band mates Billy Zoom and John Doe ripped through hits from their critically acclaimed albums they\u2019ve been cranking out since they formed in 1977.<\/p>\n
\u201cX\u201d is an LA band through and through but they\u2019d look right at home in Austin, TX or Nasvhille, TN with their sometimes folksy look and sound which bounces between hard, fast paced punk and root tinged folk for a sound that can sound almost like Folk or hillbilly punk (at least to me, a guy from Tennessee).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Goldenvoice is one of the most prolific punk concert promoters of all time. Founded by Gary Tovar, you guessed it, 30 years ago, the legendary promoter was able to bring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n