LimeWire Music Blog

Thirty years of underground rock ‘n’ roll. According to Social Distortion’s Mike Ness, that’s what we were all celebrating on Saturday night. From opening acts The Strangers, to all-girl hardcore band The Civets doing their first Canadian show, to the 90-minute set by the legendary headliners, it was a radical night of So-Cal punk rock.

While the two opening bands set the stage for the rest of the night, there’s no doubt who everyone came to see. The entire audience could have been the collective offspring of the band, who still sport slicked-back hair and tight T-shirts (for those who actually wore a shirt, and there weren’t many). Ness and company didn’t disappoint; he spent an equal amount of time on either side of the stage, posing for pictures without missing a riff on his Les Paul.

And there was no shortage of music either, including a couple of new songs, followed by two – that’s right, two – encores. From Hank to Cash, they tore through “Mommy’s Little Monster,” “Sick Boy,” “Can’t Take It With You” and “Ball and Chain.” They played a little bit of everything, culminating in the band telling us all a little story. They told us the story of their lives.

Words by Cory A. Ross / Photos by Lauren Keogh