Nestled in a shopping center in Marin County, the Hopmonk Tavern in Novato, California is a venue that can be easily overlooked by passers by. However, this venue offers not only indoor shows in their session room but, also offers up an outdoor venue during the warm summer days. Tonight we were in the session room. A small, intimate room that holds about 250 people with a full bar and a modest stage. This show was a long time coming, it was originally booked for May 2020, the show finally happened on August 20,2021. As with most venues these days, all patrons were fully vaccinated or had a current negative Covid-19 test.
First up were the Spice Pistols. A Sex Pistols inspired drag cover band that sent Simon Cowell scrambling to hit the X buttons on America’s Got Talent. I knew nothing of this band coming in to the show. I was pleasantly surprised. This band was solid! The lead singer worked the stage like a seasoned veteran while the rest of the band followed suit. They played a decent set of about a dozen songs and left the crowd wanting more.
The Spice pistols are:
Ginger Binger Spice (John Risdon) – Vocals
Shorty Sporty Spice (Doug Walker) – Drums
Maybe Baby Spice ( Michael Fairchild) – Guitars and Vocals
Hairy Scary Spice (Sppike Mike Muellenberg) – Bass Guitar and Vocals.
When Agent Orange hit the stage, the middle aged crowd were all teenagers again. The seminal skate punk band broke into “No such thing” as the MC KC Turner was half through his introduction. The crowd exploded. They seamlessly blasted through all their “hits” without missing a beat. Before I knew it, the set was coming to a sweaty close playing the Dead Kennedys “Police Truck”. After a few minute break they came back out for a 2 song encore.
Agent Orange are:
Mike Palm – guitars, lead vocals
Perry Giordano – bass, backing vocals
Sandy Hansen – drums
Follow the Spice Pistols online
Follow Agent Orange online
Photographer of about 10 years, I have been shooting concerts for about 8 of those years. I started to get serious about concert photography about 6 or 7 years ago and now try to shoot as many as I can. I shoot mostly rock but, have done some country and big band stuff. I love music and since I am nowhere close to being a musician, this is a way I can be a small part of what, in the words of Henry Rollins, “gets me through the highs, the lows and everything in between”.
