This past Saturday night, February 26, 2022, I cleared my calendar and headed back to The Ace of Spades in Sacramento California to see three bands I spent my teens listening to. Negative Approach and The Adolescents opened for The Circle Jerks on this punk rock dream ticket. The audience was a great cross section of age groups ranging from teens that are new to these bands, to us seasoned veterans that have been listening to them for decades. I really wish it didn’t take me 35 years to see these bands live. They didn’t disappoint, not that I thought they would.
First up was the Detroit based Negative Approach. hitting the stage with “Hypocrite”, the set was filled with NA classics. John Brannon and the rest of the crew played with the energy of people half their age. The sweat was everywhere and the crowd loved it! Towards the end of the set, they threw in a cover of Sham 69‘s “Borstal Breakout,” and Iggy and the Stooges “I got a Right”. From start to finish, NA was full energy.
Negative Approach are:
John Brannon – vocals
Harry Richardson – guitars
Ron Sakowski – bass
John Lehl – drums
Next up were the Orange County icons, The Adolescents. Even though there is only one original member, the entire band killed the classic Orange County songs in true Adolescents fashion. Kicking off the set was “No Way”. They continued to hit the audience with “Amoeba”, “Word Attack”, “OC Confidential” and finishing up with “Kids of the Black Hole” . They even covered the Subhumans “FU”. The only downside of this amazing set was that there wasn’t anything off “Balboa Fun Zone“, which I guess is understandable since it was the only album Tony Reflex wasn’t on.. Still, a dream set.
The Adolescents are:
Tony Reflex – lead vocals
Dan Root – lead guitar
Mike Cambra – drums
Ian Taylor – rhythm guitar
Brad Logan – bass
Setlist:
1.) No Way
2.) Monolith at the Mountlake Terrace
3.) Who Is Who
4.) Self Destruct
5.) Amoeba
6.) Word Attack
7.) Rip It Up
8.) Things Start Moving
9.) Lockdown America
10.) OC Confidential
11.) A Dish Best Served Cold
12.) Fukushima Lemon Twist
13.) Let It Go
14.) Escape From Planet Fuck
15.) Queen of Denial
16.) Just Because
17.) Fuck You (The Subhumans cover)
18.) Kids of the Black Hole
Finally, after a 15 year touring hiatus, The Circle Jerks took the stage with the classic, “Deny Everything”. The entire set was broken down into 5 or 6 song blocks. Keith Morris, who is now 66 years old, took these moments to instill upon us his words of wisdom. Throughout the set, the songs focused on the two anniversary albums. The album “Group Sex” was released 42 years ago and couldn’t support a tour due to the pandemic and the now 40 year old “Wild in the Streets“. The almost 35 song set included such classics as “Beverly Hills”, “Coup D’état”, “Moral Majority”, the Keith Morris era Black Flag song. “Wasted”. before finishing up with the iconic “Question Authority”.
The Circle Jerks are:
Keith Morris – vocals
Greg Hetson – guitar
Zander Schloss – bass
Joey Castillo – drums
Setlist:
1.) Deny Everything
2.) Letterbomb
3.) In Your Eyes
4.) Stars and Stripes
5.) Back Against the Wall
6.) Behind the Door
7.) I Just Want Some Skank
8.) Beverly Hills
9.) When the Shit Hits the Fan
10.) Under the Gun
11.) Trapped
12.) Coup d’état
13.) Wild in the Streets (Garland Jeffreys cover)
14.) Moral Majority
15.) Don’t Care
16.) Live Fast Die Young
17.) Paid Vacation
18.) Junk Mail
19.) Parade of the Horribles
20.) Casualty Vampire
21.) I, I & I
22.) Leave Me Alone
23.) I Don’t
24.) The Crowd
25.) Beat Me Senseless
26.) World Up My Ass
27.) Operation
28.) Wasted
29.) High Price on Our Heads
30.) Red Tape
Encore:
31.) I Wanna Destroy You (The Soft Boys cover)
32.) What’s Your Problem
33.) Question Authority
Follow Negative Approach
Follow The Adolescents
Follow the Circle Jerks
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”.
