Social Distortion is celebrating twenty-five years of their self-titled record, and the celebration thankfully doesn't stop at hanging a backdrop in the image of that album sleeve behind the drum kit. They played ten songs off of that record, to the delight of every fan in the audience. Add a few tracks from their latest album Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes and a few more from Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell and White Light, White Heat, White Trash and you have a near-perfect setlist for the Orange County punk veterans.
The band is very tight and the sound in the room is very clear, which lets you appreciate what makes SocDis so different and so much better than all other US punk bands from the era: their songs. Influenced by classic rock and country as much as punk, the melodies crafted by Mike Ness are simple, poignant and epic, which is not a word usually associated with that genre.
A great energetic set by a mature band that has somehow lost none of its edge and anger.
