Distillers, Transplants & Pressure Point

A note to men who are traveling in strange towns: if you can, bring a woman with you. Besides all the other obvious benefits a woman can bring, they have a much keener sense of direction than most of us men. That being said, I owe this trip to my partner riding shotgun (she knows who she is). Once we had traveled through beautiful Oak Park, we came upon the Colonial Theater, and a line of cute little gutter punks dotting the outside looking for people with cigarettes that they could repeatedly bum from. I know this because I spend a lot of time in Sacto and the same kids hit me up day after day with the same fucking puppy dog, addict eyes. If you can't afford the habit, you shouldn't have it.
After leaving a friend in line, we walked up to the local food outlet to purchase adult beverages and were very happy to find that Sparks malt beverages come in packs of four (you won't really need more than two. Think Red Bull, vodka and Cisco). After satisfactorily completing our alcohol mission we joined the rest of the minions inside to hear the first band of the night. Pressure Point is real fucking good. I love the fact that they live their music, not just play it. Being from Sacto and heavily involved in the skinhead scene, Pressure Point had more of the crowd with them than the headliners at times, and they loved every minute of it. If you've never seen these guys up here, they play Chico somewhat often these days. They are a five piece oi' band that's not afraid to kick your ass on or off stage. Classic, fast guitar riffs mixed with a heavy bass and good drumming all behind the frontman, who is the heart and soul of the band. You can see that he likes it that way, directing the music and the crowd at the same time. Go see this band when you get the chance.
Next up were The Transplants. If you like Rancid, Op Ivy or Lars and the Bastards, you will love this band. It seems as if all the members of those bands are in this one. You got Lint on guitar, Matt Freeman on bass, I believe the drummer from Blink 182 is in this as well, some mohawked guy (go figure) playing the other guitar and a frontman. Lars even came out to sing a few songs, as did Brody from The Distillers. Imagine Op Ivy with a heavier sound and you pretty much have The Transplants. They are really tight, and I liked it a lot. What else can I say? Check out Epitaph's website or something to find out where they will be next, get in your car, and go see 'em.
The Distillers are one of my favorite bands, and I was fucking stoked to see them again. It seemed to take the band a few songs to really get going, but once they did, they didn't stop for much. They have been doing a lot of touring to support the new album, so maybe they were just tired, but whatever, they rocked. You weren't there to see it, so I can pretty much say whatever I want to about it. They played almost all the songs off of Sing Sing Death House and a few of the better ones off the self-titled album. At one point in between songs, Brody asked the crowd what they wanted to hear. Screams of "Oh Serena" rang through the air but some little kid kept yelling for her to play "Oh Jason," which made the whole place and band crack up. Jason didn't get his wish on stage that night, but you never know what he was dreaming about when he got home. Having rock 'n' rolled their way through 20 or so songs, the band had finally had enough and called it quits. As they walked off the stage and I walked out of the theater, I wondered what they would come up with next. I will definitely be looking for the new album when it hits the streets. You should too.
- Marcus Dorin

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