Lagwagon, Hagfish & The Enemies

On a night beckoning the resurrection of my affinity for pig squeals, horse galloping drumbeats and circle pits, I arrived at what was supposed to be a respectable time at The Brick Works for a night I’d been anticipating for weeks. Not altogether surprising, given my luck with this sort of thing, the show’s starting time was altered due to a cancellation by Pulley, surely sending catcalling sports fans running home with their autograph paraphernalia (Pulley frontman Scott Radinsky is a recently retired Major League pitcher). So, in what is becoming an unwelcome trend with me, I missed the entire first set of the show. The Enemies, who rumor had it were a great opening band, were the group omitted from my evening. My super-sleuth mentality led me to determine that, indeed, the band played admirably and with a touch of ‘70s punk attitude.
Hagfish took the stage, and I was excited to see that the guitarist for Someday I was the fret man for this group. I had never been interested in seeing Hagfish, almost entirely due to their unfortunate moniker. However, when the band played, they assured me that they were a group worth checking out again as they rocked through a set that recalled the pop-y sounds of groups like All. Once the band had played for awhile, the audience was able to loosen up a bit and danced along to what turned out to be a disappointingly short set.
Pathetic is the man who has to wait nearly seven years to see one of his favorite bands perform live, and I had assumed this role for far too long. Lagwagon, who according to frontman Joey Cape, had played in Chico 10 years earlier, to the day, started their show off with “Alien 8” off of Double Plaidinum which featured Joey strumming an acoustic guitar and spilling his guts lyrically to a frothing and almost maniacal crowd. The band stuck to mainly older songs and followed up the opener with “Violins,” my favorite song by the band, off arguably their best CD, Hoss. At one point during the set, a fan leapt from the venue’s balcony, behind and to the left of the stage, landed behind a surprised Chris Flippin (guitarist) and proceeded to stage dive. This act pretty much summed up the intensity of the show and all of the bands that took part in it. Lagwagon retired to an offstage location, only to hear cries of encore from the audience. “Stokin’ The Neighbors,” that venerable punk-party song, was perhaps the song that everyone wanted to hear. However, the band reemerged with two other tunes and then ended their night.
Surely this night will be remembered for, if nothing else, the fact that few bands can excite people and inspire the kind of rebelliousness evidenced at Monday’s show like Lagwagon. I am pathetic no longer.

– Ryan Prado
– Photo by Alyssa Starkey

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