The Shocker, Golden Bats & Ballistics

Starting the night off was the Ballistics, a group of young misfits who I like to call Chico’s most improved band. These guys have consistently gotten better since the first time I saw them and they blew me away when they opened things up. The newer stuff has a much more aggressive edge to it and I can tell that they have been expanding their influences into the more hardcore side of punk rock with more scream-y vocals and a few breakdowns, while still keeping up that new school-ish flavor that garnered their fan base of bar rockers in the first place. Their shrinkage to a three-piece hasn’t hurt their stage show either, with lots of bouncing around and swinging guitars on top of the bar as well as on stage.
The Golden Bats is basically the same band as The Shocker as far as members go but the two offer distinct styles that still go together well. The set by the Golden Bats got the crowd, which had swelled to fill the floor to the back of the bar, moving and shaking a little booty. The music was good solid rock ‘n’ roll with a gritty feel perfect for a bar setting while still retaining a pop sensibility that resonated well with a diverse crowd of punks, drunks, riot grrrls and normal kids just back from summer vacation.
The band quickly morphed into The Shocker when one guitarist took a seat at the bar, the guy on vocals moved over to just play guitar and Jennifer Precious Finch hopped up on stage. The ex-L7 frontwoman immediately kicked the show into high gear when the band ripped into a short set. The area in front of the stage erupted into a mass of dancing bodies flying in all directions that somehow remained very friendly. It might have been due to the fact that the crowd was mostly women having a good time instead of the stereotypical meathead moshers seen at most shows. The band played what good riot grrrl music has always been; a mix of aggressive styles done female style. I would say that the band tended to stay mostly in the realm of punk rock with its aggro edge, and lots of rocking out on stage, but the musicianship was solid and not over the top. And it was fun. If the Riff Raff has to have a swan song, this was a fitting one.
– Brad Lambert

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