In Defense of Denver

Dispatch from the front:

So I went and saw Street Dogs last night. surprisingly this was the first time i've ever actually seen them headline and not open. So that was pretty cool I guess. I got to the Marquis right before locals Frontside Five started the night off right. I see them pretty regularly opening for other bands, and every time they seem to get better. However, I was surprised to see that they're singer was not present, and their two guitarist had taken over lead vocal duty. Even more surprising was when their singer actually came up to sing for one song ("Drinkin' Until Dawn"), but then left right after. I don't quite understand what the deal is, but whatever, good times. Especially the Minor Threat and Naked Raygun covers! ("I Don't Wanna Hear It" and "Rat Patrol" respectively). Their covers set the stage for the night, as every single band would at least cover 1 song.

Flatfoot 56 came up next, and I had never heard anything about them except that they were kind of like Chicago's Dropkick Murphy's, in the same way that The Tossers are Chicago's Flogging Molly. Armed with distorted guitars, drums, a mandolin, and bagpipes, they kept the energy in the room at a high their whole set. Although their "frontman" kinda annoyed me with his, shall we say, overt macho-ness. They played some good tunes, but kinda seemed like dicks. Maybe just their main guitarist/singer. Whatever. In addition to their mid-set Cro-Mags cover, they ended their set with "Amazing Grace," but not after first making the room split, and run at each other like punk Braveheart.

fuck you Time Again, and fuck your Pennywise cover.

Hooray for Street Dogs! They wasted no time coming out after everything was set up, unlike most headlining bands, and ripped right into "Mean Fist," the first track off of their new album. The kept the pace going with a great mix of new, standard, and old school. The ongoing joke between my friends and I is that the Street Dogs always play the same set everytime we see them. With a new album, this show broke tradition with a healthy amount of songs from State of Grace. and they didn't close with "Fighter!" crazy right? I know! Mike was charismatic and talkative as always, dedicating songs to fallen friends and fallen soldiers, and lauding the "unity pit" that was going nonstop. At one point Mike stated something about them "being a band since 2003" and I looked at the banner behind him, and it stated "Street Dogs est. 2002." Nice. I almost considered not going to this show because I figured I wouldn't be missing much, plus Masters of Suspicion and I need to practice the Misfits (little more on that later). However, I think I made the right decision, goddamn I love Street Dogs. I even got to get on stage and sing "Borstal (Boston) Breakout!"

I grabbed the setlist, and its the most detailed one I've ever seen. Not only did the put all the details for the show (venue, openers, date, etc), they put the tuning for every song next to the title.

Meanfist
Guns
Not Without A Purpose
Kevin J O'Toole
--------------------
In Defense of Dorchester
Back to the World
Drink Tonight
------------------
Two Angry Kids
----------------
Final Transmission
Tobe's Got A Drinking Problem
Katie Bar the Door
General's Boombox
----------------------
Justifiable Fisticuffs (on the set list marked as "audible old school" as they took requests, haha)
Rise Above (Black Flag)
Fatty
-------------
(Encore)
Free
Savin Hill
Borstal (Boston) Breakout (Sham 69)


In other news, The Masters of Suspicion, my roommate, and I will be covering The Misfits all night at our Halloween party, so that will be pretty fucking sweet. There was also talk of covering other bands as well, but we will see how practice goes (once we get going of course). I'll post audio from their most recent show at the Buffalo Rose at the bottom.

O Pioneers!!! new album, Neon Creeps, leaked, and its at the top of the list for albums of the year for sure. I have a copy (hopefully) in the mail system somewhere for me...


The Masters of Suspicion
Sloppy Seconds: Live 10/2/08 at The Buffalo Rose, Golden CO
1. Kenny G Experience
2. Alchoholocaust
3. No Scrubs
4. Stool Pigeon
5. Intervention
6. Give My Love to Rose
7. 1000 More Fools
8. Fistfuck
9. Larry Walker
10. Uncle Benny
11. Heaven Is A Place On Earth
12. Fisticuffs
13. Lager Lullaby
14. Fools and Kings
15. Gunslinger