the Adicts� Get Adicted tour with Bang Sugar Bang and So Unloved. The concert was held at Peabody�s, Cleveland�s hot spot for local and international bands alike to play in.
After the 4 of us stood outside, we were granted entrance by bouncers, and directly after that, an older English fellow came up to us. It took me about 6 seconds to realize he was Pete, guitarist of the Adicts. Perhaps his original intention was to just give us a few flyers and flirt it up a bit, but being the entrepreneur I am, I introduced myself as member of the Concert Chaos Productions staff. With this information, he thought we�d like to interview them. This is a heart stopping situation for myself. I am a unconditional lover of everything Adicts. Of course, your humble narrator took this opportunity! Though, while following him up the stairs, I prepared myself for a very improvisational interview.
The dressing room was large and bare. A table on the farthest wall for snacks, a round table with a lap top set on it in one corner, and across it was one set up for the musicians to relax at. Kid, the drummer, was lounging on a couch of sorts, and Pete sat next to him. Monkey was sitting at the table, without his usual make-up and sequined outfits, looking a bit uncomfortable. He is not the outlandish and comical Joker in the pack. He was quiet and shy, but still sweet.
Click here to view a very jail house blues photo of Monkey.
We�ve hidden his true identity for privacy of the true Joker in the Pack .
�Yeah, Monkey�s real quiet. I think just last week I had about an hour and half conversation with him and I was really surprised, those don�t come a lot. But when he put on that outfit and paints his face up, he has a whole transformation. It�s funny, really�
I was looking forward to a night of cheese, confetti, and cards. �Yeah, we�ll see how much cheese we got left over tonight.� Their antics and tricks on stage are magical. It�s one of the funnest live shows that any crowd could take part in.
�Do you know how Monkey started wearing those outfits? One day I drew up that joker face and he painted it on and it just fit. And ever since he�s been wearing it. We didn�t always start out in the Clockwork Orange outfits and him as a Joker. We started out as your standard punk band. But around 1978 everything changed and we didn�t like it. Everyone had hair out to hear, black bondage pants and ripped shirts. Everyone looked the same. So we went back to what we knew and we�re still that way. Nobody�s like us, and no one ever was.�
The Adicts started out as the After-births. That name turned out to be already occupied. So it was changed to 1st the Addicts, then dropped the 2nd D to wean off any drug references. The Adicts played everywhere and anywhere in England. They all now reside in California, where they live with their families, record music, and do whatever else. I�ve always been intrigued by what I�ve heard about monkey being an archeologist, so I asked him a bit about that. �Yeah. I work in California. I live in California. So mostly California historical sites, which is post conquest development of the west and some stuff back home.� �I don't have an academic background. I just kind of drifted into it.�
This has been the longest tour Adicts have been on a long time. While they tour often, they don�t tour long. They usually only do about 2 or 3 weeks, and do around 40 shows per year. That�s not a lot, according to Monkey. After the tour, they plan on going home and recording a new album. When I asked what type of songs they were writing, I got the reply, �Can't tell you. On the account that we haven't actually written them yet.�
�I wrote a few.� said Pete.
�And I wrote a few,� Kid stuck out.
Well, whenever it�s finished, it�ll be put out on the new S.O.S. records, where Adicts are probably the oldest band in the line-up. Though the Vibrators were just added and Exploited and Total Chaos are on it as well. The entire band is well into their late forties but still have the energy of teenagers. I�d say Pete is about as frisky as one. They all enjoy a good Guinness. They all like to drink, you knew that! When your humble narrator asked them why they leave Pittsburgh out of their tour dates every trip, Kid told me about his good time in Pittsburgh on his birthday. �Well, at least I think it was Pittsburgh. I like Pittsburgh. I had my birthday in Pittsburgh and I got pissed drunk in a bar. I don�t remember the name�. It was a good 20 years ago and I had a really good time.� �It's not our choice really. It's all done through the agent, through the bookers. The band has very little say.� They haven�t been to Pittsburgh in a while. They thought maybe the last time they were there, they might of conceived us. Sorry, our mothers weren�t big fans of them. Mine, personally preferred T. Rex and Black Sabbath. Sorry, guys. So, we�re lucky to find out that we aren�t the worst city for the Adicts to play. The only places they avoid are Baghdad and they haven�t been to Berlin in a while. During the show, there was enough Pittsburghers there to start a few chants about �Let�s go Steelers� and �Pittsburgh!� It took them a second to figure out what the crowd was saying. Maybe the bookers will take note.
After a good lengthy chat, their pizza was delivered so Concert Chaos left them at peace with their food. The other bands were beginning to play anyway. Everyone was set on half an hour sets, leaving Adicts at about eleven-thirty or twelve to play however long they liked. The 1st band CC caught was an authentic Oi band of firemen from Ohio. They played great anthems and even did a cover of a Blitz song. They were good, and refreshing because most bands declaring the words �Oi!� these days have nothing to do with that actual music. After them, there was a standard punk rock band, pogoing on stage. They were real energetic. I was preoccupied waiting for the two bands CC got to interview to start playing. There�s nothing like seeing a live set. Prerecording on Myspace only do so much justice for a band.
So Unloved is a � all-girl group from San Antonio, TX. While to the eye they look like little cute girls with happy disposition, once they get on stage they tear shit up. The closest I can relate them to is Distillers they are defiantly all their own. Omega has fantastic guttural vocals, and she and Cece really knock out metal riffs on their guitars. All the while, Chris Awful and Lowy are holding it down in the rhythm section. It was amusing to find that between each brutal song, they�d talk and all have high pitched voices.
Click here to read the So Unloved interview .
Next up was Bang Sugar Bang. They describe themselves as having a sort of British Invasion Pop-punk sound. They sound just like a really good time to CC. They have a great presence on stage. Vocalist/Guitarist Cooper jumps around and rolls around bassist/vocalist Matt. They get comparisons to X for the male/female combo vocals. Actually, they sound nothing alike. Her voice reminds me of an in-tune Poly Serene of X-Ray Spex. Their sound is reminiscent of that whole early punk. It�s lovely. The only song I didn�t enjoy was one about Caller-ID. All the others: complete love. It was great interviewing Cooper, she is a true representation of punk rock.
Click here to read the Bang Sugar Bang interview .
CC waited a good bit for the Adicts to set up. We managed to secure a front stage position to check out the bands all night long. Well, let me tell you, Cleveland�s finest didn�t appreciate that. The pushing and shoving promptly started as soon as the Alex (from the movie A Clockwork Orange) transparencies lit up the stage. There was other Pittsburghers there than just Concert Chaos. They let themselves be heard by chanting �Let�s Go Steelers� and simply �Pittsburgh.� Hell Yeah, Let�s Go Stillerz!
Clad in their all-white attire, Pete, Kid Dee, Mel, Dan and guitar fill-in John Scruff came on stage. Moments later Monkey busted out, and the show started off with �Viva La Revolution.� They played all their goodies. �Fools, �Joker in the Pack,� �Eyes,� �Steamroller,� �Get Adicted,� if you�re familiar with their songs, they probably played all your favorites.
Imagining their show is like imagining a little circus. There�s really nothing quite like it. They throw out string confetti, poker cards, balls, and tons of glitter confetti. That Dan really goes crazy on his fiddle. One concert go-er said it�s just a big party, and you feel like their your good friends. Everyone�s connected to the band and having a good time. Cheesy, but true. CC worker Lindsey Evan must of felt really connected, she was repeatedly tea bagged by Monkey as he reached out for the crowd. This is about the only time it�s appropriate for a 40-something man to have his crotch anywhere near a 16 year old girl. God bless them both. They played a great, long set and ended it was another rendition of �Viva!� Concert Chaos walked away from Cleveland�s Peabody�s with memories of floating confetti, Jokers, and those shiny, oh so very shiny pants.
Click here to see pictures from the show!
Review by Molly Olesky