Me First and the Gimme Gimmes | San Diego California | 31.12.2003

Support: Strung Out, Rise Against, Taking Back Sunday, Yellowcard, Sugarcult, Avenged Sevenfold

...and other bands that I did not get to see nor did I want to see (Rufio, Story of the Year, and offset)

First and foremost, Happy New Year to all. To me its another day being a part of the machine, to others it’s a fresh start, so go figure. Going into this show I had certain expectations about how the bands would turn out considering I have seen most of them many times over. Expect this was my second time (and first time in 3 years) getting a chance to see my favorite cover band, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. They rarely play and it seemed like a good plan to see them on New Years Eve. This show was definitely worth the 150-mile drive down the Southern Californian Coast. The show started around 6:30 with local bands playing with the bigger bands playing later in the night. I arrived at the venue around 9:30pm and I was excited to enjoy the typical brand of So-Cal punk we all love or have come to hate. The show took place at the San Diego Sports Arena (10,000 seat capacity). They set up two huge stages at both ends of the Arena floor. There was not any assigned seating and people had the option of sitting up in the stands or going onto the floor where most of the action took place.

When I arrived to the venue Avenged Sevenfold was on stage and I caught a glimpse of them and I did not like them. Not my brand of hardcore. In the hallways around the arena there were booths set up from all the bands. I cruised over to the Strung Out booth and checked out some merchandise. I recognized Chris from Strung Out at the booth and had the opportunity to talk to him for a few minutes. I live in the next town over from where Strung Out lives and he was stoked when I told him that I drove that far to see the show. The first band I was excited to see was Rise Against. It was actually pretty intense to see these guys play in a stadium setting in front of at least 5,000 people. What a great year for these guys. They release their second full length on FAT, “Revolutions Per Minute” which is an amazing album. To top it off they sign to a major label Dreamworks (which I support because they are fucking talented and deserve a chance to reach a wider audience). They played their typical array of songs including, “Black Masks and Gasoline,” “Alive and Well” and “Heaven Knows.” Again kudos to Rise Against for a great year. Tim announced that they are already planning to release another album in the near future and that they are going to be on the entire Warped Tour in 2004. There were several pits going on at the same time during Rise Against, not a surprise. Sugarcult was next and their set was uninspiring.

After Sugarcult was probably the most musically extreme band of the night. To no surprise Strung Out belted out 40 minutes of pure insanity. Jason (the lead singer for those who don’t know) jumped into the huge crowd a few times. The PA system was somewhat screwed up during their set but they managed to play well. At one point the microphone broke and Jason had to use one of the other band members mic. They even played a new song that they said would be on their new album coming out in the summer time. The crowd pleasers were “Matchbook,” “Firecracker,” “Velvet Alley” and “Virgina Madison.”

Yellowcard played next and I could have sworn I was at a Britney Spears concert. I am not bashing Yellowcard here but somehow all these teenie-bopper girls showed up to watch them. They are the epitome of pop punk. People mistake them for punk when they are actually pop rock, pop punk, or whatever you want to call it. Definitely not punk in my book. On any rate, they did have a very energetic set. They seemed very excited to be playing this show. They even credited their existence to bands like Strung Out and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. They gave big props to Joey Cape and Fat Mike (Lagwagon, Nofx, Gimme Gimmes). Their set was not uninspiring like Sugarcult but it was still boring for me though I was somewhat entertained. They played their “hit MTV song” “Way Away” and crowd favorite “October Nights.” Next on the stage was Taking Back Sunday. They played right through midnight and they did the countdown till midnight. Balloons came down from the ceiling and people started to bop each other with the balloons during Taking Back Sunday’s set.

Last but not least the band I was waiting for, Me First and The Gimme Gimmes. As soon as they played people started filing out. I was kind of bummed. I mean yeah they do play cover songs but these guys are all legends. For those that don’t know, the Gimmes include: Fat Mike (Nofx), Joey Cape (Lagwagon), Spike Slawson (Swingin’ Utters), Chris Shifflet (Foo Fighters) and Dave Raun (Lagwagon). They all dressed up in cheesy New Year’s Eve outfits that you would see at a pawn shop. The band was pretty wasted on stage, which was typical of any Fat WreckChord band. Even though they absolutely butcher these songs to many I on the other hand laugh and enjoy them. They played: “Rocket Man,” “I Believe I can Fly,” (Spike even played the Ukulele) “Don’t Cry for me Argentina,” “Summertime,” “Over the Rainbow,” the new year’s eve song that you always hear on the radio on tv during the holidays, and a few others that I do not remember. They were so fucking funny. Fat Mike kept on offering the crowd rim jobs and heroin after the show. This was the first time for my girlfriend seeing them and she couldn’t believe how much Fat Mike talked on stage. Mike kept on interrupting Spike before he sang and made fun of Joey Cape’s fake mustache. Half way through their set half the crowd had already gone home and it was fucking hilarious. Mike even said, you guys know we suck, were a cover band, and a shitty one for that matter. Mike was drinking during the entire set and by the time they ended their set it looked like Spike was about to pass out. They kept on advertising that they play weddings and bar mitzvah’s. They played from 12:15am till about 12:50am.

The show over all was decent. I have been to better arena punk shows but the Gimme Gimmes were definitely the highlight. Despite people leaving it was enjoyable. From my point of view, I will never get tired of the Fat Wreck music. Who knows when these bands will call it quits or die from overdoses (even though that would be pretty sad). At the show many people either didn’t know the songs that they were playing, didn’t have respect for them, or were just plain ol bored and wanted to go home and get drunk even more. So that could be the reason why they left. The bands with the most stage presence were Rise Against, Strung Out, The Gimme Gimmes, and I will go out on a limb and say Yellowcard. Even though I am not a fan of theirs they did try to put on an entertaining show with the violinist doing flips and such. It was a treat seeing the Gimmes play, they rarely do.