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After a tight parallel parking job, Greg and I put out a small fire on the side of the road (a pine cone being the culprit) before making our way to the Palladium. We were in line as Set Your Goals were playing "Mutiny," which had me eager to head downstairs to check them out.
The sound was very unclear for Set Your Goals. The guitars weren't that loud and everything sound messy, putting a damper on their high energy set. There was an awkward height difference between the two vocalists, but it was real cool watching them do their thing (I enjoy watching the guy who isn't singing and doesn't have anything to do at that moment), despite being outshined by their tremendous drummer. Sound aside, I did dig their set, which consisted of an even mix of old and new songs, as well as a Jawbreaker cover.
I thought This is Hell was Guns Up! for awhile, as the singer kept mentioning them (bummed I missed them). This is Hell played an awesomely tight set, sounding much more like American Nightmare than I remember (never a bad thing). They and the crowd went nuts, making way for high impact moshing, pile ups and a guitarist who looked like he choreographed his moves in his bedroom.
Righteous Jam's set was pretty much a big pile on sing along with their singer running laps around the stage while he wasn't singing. I'm not usually a fan of them, but they played a really great set full of mostly mid tempo rock hardcore jams, gaining at least one new fan along the way.
I saw a tub full of beer, and I knew that the part was about to get started. After an intro, Jimmy Gestapo took the mic and Murphy's Law rocked the joint (surprisingly, not literally) pretty hard, but not for long enough. There wasn't much banter or drinking during their set, but the songs were full of funness. "Ska Song" featured solos by all musicians (including the drummer using a beer bottle at one point), and their cover of Minor Threat's "Straight Edge" was an unexpected surprise, especially being played after "Quest for Herb" and "Beer." This was the best Murphy's Law set I've seen in awhile, and most of the crowd seemed to be on the same page, as there were chants for an encore that, unfortunately, went denied.
Comeback Kid had a damn tough act to follow, but they did a pretty decent job. They were energetic and had the crowd into them, but the overbearing bass all but drowning everything else out, vibrating my body like a bed at a sleazy motel. The crowd was warm and receptive, but it seemed like most people were eagerlya awaiting Gorilla Biscuits taking the stage. Despite that, Comeback Kid still played their hearts out.
It dawned on me during Comeback Kid's set that I was really close to seeing Gorilla Biscuits, a band that meant a lot to me from my late teens to this day. I would spend hours singing along to them in my car, and the anticipation of seeing htem became almost a surreal experience (or at least one mimicking Christmas Eve).
The lights finally went dim, and the instruments took the stage. Walter Schreifels, looking similar to Andrew WK and wearing white with a Gorilla Biscuits cape, seemed real goofy on stage, signaling for their intro. One was the middle of a song, one was Raybeez' beginning to "Big Mouth," and the third (as Schreifels did a ballerina move leaning forward on one leg) was the trumpet intro to "New Direction," which got the crowd into a frenzy. Soon after, Civ took the stage and the fun began.
Civ had the stage presence of a man half his age (though also taking breaks and sitting near the drums if a fan took the mic-something he encouraged), as did drummer Luke. Schreifels mostly stood there, but did get into it at times. Bassist Arthur Smilios, who is an insanely skinny person (he looked like a skeleton with a bass), had some presence, but not all the time. Second guitarist Alex Brown just stood there playing guitar, not doing anything else. He was kind of just standing there like a puppet. I don't think anybody cared about what the people were doing on stage, as the songs, although sounding a little sloppy, were still the songs of the legendary Gorilla Biscuits. Saying they were fucking awesome would be a huge understatement, and everybody leaving the Palladium looked like they just had the time of their lives. I know a smile didn't leave my face at all during their set.
MURPHY'S LAW SET LIST:
"Intro"
"Quest for Herb"
"Beer"
"Straight Edge"
"Panty Raid"
"Cavity Creeps"
"Ska Song"
"Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked in Tonight"
GORILLA BISCUITS SET LIST:
"New Direction"
"Stand Still"
"Better Than You Crew"
"Time Flies"
"Big Mouth"
"First Failure"
"Sittin' Around at Home"
"Two Sides"
"Things We Say"
"Breaking Free"
"Slut"
"Competition"
"Hold Your Ground"
"Do it Yourself"
"High Hopes"
"Good Intentions"
"Degradation"
"No Reason Why"
"Cats and Dogs"
"Gorilla Biscuits"
"Finish What You Started"
"As One" (featuring Sweet Pete of In My Eyes)
"Start Today"