LIVE REVIEW

Rancid @ Henry Fonda Theatre, Hollywood Ca.

By: Gian Erguiza - October, 2008

Frontman Tim Armstrong comes out of the dark, sporting the classic black beanie with a devilish grin on his face. 'Hey Los Angeles!' Tim screams out and the band bursts into the first song. Not the shy type, Tim quickly acknowledges the crowd by getting right up and center and encourages everyone 'Let's go!' The band, equally not shy, pumps up the crowd and the show begins with a big bang.

The roots are radical! Spikes, leather, mohawks, women and tattoos were in full force at the Henry Fonda Theatre this past tuesday night, eagerly awaiting the beasts of punk rock, the mighty Rancid. With a consecutive 6 night stay at the Henry Fonda, tonight being the first show, Rancid were going to show us all how they do it, punk rock style. The packed house consisting of all sorts of individuals were getting anxious as the Adolescents were closing out their set.

'I can't wait for Rancid!' Screams a young girl to her friends and her friends reply with 'I know, they're going to kick ass tonight!' and kick as they did. Hanging out on the balcony of the Henry Fonda in the sweltering summer heat, listening to people all around me talking Rancid, got me in the mood quickly. I was anxious to see Rancid once again. It's been about 8 years or so since the last time I saw them and I was in high hopes that this show was going to be good.

'I love Los Angeles' exclaims Lars Frederiksen. 'It's one of the only places on earth where all sorts of different individuals can come together and have a good time, you know what I'm sayin'?' The crowd obviously roars in agreeance. 'Thank you guys and let's have a great time!'

Tim Armstrong and company were pumped up, keeping the energy level at a high, even on the less slower tracks. One of the songs that clearly had the crowd in trance was 'Bloodclot.' The rhythm had the crowd jumping and singing along. During this time, the crowd had swelled to capacity with little room to move around. The backdrop, which was actually a computer generated backdrop that changed pictures with slides and graphics, gave the show a definite visual.

'Fall Back Down' followed with much love. This is one of those songs that you can sing along to all night long and sing along we did. I can clearly say that the response to this song was massive compared to the other songs and people were really moving and grooving pretty well. Lots of happiness happened during this song.

All night long I was hoping to hear some old stuff from Mr. Tim Armstrong and low and behold, I heard Lars scream 'This one's an old punk classic for you Operation Ivy fans.' At that exact moment, it was pure joy. Rancid came through and played 'Knowledge,' my favorite track off 'Energy' nd boy did it sound fuckin' magnificent. Calssic line in that song? 'All I know is that I don't know!' Classic!

'This song is about a time in our lives where we didn't know what was going to happen and what we were going to do at that moment in time, living in New York City' says Lars, 'This song is about three things: New York City, punk rock and being an individual. This song is called Olympia Wa.' He also mentioned the fact how they wish they were in Olympia at that exact moment in time.

To get the crowd back into place, Rancid busted out 'Maxwell Murder.' This classic Rancid song sounded even better live with bass player, Matt Freeman, extending the bass solo. The song has thsi awesome bass solo in the middle of the track but Matt did us all one better by playing the solo in its full extent and more, way more. Matt actually took up at least 3 minutes of pure bass playing, rolling up and down the fret board like a madman with the drum beat intact. That dude can roll that bass. Branden on drums, equally amazing and full of energy, never losing the beat and keeping the whole thing going.

Two other songs that went over real well were '11th Hour' and 'Journey To The End Of East Bay.' Love the chorus on the latter song, sometimes I feel the same exact way.

It was real surprising to hear how good Lars Frederiksen was on the microphone. Obviously his guitar playing is excellent but his voice sounded great on this particular night, not over shadowing Tim's vocals but just having a strong presence on the mic overall. Of course, Tim's signature vocal styles and snarls were the rage, keeping with the attitude and style of the Rancid sound.

At the end of it all, Rancid gave a magnificent performance. Like true pro's in this game, Rancid had heart and performed with utmost honesty and perfection. Treating the crowd like their own, Rancid truly knows to unite a crowd as one, at least for one night.

With 5 more nights to go @ Henry Fonda, I hope that every night gets what we got: Punk rock and good times.

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