Rancho Cucamonga now has the largest punk rock scene in the United States! So proclaimed Agent Orange guitarist/vocalist Mike Palm in a social media comment a few days after this ripping event. This seems to be true, now that The Arrow Room has put a lot money into making the empty supermarket-that-never happened space into an impressive concert venue, with incredible shows on a regular basis. In addition there are great shows happening every week at various smaller venues (like micro-breweries and backyard parties) throughout the city. Dr. Strange Records is still doing its part by providing the punk rock record store Mecca since 1988, and has also been hosting kick ass shows for some years now. This is all such sweet irony because back in the early 1980s, we used to get hassled by the Rancho Cucamonga Sheriffs for being weirdo punk rock skateboarders.
I was stunned when I first entered the venue. No more plywood nailed to wooden pallets for a stage like the first shows hosted by Dr. Strange Records. Now dubbed The Arrow Room, the spacious venue at the Rancho Cucamonga City Market has a large professional stage with expensive lights and thundering sound via a costly professional sound system. The only disappointment was that we were not allowed to bring Cathy’s custom chair inside because there was some sort of chair-throwing problem at a previous show. Cathy is disabled and needs that chair. The narrow benches that line the walls are rather narrow, uncomfortable, and she could not see the action on the stage.
Orange Grove Massacre was already playing onstage and I immediately saw the drummer was a kid who was absolutely killing it. This band is apparently a family affair with Dave Jr. on the drums, his dad Dave Sr. on guitar, and if I remember correctly, his uncle was on the bass. The two adults are both school teachers. Dave Jr. is an incredible drummer and he was clearly the star of the band’s set. He pounds with skill, speed, and amazing precision. He is only in 7th grade, but they should move him from the side and put him front and center whenever they play. One standout number was called “Sickness” which was written by Dave Jr. about his mother’s battle with cancer and chemotherapy. I hope she beat the big C. I loved the angry hornet sounding bass tone during “Letter to America” which was a political message expressing frustrated angst about our current state of affairs thanks to the orange sexual and political felon that is Trump. Overall, Orange Grove Massacre was good old punk rock that reminded me of Aggression, complete with the metal-influenced guitar leads. The cover of Circle Jerk’s “Live Fast Die Young” really got people moving and a huge circle pit formed. Apparently, this was first for them because Dave Sr. said he had never seen a pit like that before during of their performances. Check out this band and I predict that the shredding kid is going to be a major player in the punk rock scene someday.
When Toxic Energy took the stage, I was pleasantly surprised to see Crispy Chris, who I have known since the early 2000s when he played drums for Justified Anger at many shows at The Showcase Theatre. Chris is a multi-instrumentalist who plays drums, guitar, bass, and I would not be surprised if he plays the glockenspiel too. It appears that he shares alternating rhythm and lead guitar duties with Brent Waterworth. Simply put, Toxic Energy kicks ass with aggressive power infused with infectious melody. They create a huge wall of sound that is simultaneously angry yet uplifting.
With raging tunes like “Go Away” and “Good Times,” the kids started stage diving and it was just like the old days with punk shows at The Olympic Auditorium back in the early 1980s. Just like back then, there were people doing proper stage dives and a few who gingerly stepped carefully back into the crowd after gallivanting on the stage. This pissed me off because I used to do the most awesome stage dives with total back flips and full body twists. “If you’re gonna get on the stage, then do a proper stage dive!” I yelled. “Don’t fucking get up there and step down like somebody’s grandma!” I really wanted to get up there and launch myself into the crowd, but age and somewhat recent open heart surgery prevented it. Toxic Energy seems to have a strong following because I could hear people singing along with vocalist Greg Dickenson, whose delivery reminded me of Tony Adolescent, John Ransom (Smut Peddlers), and Gabby Gaborno (Manic Hispanic). One standout moment was when the same little kid with the big mohawk I mentioned in my previous show review (The Dickies in Pomona) got up onstage and pitted it up with a few other youngsters. Guitarist Brent was impressed enough to get down on one knee and play directly to this exuberant young fan. It was beautiful to see. Go see for yourself.
It was then time for a change of pace with the deep-tank reverb surf sounds of The Volcanics, complete with all their shiny teal matching instruments. After setting up, the band displayed their gear like perfectly placed still-life subjects and made us wait for about 15 minutes. That was annoying, but I was impressed with the artistic aspect of the display. Once they got going, it was great. I love surf music so much I managed to get an in-person interview with Dick Dale (King of the Surf Guitar) back in the early 2000s and got to hang out with him all day at his ranch in 29 Palms. I am sure Mr. Dale would give his nod of approval to these three surf music aficionados from San Gabriel, CA. It was more appropriate to dance, but drummer Ben said he wanted to see a surf circle pit and the audience was more than willing to oblige.
It was difficult to get good photos because the smoke machines were playing hell with my flash, so I discretely pushed it downward with my foot so the smoke would go beneath the stage. After I got what I wanted, I lifted it back into position with my foot again. I got some good pictures as you can see here. The Volcanics are highly polished, but aggressive enough to fit in with the punk rock crowd and was the perfect precursor for Agent Orange. Fun fact: Agent Orange was the first punk band to infuse punk music with surf music.
As you already know, Agent Orange rules and has been doing so since 1979 as part of the first wave of punk bands from Orange County and a regular band at the famous Cuckoo’s Nest (too bad I missed out on this venue.) Looking around, I was stunned to see the crowd size had swelled and I am sure there were more than 2,000 people there. Stunning also was how the audience was loudly singing along to the music on the venue’s PA system. It provided a sense of camaraderie with so many people I had never met to be singing along to Adolescents’ “Amoeba” and Descendents’ “Hope.”
Agent Orange burst out hard with their classic, punked-up version of The Chantays’ “Pipeline.” Immediately, people climbed onto the stage and started stagediving with some real impressive forward flips and a few annoying kooks who would gingerly step down and back into the crowd. I did not take many notes because I wanted to focus on enjoying the music, feeling the energy, and being in the moment. “Everything Turns Grey” was next and the huge crowd went wild. I saw three separate large circle pits going at the same time. The order of what was played was forgotten but I do remember we heard “I Kill Spies,” “Everything Turn’s Grey,” “Too Young to Die,” “No Such Thing,” and…well, pretty much the entire eponymous blue album.
We were entreated to another punked-up surf classic cover of The Bel-Airs’ “Mr. Moto.” Mike mentioned that a friend of his, a man named Ed Iskenderian, recently died at the age of 104, just short of his 105th birthday. Mike dedicated “Living In Darkness” to Ed, and it was a bit puzzling because that is an intense, but bleak song. Ed was well-known in the Hot Rod world was known as “The Camfather.”
Of course everyone was in fine form, Mike, being one with his instrument, Perry, born to play the bass, and Sandy, drummer extraordinaire for The Mechanics, Adolescents, and Joyride…currently killing it with Agent Orange. There was another standout moment when a young father and his 8-year-old daughter got up on the stage and did their two-person circle pit dance for Mike, who happily obliged by playing directly to them. Strangely, there were no security personnel around the stage to keep people off, but I have been told that situation has since been changed. The final song of the evening was “The Last Goodbye.” How appropriate. I think there was an encore, but I really don’t remember. THC gummies do that you know. If there was one, I am sure it was great and I enjoyed it a lot. Thank you very much to Perry Giordano for putting me, Faith, and Cathy on the guest list. We will be seeing you again soon at The Whisky on May 22nd.
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