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Live at the Belasco Theatre
December 10, 2024 Review by John Gilhooley
The annual Christmas run of shows for Social Distortion has been a thing for decades now and 2024 was no different. With a new record in the works, Mike Ness and his band of brothers are back on a tear – and after 40+ years, there is no end in sight.
Traveling up from Orange County to downtown Los Angeles had me thinking of the old days of punk rock and just how far we have all come. Social Distortion has been there for all of it, and I am thankful Ness has kicked cancer like the badass he is.
This run of shows has a few different opening bands and tonight The Defiant were in that spot. The Defiant are made up of former members from other well-established bands, including front-man Dicky Barrett from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, guitarist Greg Camp of Smash Mouth, drummer Pete Parada from The Offspring, guitarist Joey La Rocca of The Briggs, and bassist Johnny Rioux from The Street Dogs.
The members of The Defiant live in different cities, so it was a challenge to get together and make a record. They eventually met up in Nashville and recorded their debut record, “If We’re Really Being Honest.”
Kicking off the set was “Everybody Loves Me,” “How I Got Away,” “Where Were You?” and “These Shoes.” Finally taking a moment to breathe, Barrett thanked the crowd for supporting them, explaining that as a new band, they are grateful to be out playing as a unit. He continued that they are so thankful to Social D and their crew for being so good to them.
They played a few more songs – “We Make Drugs,” “Where Did Lady Liberty Go?” and “It Is Over” – and even an Interrupters cover, “Take Back the Power.” They continued with “Dead Language” and Barrett once again thanked the crowd and said, “You’ve all been so great! Please meet us over at our merch table after the set we’ll take selfies and I’ll sign anything you want me to sign.”
Once they exited the stage, the lights came up, and the anticipation started to build for Social Distortion.
With the iconic Social D Skelly banner hanging from the stage, the crowd began to fill in until the lights went out and one by one, Social D took the stage.
Mike Ness has always made an entrance by walking to the edge of the stage, acknowledging the fans, and then strapping on his guitar for the first note. Tonight was no exception. Sporting a classic t-shirt from his Black Kat clothing line and starting with the iconic gold “Orange County” Gibson Les Paul.
Ness and guitarist Jonny “2 Bags” Wickersham, along with bassist Brent Harding, turned to drummer David Hidalgo Jr., locked in and broke into “So Far Away,” “I Was Wrong” and “I Wasn’t Born to Follow.”
With a new record on the way, Social D has been introducing new songs into the setlist and the fourth song was one of those tracks: “Tonight.”
The crowd truly seemed into the new material, right along with the classics that followed, “Mommy’s Little Monster,” “The Creeps,” “Another State of Mind.”
The fans kept singing along with “Machine Gun Blues” and then responded excitedly by singing along to new track, “Over You.” Ness then introduced the next song as “a song about doing nothing, but cruising up the highway,” and they went into “Far Side of Nowhere.”
Then it was time for another new song, “The Way Things Were,” and a few more favorites, “Dear Lover” and “Ball and Chain,” and one more new track, “Born to Kill,” a fast-paced ripper.
Of course they could not leave without an encore. After “Reach for the Sky,” Ness said, “You know when I wrote this song, Social D was at a crossroads, just finding our way, and it was just how I was feeling. I wasn’t sure people were going to like it, but I liked it and I hoped you would like it too.” We all liked it as it became their mega hit, “Story of My Life.”
Of course it was another sing-along, then into “Bad Luck” and they closed it all out with their famous cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”
It was another one for the books! Social Distortion never disappoints and I expect more decades of punk ahead.
If you want a little more added mayhem, check out Social D on new Year’s Eve in Riverside!
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SID 241214 | TRACI TURNER | EDITOR
