The date was Tuesday, October 12, 2021, the place was The Observatory (Santa Ana), the legendary band taking the sate was Dead Kennedys!
When the word got out that the punk legends would play behind the Orange curtain, the diehards lined up for tickets. Truth is, the pandemic has caused us to miss moshing to live punk rock music like crazy. We have definitely missed indoor punk rock shows!
We appreciate all who make live music possible! Especially those who let us rock out and slam dance to in the pit. That being said, it has been a minute since we have had Dead Kennedys play a show in Orange County. With a packed house at the Observatory, the crowd was poised to see a legendary band.
PHOTO by The CORONA CHRONICLES
The night got started with the raw punk-ska and 2tone sound of local favorites, Los Nauticals.
The band came out strong and were up for the task of opening for the DK. They entertained the crowd and got them amped with songs like, “Hey, Hey,” “Skankin Dorian,” and they even covered a Rancid track.
LOS NAUTICALS | PHOTO by THE CORONA CHRONICLES
Next up were heavy hitters and hardcore punkers, M.D.C.!
They kept the energy going, with their fast/hardcore political punk rock. M.D.C gave very little recovery for fans between songs and had the pit goin non-stop with songs like…”Corporate Deathburger,” “John Wayne was a Nazi” and “Chicken Squawk.”
M.D.C. | PHOTO by THE CORONA CHRONICLES
With two great performances to start off the night, fans lost their minds the second the house lights went down and Dead Kennedys hit the stage.
This was a (Jello-free) Dead Kennedys- and yes, we know it’s not the same without Jello. Dead Kennedys in 2021 features East Bay Ray (guitar), Klaus Flouride (bass), and D. H. Peligro (drums) with Skip Greer behind the mic.
The band was simply electrifying and to say their set was freaking awesome is an understatement!
DEAD KENNEDYS at The OBSERVATORY | PHOTO by THE CORONA CHRONICLES
Greer definitely does not do Jello, and that does the bands legacy justice. His performance was stellar and his singing was on point. Greeg does engage with the crowd, and they love him for that.
DEAD KENNEDYS at The OBSERVATORY | PHOTO by THE CORONA CHRONICLES
The band played a fast paced high-energy set that left time for Greeg to chat wit the crowd and even mock some of the O.C. crowd. He asked the question “when did science become political?” Then called out the non-vaxxed to get vaxxed, “so we can all lose our masks and not have to wear them.”
Throughout the night, DK kept the crowd going nuts, Skankin, moshing, or slam dancing, whatever you want to call it. The DK pit was raging like an angry whirlpool all night and it did not let up. There were so many fans legs and shoes in the air from the crowd as fans crowd surfed. The goal of course was to float toward the front for that chance to make it over the barricade, and that epic chance to dive from the stage.
At some point brash fans were lucky enough to make it past security and wizzed right by me at the photo pit entrance; they jumped on stage and were successful in stage diving into the crowd. Can’t blame them, they tried again and again. One concert goer @fatheryanez said he hurt himself. The question “Was it worth a broken foot? … #YES!” Set highlights included, “Buzz Bomb,” “Holiday in Cambodia,” “Let’s Lynch the Landlord,” and “Nazi Punks F*** Off.”
Dead Kennedys played for about an hour and a half with the beautiful Victoria Venin bringing back the fellas for 15 minute encore.
All in all, the show was an amazing night of punk rock music that was so needed, so many smiling faces and so much fun was had by all. I bumped into my old friends and made new ones as a bonus. What a great night for a bunch of punk weirdos, young and old!
