ZEBRAHEAD

at GARDEN AMP

September 27, 2022 Review by Rachael Contreras

Here in Orange County, we have the luxury of looking to our own backyard for some of the most amazing music the world has to offer. La Habra’s own Zebrahead has pushed through lineup changes and multiple decades with one core focus: to put out stellar music that will stand the test of time. Judging by their latest EP, “III” (or “Chapter 3” as some call it), they have succeeded.

Zebrahead is a captivating band with enchanting music. And their fans? They are no joke! Imagine an amphitheater full of Zebrahead fans, wearing their merch, painted faces with their “ZH” logo, tattoos of their logo, logos galore, all singing every song from beginning to end with the same enthusiasm on the last song as the first song, just as the band was providing. This happened at their first headlining show in almost three years at the Garden Amp in Garden Grove.

Supporting acts for the night were Melted, Matamoska, and LaPobreska, each band had their own energetic flare that made you proud to see before the monolithic band, Zebrahead.

Melted, is a melodic punk band from Long Beach. They kicked off the festivities that included their hit, “I Always Land Straight on My Face”. This four-piece band really struck a chord with the audience as all really seemed into start the show head-bobbing and cheers early on.

Next was Matamoska!, they call themselves, “ghetto ska-punk” and they were a perfect transition to get the crowd dancing and ready for the horns while more and more “skankers” jumped in the pit.

The sun was starting to set, but the tempos were clearly rising as up next was La Pobreska. Fans were ready to rock out to horns and a heavy ska-core sound and that’s exactly what they delivered.

Joining more and more festivals, you can see why La Pobreska is gaining notoriety with each show. Their lyrics may be in Spanish but that doesn’t stop the audience of any language from getting down with their ska/punk/hardcore sound.

At long last, the sun was down, and the light show could take full effect. Kicking off the Zebrahead set was “Rescue Me” off their ’03 album “MFZB,” then they went straight into “Save Your Breath” off their ’15 album “Walk the Plank” to immediately show the audience we were getting exactly what we paid for; a night with Zebrahead to showcase fan favorites off their entire catalogue.

As usual, co-front-man Ali Tabatabaee sweet-talked the crowd into not just the “sit down then jump up” when the band sings to do so, but also the “wall of death.” If you aren’t familiar with that, it’s where the audience splits into two sides, creating a void in the middle. Then, they run full-force into each other, creating a hodge-podge of body parts and bruises (if not done carefully). Luckily, this was done with little-to-no injury and everyone had a great time. I’m pretty sure I heard calls for a second round from the crowd afterward but it didn’t happen.

Zebrahead played songs off “III,” which drew major excitement from the crowd. In fact, there was so much energy, even non-human spectators had to get in on it. As guitarist Ben Osmundson went to sing backing vocals, he was surprised to see a praying mantis had taken over his microphone! It finally jumped off the equipment and left, but not before strutting the stage and showing the front row what they were missing. Osmundson later said, “That thing scared the shit outta me!”

After the big event that almost everyone missed was done, we moved on to more music, which meant more crowd surfing. The newly added standing box onstage at the Garden Amp allows singers and band members to raise themselves up for better viewing, but it was also used as a catapult for crowd members to launch themselves off of for crowd surfing. Kids were crowd surfing under the very watchful eye of the band between songs for a more careful ride, and adults were crowd surfing during the songs, all while the band’s onstage bar workers were dressed in skeleton onesies and riding watermelon-shaped pool inflatables.

Have we mentioned the heat on this particular night? We are pretty sure it officially measured at “Satan’s anus” level heat and humidity. We are at the end “Heat Wave of 2022” and Mother Nature wanted to make sure we didn’t have too much fun without feeling like we’ve just entered the Amazon jungle in the hottest part of the year.

Of course, the band pretended to be done with the set at one point but we all knew they were coming back. We wanted more and we were going to get it, damn it! The guys bounced back on stage after the chants of “ENCORE!” were so loud you could feel it in your bones. They started with “Falling Apart,” then played the mega popular “All My Friends,” and finished the show off with “Anthem.”

In true form, these amazing guys stayed onstage after the music stopped and gave out guitar picks, took selfies, and met with the many fans that came so far for this single show. These guys proved once again why they should be staples of music in any catalogue and how they are not slowing down any time soon.

Co-front-man Adrian Estrella shared with us that the band has been working on new music, so fingers crossed we will hear some of this new music soon.

Next month Zebrahead will shoot off to Japan and New Caledonia, and then spend February and March touring Europe in 2023.

SHOW PHOTO GALLERY

by The CORONA CHRONICLES

TO FOLLOW

SID 220933 | TRACI TURNER, EDITOR

FOOTER IMAGE by The Corona Chronicles