BRMC kill Surf City Blitz in Huntington Beach, CA

It has been awhile since I did a proper review of a BRMC gig, and this is probably not enough of one to truly appreciate them. Oh well, an unusual 40 minute set for a crowd that may have largely not known or understood their music. I know a lot of fans were there supporting them, but the beach is definitely not a great place to see a band you like, especially when it’s mostly punk rock and ska fans (are there still fans of ska?).

Judging by some of the headliners, like Rancid, Bad Religion or The Offspring and Social Distortion on the previous day – we didn’t expect most attendees to really know who BRMC were.

BRMC went on a little late (around 4PM) and brought out some surprises, including opening with “Took Out A Loan” (throwback to when they opened with it during Baby 81 tour) and including “Ninth Configuration” – the epic 6 minute track from their latest album “Wrong Creatures”, and also “Teenage Disease” from the 2013 album “Specter at the Feast” – a song they rarely play, which apparently can be tough on their vocal chords.

My videos were a little far away, so here’s a really close up on stage video of “Ninth Configuration”:

Here’s the full setlist (thanks to Karen Lowe, an Australian fan/photographer who flew out just for the show):

Took Out A Loan
Little Thing Gone Wild
King Of Bones
Beat The Devil’s Tattoo
Ain’t No Easy Way
9th Configuration
Teenage Disease
Whatever

Here are some videos of “Teenage Disease” and “Took Out A Loan” from lestrange:

I was honestly not interested in seeing any other band at this festival, which kind of made me glad to be hanging out with a friend who also wasn’t interested in any other bands and was open to leaving right after BRMC finished. This was sort of like being at Lost Highway festival, except it wasn’t as hot and there were slightly better bands at that one. I guess a short festival set at the beach is better than nothing, but it seemed to be less enjoyable for most BRMC fans based on some social media posts I read.

I’m sad I missed their May show in SF, which was the last full gig they played in California (I think). My only excuse was work and not having planned a trip up earlier. They just announced some shows with Alice in Chains in Europe today, including a headline show in Denmark. That is just so far away, both in time and distance. Anyways, here are my photos from BRMC’s set at Surf City Blitz, it was overcast the whole day until the sun magically appeared just for them!  I think it made for better photos.