It probably wasn't entirely a coincidence "Reservoir Dogs" played on the TVs around First Ave last night before Social Distortion took the stage and positively blew the crowd away. When Mike Ness and the rest of his remade strutted out, they very much looked like the rough and tumble fellas in the movie. They sounded mean and ugly right off the bat, too, kicking off the set with a bunch of songs that could have been anthems for the "Dogs" crew ("Mommy's Little Monsters," "Sick Boys," "Bad Luck").
He might not be pretty or know how to properly pronounce Bemidji -- he said "Buh-mee-gee," noting he he has relatives around Minnesota -- but Ness truly came off as one of the unsung heroes of '80s punk/'90s alt-rock over the course of the 90-minute blast of a show. He proved again how well he has maintained the gritty, high-revving essence of his band through a slew of lineup changes (he's the only original). He also still has one of the most distinctive voices out there, and an agelessly cool demeanor (how bad-ass was it when he switched guitars mid-song in "Monsters" without blinking?).
The most impressive thing about the show, though, might've been the songwriting under all the, um, distortion. Ness picked out a handful of tunes on Tuesday that should've earned him credit as a grade-A tunesmith. "So Far Away," "Bad Luck" and "Ball and Chain" are songs Elvis or Sinatra could've covered. Seriously. The melodic new song "Still Alive" -- one of three played from an album due in January -- also had that any-genre quality. Ness and the band deftly slowed down "Ball and Chain" and spiked it with organ. "Ring of Fire," on the other hand, was sped-up and burned like never before. They never even got around to the other big hit, "Story of My Life," but it didn't matter. Here's the list of all the songs they did play (I missed the opening tune, as well as openers Lucero and Frank Turner, coming to the show straight from Bob Mould's gig; how were they?).
?? / Another State of Mind / Mother's Little Monsters / Sick Boys / Don't Drag Me Down / Bad Luck / Bye Bye Baby / Still Alive / Ball and Chain / Through These Eyes / Bakersfield / King of Fools / Machine Gun Blues / Makin' Believe (Jimmy Work/Merle Haggard cover) ENCORE: So Far Away / Prison Bound / Down Here With the Rest of Us / Ring of Fire (June Carter/Johnny Cash cover)
