Review: Social Distortion @ The Rave

Social Distortion wasted no time ripping into The Creeps, Another State Of Mind & Mommy’s Little Monster. The three punk classics from the album Mommy’s Little Monster, and the huge banner hanging behind the band, reminded us all of the thirty years of the underground punk scene that Mike Ness has helped carve out literally with his own two hands. The band is no stranger to Milwaukee, having played The Rave numerous times over the years, always selling out or near capacity, as was the case Saturday night.

Social Distortion is locally famous for the riot that ensued when the band tried to play The Odd Rock Cafe in 1988, only to be shut down by the Milwaukee Fire Marshal for being over capacity. I was at that show as a fifteen year old kid, and was lucky enough to get away unscathed, but not before seeing the older punks get their heads bashed by the police. The real trouble that night in ‘88 happened as the money that was being refunded ran out, and a few punks tried to rip down the stop sign and street signs outside the venue. The site was swarmed by police cars and paddy wagons, and the story splattered across the local news. That was my first taste of the punk rock scene.

Saturday’s show went off without a hitch, however, and Ness was in fine form, along with his bandmates, who make up this incarnation of the band that has at least 15 former members on their roster. The beer flowed and the crowd sang along to songs like Prison Bound and Story Of My Life, with Ness at one point teasing the crowd that he heard Milwaukee couldn’t sing that loud. He was promptly proven wrong. The Johnny Cash anthem Ring of Fire, a fan favorite, found Ness yelling “Let it burn, motherfucker !”, inciting the crowd to get a bit more rowdy, and the security found themselves dealing with numerous body surfers, an activity that The Rave frowns upon.

Near the end of the hour and a half long show Ness asked the concert goers if there were any dreamers in the audience by a show of hands, and he encouraged the crowd to do something about their dreams instead of letting them die. Thirty years ago Ness himself had a dream, and he took his thirty dollar guitar and did something about it. With two gold records and millions of Social Distortion albums sold, we’re a better culture for it.

READ ON for a full gallery of John’s Social Distortion photos…