San Diego Radio Sucks Quite A Bit

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Drive Like Jehu to Perform Free Reunion Show in Balboa Park on Labor Day 2014

The last time I saw Drive Like Jehu, I was pretty blown away, so it's bittersweet that they've reunited and are playing a free show next Sunday (day before Labor Day) in Balboa Park.  According to stereogum.com, they're getting an organ accompaniment.  What, like a musical organ?  Really?

Part of me wants to leave that amazing evening in the past, untouchable and unchangeable by seeing an older version of them, with an older version of me in attendance.  Hell, that was just over 20 years ago, and I still remember elements of that night perfectly.

So I dragged out their epic Yank Crime CD the other night (I didn't have a turntable at the time) and threw it on full blast while annihilating some baddies in Watch Dogs, and let me tell you, it's some of the most exhausting music ever created.  I don't know how these guys could have created an entire album of this intensity, let alone a single song.  It hasn't lost a milliliter of the piss and vinegar it spewed back when it was released in 1994, the year I moved to San Diego, and I doubt it ever will.

My first exposure to these guys was from a mix tape the bassist in my band at the time had made me.  Or maybe I'd quit Dead Clown Pile by then and Smokey was just one of my housemates.  Anyway, he made me this tape full of great punk rock, a lot of it from San Diego, and it was all a little faster than it should have been because his turntable ran that way.  When I heard Bullet Train To Vegas, I was like, "Fuck man, who are these guys?"

The official announcement is here.  Looks like the show starts at 7:00, and according to an interview with Bitchfork, they're only planning on doing five songs for a set less than half an hour.  I'm not sure what to expect, but I'll be damned if I'm going to miss this one.