'Doheny Beach Days' disappoints
By Brian Spiegel
Special to the Daily Forty-Niner
A little advice for the promoters of the
third annual "Doheny Beach Days" concert in San Clemente -- you don't have
to be incredibly alternative to have a cool rock concert.
An all day concert needs bands that interest
the public.
This fact seemed to be lost on the promoters
who booked the eclectic mix of old school (X, The Reverend Horton Heat),
mainstream punk and ska (Unwritten Law, Reel Big Fish), funk rap (the Kottonmouth
Kings, Dial-7) and various other ěalternativeî bands for Saturdayís concert.
The only bright spot of the show was the
Kottonmouth Kings.
Like other bands in its rap-funk
genre (the Insane Clown Posse, for example), the Kings blended impressive
musical styling, strong beats and great stage presence to make an enjoyable
and blistering set that really got the crowd going.
The Kings belted out rap/rock songs like
"Suburban Life" and "Dog's Life" while a truly amazing ski-masked dancer
performed the robot across the stage. Rob Zombie would be proud.
For all intents and purposes Unwritten
Law should have stole the show Saturday night, but for some reason, the
San Diego punk band just couldnít quite deliver.
Known for its excellent albums and intense
live shows, the band just seemed a little out of place at Doheny -- unable
to keep its momentum up throughout the 45-minute set.
The band played a mix of very old songs
and new songs which included its Top 40 punk ballad "Callin" which was
truly the only time during the show when the crowds voices were in unison
(maybe because Callin was sitting with her mommy on the side of the stage).
As the set wore on, the intensity began
to wane until the last two songs, the teen angst anthem "Teenage Suicide"
and "CD Cover," but by that time, it was too late.
Reel Big Fish deserves some sympathy.
Everytime Iíve seen them they become less
of a ska band and more of a rock band.
Reel Big Fish is an excellent ska band,
but when they pretend, they are a rock band they are palatable.
The Fish limped through a 45 minute set
but found some energy when playing ska anthems like ěEverything Sucksî
and ěThe Setup."
But in the end the band sadly stuck with
the rock songs and made sure the crowd had something to mosh to.
Spanish Fly and 5 Foot Tuesday stuck to
the tired old surf rock while hard rockers Shuvel thought they were KoRn
-- one band they definitely do not sound like.
Miranga (Mr. Miranga as you probably know
them) sounded like Ozomatli without horns as they tried to get the crowd
moving with their salsa beats.
Standing Hawthorn sounded like a mix between
Morissey and Limp Bizkit and Dial-7 sounded like a combination of Limp
Bizkit with Bob Marley on lead vocals.
Neither band was that impressive.
The Reverend Horton Heat played his swing-Vegas-rockabilly
style much to the crowdís delight, but by that time I was too tired from
eight hours of mediocre music and left before X came on. |
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