City Baby's Revenge

G.B.H. / Verbal Abuse
The Metro Operahouse, Oakland, California
September 14, 2014

This was one of the few shows that could get me out of Casa de Umlaut to drive across The Bay Bridge to down 'n dirty West Oakland on a Sunday night.  The night before I had attended and sat through the entire 9 innings of a historic 17-0 (!?) Giants loss to the fucking Dodgers; it was the worst shut out loss in the Giants 131 year history!!  Awful... The only positive was seeing manager Bruce Bochy handing the ball to his pitcher son in the 6th Inning.  It was the first time a manager father has ever brought his pitcher son into a game in the 145 year history of Major League Baseball!!  That was mind blowing amazing...but the good feeling did not last long as young Bochy quickly gave up a 2 run HR to the fucking Dodgers.  So after that traumatic baseball experience I needed a G.B.H.-style 'Give Me Fire' cleansing.    Anyway... enough about sports.

G.B.H. are one of my all-time favorite bands and they still deliver.  I know there are many who haven't seen them since back in The Day (aka The 80's).  Hear me now and believe me later:  G.B.H. here in the 21st Century are as great as you can expect a 30+ year old band to be.  They're still 3/4 of the original lineup... and the "newest" member is the drummer who has been with the band for almost 20 years now.  Solid. 

As an added bonus on this 17-city North American Tour, the lads from Birmingham opened their set by playing the seminal release Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne front to back.  Yes, it was a Sunday night but it was inspiring to see a nice attendance... but I was surprised that not a lot of G.B.H. fans from the Metal side of the tracks were in attendance this time.  However, there was  a young "Punk" wearing an Accept shirt... but it was a Metal Heart tee.. (cue slapping forehead with palm of hand)..  Uhhh... Ooookaay.  Poser.

Verbal Abuse were a late addition to the bill and a very pleasant surprise.  The addition of these local legends ratcheted the anticipation level up in my head pre-show and I could not remember the last time I had even thought about Verbal Abuse.. but that's my loss because they completely delivered.  Nope, I have not been paying attention, but evidently the band has been playing a few shows recently so if any more pop up the old schoolers reading this should check them out.

At one point in between bands I was chatting with another longtime G.B.H. fan who had not seen them since back in The Day.  I didn't want to come off as too much of a gushing fanboy but what I did say to him was that G.B.H. would make him feel 18 years old again.. and I left it at that... Confident that the band would not make me look like an old fool.

I need not have worried!  I did indeed feel 18-years old again as G.B.H. walked onstage for their triumphant return to The Bay Area after almost a 2 1/2 year break. I was bummed that the people who I saw G.B.H. with in 1985 weren't at the show.. Number of drinks thrown at the stage during the first 1 1/2 songs = 4.  Umlaut can be a very jaded mofo... so I surprised even myself when I instinctively raised my fist in the air to sing along during the double shot of 'City Baby Attacked By Rats' into 'City Baby's Revenge'.    "... Attacked by rats!"..... "Revenge!!"

Shitty iPhone Pic courtesy of Umlaut's iPhone

My fave bullet from the past tonight was 'Drugs Party In 526'... but the set became one of my favorite shows of the year when the band threw in the riff to 'Black Sabbath' as the intro to 'Sick Boy'!  Birmingham Pride in full effect!  It's the little things.. Nice, right?!  On a night like this... with a band like G.B.H. onstage.. the Oakland Metro is the closest thing to Murder In The Front Row Ruthie's Inn that you can experience here in the 21st Century.

If you bought one of every G.B.H. merch item you would have paid around $300 I think.  On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced punks called me a fag.  A great night out... and I went to a G.B.H. show and bought a book instead of a t-shirt:

It's the autobiography of G.B.H. bassist Ross Lomas... and it's a fantastic read!  Click HERE to find out more about it.  The book is funny and entertaining and I had no idea it existed until the show.  I bought it on the recommendation of a friend who bought it ahead of me (Thanks Scott!).  Trivia:  Longtime Metallica sound guy legend Big Mick features prominently in the book.  I had no idea he was an early mate and sound guy for G.B.H.!  Nice, right?

Give Me Fire

G.B.H.
The Independent, San Francisco
June 3, 2012

From 1981-85 Umlaut was dogmatically and fanatically all about METAL. Although I'd seen Suicidal Tendencies with Slayer a year earlier, the first all Punk show I ever attended was this one back in June 1985:


Crossover A-Go-Go. Tonight's G.B.H. show was only 1 day past the 27th anniversary of that first show! Amazing, right? Ironically, on this same night over in Oakland, Van Halen staggered into town on their geriatric reunion tour. Of course, Van Halen meant alot to me in my Salad Days... but I honestly haven't been a VH fan since 1981. That was the year I discovered Iron Maiden... and it changed everything... which led me on a musical journey that included that night in 1985 when I attended that first Punk show headlined by none other than G.B.H.. Fast forward to the 21st Century and it was a no-brainer that I would choose the $20 G.B.H. ticket over the $200 for Van Halen. Cue some random Eddie Van Halen guitar wank.

The old school energy as G.B.H. took the stage was sharp enough to cut my soul with a knife... and I mean that in a good, life affirming way. The crowd action was steamrolling and the crowd singalongs were heartwarming. As the set stomped through one G.B.H. classic after another it was like traveling back through the years and I returned to a mindset when I wasn't serious about life yet but I was serious about music. I was serious about music and it was all that mattered to me and if the music was aggressive and angry it mattered to me the most. 'Sick Boy', 'Time Bomb', 'Drugs Party In 526'... 'City Baby Attacked By Rats' that went straight into 'City Baby's Revenge'.. 'I Am The Hunted'.. 'Diplomatic Immunity'. Bruising! It's special when you see a veteran band perform their songs and they take you right back to a specific time in your life in a profound way. G.B.H. took me back to that crazy Summer of 1985 immediately, but not just because of the songs. G.B.H. took me back to those days because of the legitimate, angry energy they can still inspire without pandering to nostalgia in any way, shape, or form. Anger can still be an authentic energy even when you're older.

Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse iPhone

The crowd action during 'Give Me Fire' was as inspiring as any dated Eddie Van Halen guitar solo that was happening over in Oakland at the same moment. This was G.B.H.'s first Bay Area show in almost 4 years and the punks are still 3/4 of the original lineup strong and the drummer has been with them over 15 years. I would also bet ownership of Casa de Umlaut that Colin Abrahall could take both David Lee Roth AND Wolfgang Van Halen out without messing up a single spike of bleached blond hair on his head.

As 'Give Me Fire' started Photo Ray suddenly bolted into the pit action. Woah!! It was an inspiring move and I almost handed my beer to our friend Scott to enter the pit myself... However, I then thought how it would really suck if I turned my ankle in the pit and how it would fuck up my work week. So I held onto my beer and moshed vicariously through Photo Ray and the dozens of other fearless ones. Hope I die before I get old.

As great as the performance was, the most memorable moment of the night came just before G.B.H. came onstage. A guy wearing an old C.O.C. shirt came up and said he reads this blog. He then said his dad was in a band I had written about. I asked what band.. and he said "Y&T".. I asked who his dad was.. and he said "Phil Kennemore". I was speechless for a second. The rest of our brief conversation was profoundly amazing. I told him that his dad was the first "Rock Star" who I ever met and asked for an autograph after a Keystone Palo Alto show (circa 1981). True. R.I.P. Phil... and thank you to his son for giving me a full circle moment like that.

If you bought one of every G.B.H. merch item you would have paid around $240. However, the one aspect of the night where the Punks failed was their merch person left me standing there too long... so I walked away with my $20 still in my pocket. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced Punks called me a fag. The next shows on the G.B.H. schedule after S.F. were in... Honolulu... Hawaii. That's not very "Atomic Punk"...

Women And Children First Tour
[From the Umlaut Archives]