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This was T.S.O.L.‘s first East Coast appearance in 6 years, so naturally I was really looking forward to this show. The last time I saw them (at the now defunct CBGBs in 2005), they concentrated heavily on material from their 1st EP and 1st Lp Dance with Me, their most punk-oriented early ’80s material that was clearly what most of the audience wanted to hear. To be completely fair, I think I should rectify my review of their last East Coast tour to reflect that keyboardist Greg Kuehn, so crucial to the greatness of 1982’s Beneath the Shadows and their last Lp, 2009’s Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Free Downloads (their best since Beneath the Shadows), wasn’t touring with them, so it’s much easier for them to play material that doesn’t require his services. Just like last time, only one Beneath the Shadows track (the amazing “Wash Away”) was played. However, what they did play was terrific and for an hour or so last Sunday at the Barbary, I was in early ’80s SoCal punk rock bliss.
Sure, much of the 1st EP and Dance with Me were touched upon at the expense of other parts of their catalog, but with tunes are great as the title track of Dance with Me, “Love Story,” “The Triangle” and the manic opener (with Mike Roche‘s “California Uber Alles”-esque bass line) “The Sound of Laughter”, I’m not complaining. The 1st EP’s more political tracks such as “Abolish Government/Silent Majority” and “World War III” were also played and they also played the same cover (The Damned‘s “Politics”) that they played the last time. The only post-1982 material they played were “Terrible People” from 2001’s Disappear and “Serious” from 2005’s Divided We Stand, which is definitely a bit of a shame as both of those records are terrific.
Frontman Jack Grisham had a maniacal, almost demonic grin on his face the whole time and was clearly enjoying himself on this evening. Guitarist Ron Emory and Roche still look like surfer jocks who would beat up punks, freaks, nerds and what not in high school, but moreover, they still look amazingly young and fit after all these years. Neverteless, they and new drummer Tiny Bubz fired off one punk rock nugget after another, locking in with air-tight precision.
Grisham mentioned several times that they love playing Philadelphia and I don’t doubt his sincerity, though if that’s so, I wonder why it’s taken them so long to come back out here? Complaints aside, this was a terrific show and given how rare an East Coast T.S.O.L. appearance is these days, I’ll take what I can get!
