West Coast Weekend 2009 wrap up

Dan O'Mahoney with Carry Nation at the Chain Reation, Photo: N Napolitano

Here's a quick overview / highlight of my west coast weekend trip that went down from March 20th through March 23rd. My original intent was to check out the No For An Answer reunion on the 22nd, but the trip really turned into much, much more than that. Out of all my trips to California, this was most definitely the best so far. Thanks to all those that helped create the memories that will last a lifetime (Larry, Mandel, Rich and Steve Insted, Big Frank, Roa, HC Dan, Joe Nelson, Igby, Jordan, etc.). -Tim DCXX

Friday March 20th, 2009

Round trip tickets from Philadelphia International Airport to LAX for $214

Stayed with friends Larry Ransom and Dave Mandel. Larry was my chauffeur for the weekend.


Soy Turkey at Jan's, Photo: Tim DCXX

Saturday March 21st, 2009

Large soy turkey with avocados, lettuce, sprouts, tomatoes and facon bacon bits all nicely placed together on two slices of fresh whole wheat bread at Jan's Health Bar in Huntington Beach. Walked the main drag of Huntington Beach after lunch and checked out a few surf shops and skate shops.

Hung out at Rich from Insted's place with Rich and Steve Insted plus Big Frank Harrison and talked about Carry Nation, Goldenvoice productions, Fenders shows, gangs and violence at shows and of course Chain Of Strength.


Roa, Dan, Mandel, Larry and me at Mandel's, Photo: Dave Mandel

Met up with Jon Roa (Justice League / End To End) and Dan Rawe (Foundation Records) at Mandel and Larry's place. Roa pulled out a big fish eye mirror for taking photos in to. Talked hardcore for hours. Everything from Roa's early 80's punk days, to early Youth Of Today west coast tour stories, to roadying for Chain Of Strength to his love for Refused and Botch.

Sunday March 22nd, 2009

Took a trip with Larry and Joe Nelson (Sloth Crew, Insted roadie, Triggerman, etc.) to Hollywood. Joe gave us a grand tour of South Central LA's gang land, checked out the intersection of Florence and Normandie where truck driver Reginald Denny was pulled from his truck and nearly beaten to death during the LA riots of 1992. Ate lunch at Astro Burger, a fast food restaurant in Hollywood with a full selecetion of vegetarian options. Stopped by the Hollywood Forever cemetery and checked out Mel Blanc, Johnny Ramone and De De Ramone's graves. Hit Amoeba Records. Drove into Pasadena to check out some of the filming locations for the 1978 horror classic, Halloween.


Mel Blanc's grave, That's all folks, Photo: Tim DCXX


Johnny Ramone's grave, photo: Tim DCXX


The original Myers house from Halloween, Photo: Tim DCXX


Joe Nelson at the Halloween hedges, Photo: Tim DCXX

Went to the show, saw a ton of old faces that I hadn't seen in years. Joe Foster (Unity, Ignite), Brett and Zoli from Ignite, Met DCXX contributor and Half Off / Haywire frontman Billy Rubin, as well as John Bruce and Vadim Rubin from Haywire. Ran into Steve from Unbroken, Andrew from Strife and some of the old Strife crew, D.C. transplant Tru Pray, Igby, Matt and Reid and most of the other 1134 / Huntington Beach crew, Steve Hertz, Marlon, Gavin Ogelsby, Issac Chorus, Casey Jones and of course Rich and Steve Insted, Big Frank, Joe Nelson and The Jake as well as a ton of others.


Casey Jones, Billy Rubin, David "Igby" Sattanni and Big Frank Harrison, Photo courtesy of: Billy Rubin

Saw most of Ice, definitely an entertaining set. Headfirst sounded great and I was stoked to hear all the "Back In Control" 7" songs played live. Blackspot played with 3 guitarists and were heavy as all hell. Chris Lohman from Blackspot switched from guitar to vocals and sang a great Collateral Damage song. Chorus Of Disapproval were good and really got the crowd moving. No For An Answer took the stage last and tore through a bunch of the 7" songs and a few LP songs. Dan O kept his stage banter to a minimum, but of course dropped some witty talk here and there. Towards the middle or later part of the NFAA set, Big Frank and Steve Insted walked on stage, Casey and John stepped off and next thing you knew, Carry Nation was tearing into a 3 song set. "Protect and Serve", "Temple Walls" and "Grave Mistake" made up the Carry Nation set. Carry Nation sounded great and their set was a nice bonus.

Monday March 23rd, 2009

Hit Jan's one more time with Larry and Dan Rawe. Cruised out to Rev HQ. Met up with Igby and Jordan at Rev and were pointed in the direction of some portfolio cases that were jam packed with original Revelation record layouts as well as a filing cabinet with each releases photos and artwork kept in folders. Spent hours meticulously going through each folder and shooting photos of their contents. Seeing stuff like the original cut and paste layouts for the Side By SIde, No For An Answer and Chain Of Strength 7"s, piles of BOLD photos that were never used on "Speak Out", original Gorilla Biscuits label artwork and unused photos, Judge "The Storm" 7" original photos and art, the Supertouch LP designed as a gate fold with a load of great photos that were never used... the list just goes on and on. Jordan Cooper was walking around with an original 12" GI Joe doll and taking pictures of it for an upcoming Rev project.


Original Sick Of It All 7" cover photo: Photo: Tim DCXX


Original No For An Answer "You Laugh" 7" paste up lyric sheet, Photo: Tim DCXX


Burn 7" mock ups, sketches and notes, Photo: Tim DCXX

Split Rev HQ and stopped at a burrito place called Secret Spot that has a great vegetarian turkey with BBQ sauce, cheese and potatoes burrito. Bought burritos to go for Larry, Rich Insted and myself and swung by Rich's place one more time to eat and hang. Rich also gave me access to a box he had tucked away in a spare room that was full of Insted stuff. There were photos in there, flyers, tour itineraries, records, all kinds of great Insted history. I also sifted through Rich's record collection and then into his garage to get a look at more of his record collection, some old and new skateboard decks and piles of cds from pretty much everything Rich has been apart of. We spent about an hour and half here and then we had to roll.


Pat Dubar (UC) and Rich Labate (Insted), Photo: Larry Ransom

Shot back to Mandel's house, picked up my bags and headed off to LAX to fly out at 10:30 PM.