Social Distortion’s Never Ending Story, By: Derek Rinaldi

Mike Ness with that classic Ness jump at City Gardens, Trenton NJ, Photo: Ken Salerno

Original Vision drummer / pro skater / writer, Derek Rinaldi contributes to us a piece on Social Distortion, while Derek's buddy, Ken Salerno, contributes the photos. Thanks to Derek and Ken as always. -Tim DCXX

The stage is set. The scene: Warped Tour 1997 Asbury Park, New Jersey. Thousands of festival goers have been corralled like cattle, back and forth from main stage to side stage to the inside stage of the Stone Pony and its immediate surroundings. Shadowed by the never completed concrete spine of C8, a project so destined to failed that they never even bothered to name it. Its moniker is derived merely from its place on the tax map of a city by the sea which time had seemingly either forgot, or just decided to let go.

In waltzes the Warped Tour - and the social climate of American culture, skateboarding and even punk rock was about to change. The underground was coming up for air, and what better closing act for an event such as this was one of the bands who started it all. All eyes are focused on the main stage as the final member of the headliner ascends in front of the crowd. Mike Ness stands in charge of Social Distortion, at the time slowly encroaching on a 20 year career which had just about seen and done it all. And now, perhaps, it was all going to be just a little different. Ness was once quoted as saying that the Warped Tour “Was the beginning of what it is now for us. It was the beginning of us not just playing for the old fans who had been following Social Distortion for so many years. It was like, let's try to get some of these kids hip to us too because they’re the future.”


Social Distortion at City Gardens, Trenton NJ, Photo: Ken Salerno

Fast forward to 2010 and while there are other bands out there that have been around for 30 years, few have remained as relevant to their core audience and have held as tight to their purpose as Social Distortion. We could only hope that future punk bands can endure, persevere and survive that long. From a garage in Orange County in 1979, there was no sure way to predict the road ahead. Drug use, jail time and untimely deaths were the tragic subplots to a script that has lead Social Distortion to the end and back.

It has been inspirational and at times tragic but it has never been synthetic. The music has transcended rock, country and blues but after all this time it’s still punk. That makes it ours, for all of us and that’s how you stay relevant after 30 years. - Derek Rinaldi

“So take me down the road/ Take me to the show/ It's something to believe in/ That no one else knows/ But don't take me for granted” - Don’t Take Me For Granted


Mike Ness plays it for the Trenton crowd, Photo: Ken Salerno

Poll results:

Mommy's Little Monster - 143
White Light, White Heat, White Trash - 51
Social Distortion - 36
Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell - 23
Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll - 15
Prison Bound - 12


Social Distortion, another city left buried behind, Photo: Ken Salerno