Social Distortion made a stop in Hollywood on their mammoth world tour (which runs through February), appearing in front of a packed house at the Palladium on Sunset Blvd. Belting out hits from their back catalogue, as well as new tracks from their latest album, an interesting mix of mowhawk-sporting teenagers and tattooed forty-somethings lapped up the 90 minute set.

An aged-looking Mike Ness emerged from the shadows, looking dapper in a suit and trilby (replete with feather), and proceeded to snarl through some of the band’s favourite numbers, includng “Sick Boy,” “So Far Away” and “Ring Of Fire,” as well as lighting the aural touchpaper of new anthems like “Machine Gun Blues.” The sight of ceaseless crowd-surfing and a thousand pairs of lips singing along to every song, was indicative of a successful stop.

The band was ably supported by folk trio Chuck Ragan, who, despite their opening slot, managed to evoke quite a response from the people already in place in the main auditorium.

The second act on stage, Los Angeles’ The Aggrolites, weren’t quite so well received. Their ska-pop, recanted by Jesse Wagner, a poor man’s Mike Patton, failed to move the crowd. At one point, upon jumping into the crowd to provoke a singalong, Wagner held the microphone to the crowd, and was met with a wall of silence. Despite the stutter in the tune, the band carried on, pretending to overlook the mishap. This reviewer has seen China’s Terracotta Warriors evoke more response. Still, by the end of the night, the audience departed a sweaty, happy bunch. More than likely more than a couple of them were suffering from sore throats in the morning.

Photos by Marv Watson.

Social Distortion;

The Aggrolites;

Chuck Ragan;