FYF Fest recap (old dude edition)

Holy crap! On Saturday, I went to the FYF Fest at Los Angeles State Historical Park (just outside Chinatown) and the lineup was nuts. Well, to be honest I wasn't familiar with all of the bands but I wanted to see 4 or 5 that made the 25 bucks admission worth my while and got me to drag out a bunch of friends as well. We got there just in time to catch a few songs from Puerto Rico's Davila 666 and then L.A.'s own Best Coast at the medium-sized stage, but I was too far away to get any decent pics… We headed over to a smaller stage after that.

In the background is The Oh Sees. You already know about those lo-fi garage rockers, right? In front is GR photo stud Ben Clark. We bumped into him while waiting in the super-long line to get in. Actually, it went pretty fast but I feel sorry for people who had to wait in will-call or the box-office to buy tickets first. It was hot!

The other members in my crew: Greg and Sharon from San Diego, and Daniel from HK. This was taken right by the barricade at the small stage, where we set up shop for the next three bands… First up was OFF! The group has Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Bug Lamp) on vocals, Steve McDonald (Redd Kross, Tater Tots, Anarchy 6) on bass, and Mario Rubalcalba (411, Clickitat Ickatowi, RFTC, Hot Snakes, Earthless…) on drums. The previous work of guitar player Dimitri (not shown) is unfamiliar to me, but he was pretty rocking, too.

OFF!'s style is early '80s hardcore with super-short but controlled blasts of anger and energy. It was rad to see Steve and Mario cut loose from their respectively poppier and spacier styles to go back to their roots and unload with the original singer of Black Flag. Keith Morris told some great stories about playing nearby in Chinatown and dedicated a new song to his late friend Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Why the stage wasn't packed, I have no idea. Maybe the band is too new and no one knows who they are yet? Look for their amazing first EP to drop in October.

Next up was 7 Seconds. These guys are definitely not kids any more, but they still totally rip, attracted a huge crowd, and got a nice circle pit going. In between songs, Kevin Seconds told some stories about the old days, playing in L.A. with Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, and Youth Brigade. The set was heavily drawn from The Crew and Rock Together, Walk Together, and it's pretty amazing that I remember and can shout so many of the