It has been 27 years since Social Distortion released their 1983 debut “Mommy’s Little Monster” and six years since the release of “Sex, Love, and Rock ‘n’ Roll.” But don’t tell bandmates Mike Ness, Jonny Wickersham, Brent Harding, and David Hidalgo, Jr. that their brand of “COWPUNK” is almost three decades old.
They don’t seem to be keeping track, and with back-to-back nights at the Fillmore, their fans don’t seem phased either. Hundreds of chest-bumping, body shoving concertgoers filled the Fillmore on Saturday covering the gamut of ages and hair color — from grey to green.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
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Social Distortion proved the validity of its punk influence and Americana roots at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday night. Photos by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
Straying from his normal biker attire, front man Mike Ness took the stage Saturday night with slicked back hair, dressed in a suit complete with suspenders to rival Larry King as Hidalgo kept the trademark rockabilly beat all the while.
The band is the perfect VH1 “Behind the Music” story. The story starts with their early rise to success being signed to Epic Records just after their second album “Prison Bound” was released in 1989. They temporarily break up as front man Ness struggles with drug addiction and finds himself in and out of rehab. More turmoil plagues the band with the death of guitarist Dennis Darnell, all the while bandmates are replaced, fired, and rehired. In fact, if there was a reunion of the entire cast of Social Distortion including the deceased, you would have 21 people on stage.
The music is a dysfunctional marriage of classic cowboy music armed with Sex Pistols on its hips. This brand of Punk built a bridge for a generation of listeners who may have grown up with their parents playing Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, but craved to express their teenage defiance by blasting the Ramones and sulking around in black t-shirts and leather.
Social D opened that door and, as promised by a somewhat reflective Ness, will continue to do so with the release of a new album projected for January. The band peppered their set Saturday with some of the songs that will appear on the album but drew greater cheers with old familiars like “Ball and Chain” and “Mommy’s Little Monster.” After a lengthy encore, the band might have chosen to close the show with their 1990 Billboard top #25 cover of “Ring of Fire,” but instead chose perhaps the more fitting, “Story of My Life.”
Read our review of Day 1 here.
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Evan Semón is a Denver freelance photographer and regular contributor to Reverb. See more his work.
Joe McCabe is a Denver photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb. Check out his website.
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