This is, I believe, the fourth time I have seen Me First and the Gimme Gimmes live. And they never fail to impress. From the opening riffs that kick off Jolene, until the lights going down after End of the Road, it is a blast. Lots of fun was had by all attending.
Every band starts out as a cover band. But these guys have taken it to an all-new level. Putting their own (usually punk) spin on classic songs. To this day I cannot hear the original version of Rocket Man without thinking "Speed It Up".
MFatGG are the proverbial supergroup. Consisting of a list of musicians from some of your favorite punk bands of all time. The current lineup is Spike Slawson (From Swinging Udders and Re-Volts) on lead vocals, Fat Mike (NOFX) on bass, Joey Cape (Lagwagon) on guitar, and Dave Raun (Lagwagon and RKL) on drums. Also, with them this evening was CJ Ramone (aka Christopher Ward from the Ramones).
My favorite bit from the show is that every second or third song, Spike announces "This one's a cover".
My other favorite part of a Gimmes show??? They always bring EXCELLENT bands to open for them. Last time, they introduced me to a kick ass band called Surfbort. And to this day they are still in rotation in my playlist. This time they brought us Ultrabomb and The Defiant. Both of which were excellent in their own right. Although I will admit to leaning more towards The Defiant for my specific favorite.
TL;DR = If you walked out of a Gimme Gimmes show still in a bad mood, there is something wrong.
