Show Review: 544

An uncomfortably hot, humid day in August. A casino with a $100 buy-in Bingo tournament. An overpriced hotel room. Normally, this would be just a shitty mini-vacation-gone wrong. But from the stairwell, I could hear the first band setting up. Then a while later when I was outside, I heard faintly the band’s soundcheck(?) – Prison Bound. The evening was beginning to turn around for the better. I only caught a few minutes of the openers: they were worth seeing, but they weren’t the reason I ventured into the world of seniors pumping their social security into slot machines, family vacationers with their oversized SUV’s and the perpetually fucked up road construction in and around Green Bay. The lead singer of Action Design was nice to look at however. Then the main event: Social Distortion. It will be one of the most memorable concerts that I have seen. "Reach for the Sky", with an extended solo, was almost a fusion of the original and "Footprints on my Ceiling." It was haunting. A rendition of "Ring of Fire" that would make Johnny Cash proud. "Don’t Drag Me Down", a personal favorite live, was chest-pounding. And how can I not mention the dumbass that was ejected before Mike got down from the stage and had to "choke a bitch"? That was GREAT. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to meet Mike Ness. Again. I did meet Danny McGough, who was a very nice guy. Even got a picture with him. I can’t wait until the next show, and I hope that they play "I Was Wrong" the next time they’re in Green Bay.