There are those bands who grow so large that they crash and burn, there are one hit wonders you hear sugary on the pop stations and later in the elevator of the doctor’s office, and then there’s Social Distortion. Mike Ness’ music career has now spanned practically four and a half decades as the lead singer of Social Distortion, the punk rock band formed in Southern California in the late ‘70s. Social Distortion is that slow burn, a working man’s band, who just continues to produce solid shows and songs throughout a storied career that includes hiatuses in the ‘80s as Ness himself struggled with addictions and the death of Dennis Dannell, founding member and rhythm guitarist. After a solid decade of music, the band found mainstream successes with songs like “Ball and Chain”, “Prison Bound”, “Story of My Life”, and “Ring of Fire” (the Johnny Cash cover). In Dec 2022, Social Distortion came through Tempe, AZ at the Marquee Theatre with Aaron Lee Tasjan supporting.
Tasjan’s Nashville band came onto stage to a half full audience as people continued to filter in through security to the 1,500 capacity venue. Before grabbing the mic, his guitarist and bassist amped in, and they started their short opening set. I’d listened to some of his music online before the show, and it was a mellower folksy vibe. Once Tasjan began with “ENSAAT” I was surprised by the heavier, more energetic live performance. The band’s music reminded me of a bourbon fueled road trip through middle America with boot stomping, dust swirling around the van mixing with occasional weed smoke. The crowd enjoyed the interplay between Aaron and his bassist, who reminded me of what we’d see if Joey Ramone and Donita Sparks produced a child. While the set wasn’t entirely long, Aaron’s musicality played to his strengths, and the crowd enjoyed a singer songwriter who has worked with the likes of Jack White and The New York Dolls. As Aaron thanked the crowd, the red curtains (did you know the Marquee had curtains that close?) slid shut to change out the sets.
Aaron Lee Tasjan’s Set List:
ENSAAT (East Nashville Song About A Train)
Dangerous Kind
Heart Slows
City of Angels
Never Gonna Dance
Little Movies
Drugs N’ Junk Food
East Canton Lowlife
While waiting for Social Distortion to take the stage, the crowd started to push forward and fill the venue. The usual old school punk crowd was there dragging their kids along, beaming with pride that their offspring enjoyed what mom and pop once moshed to in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ness, who played twice in the last decade on this same stage, came out in a rad Bugsy Siegel mugshot t-shirt, his signature newsboy hat, jeans, and Converse. The boys were just getting over the flu but looked ready to rock with Jon Jove from Eagles of Death Metal subbing in for Jonny Two Bags who was home recuperating from a back injury.
The band broke into their usual style of cowpunk mixing new wave, old school punk, and blues into a signature style that has carried them forward for almost half a century at this point. Ness’ signature style hasn’t waned with age as they warmed up with “Bad Luck” for their early ‘90s “Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell”. As they continued to jam on stage, the audience not only continued to press forward but also very openly smoke enough reefer to get most of the crowd a contact high. To the point where Ness even remarked “there’s a lot of chronic up in this bitch” as the cloud of devil weed smoke wafted towards the stage. As he shrugged it off, they tore into “Knockout” after several other hard hitters before shifting to a mellow cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Games”. The cover was well received before they amped back up heading into their mid show run which included “Over You” which demonstrated that even after 44 years on stage Ness and the boys still had it, big time. They followed up with “1945” which Ness wrote back in 1982 and is a prime example of the band’s early punk days. Once the chords faded away, they immediately broke into “Prison Bound”, one of their more mainstream successes that included more elements of the bluesy southern influences you see in their hit singles. Balancing their old school SoCal Punk with their mid-1990s more mainstream bluesy country punk hits, the crowd continued to go wild with a mosh pit taking up most of the middle of the venue. Several crowd surfers were tossed into the photo pit before running back around the barrier all smiles. The audience moved as one, either because it was so tight we were standing hip to hip with our new best friends or the thousand people behind us felt the need to get as close to the stage as humanly possible. Finishing their set with their 1996 anthem “Dear Lover” they took on the universality of finding and losing love before walking off stage.
We all knew even though most of the crowd were die hard Social D fans, there’d be a riot if they didn’t hear the rest of their favorites and the band didn’t disappoint. Coming back onto stage a few minutes later, they jammed into raucous “Born to Kill” showing that even in his mid-60s Mike Ness is slowing down for no one. The true musician was a force to be reckoned with as they moved quickly into “Story of My Life”. We all sang, shouted, slugged beers, moshed, and enjoyed their most popular song. Cheering as the song ended, Ness reminded us all that we were celebrating arts and music on stolen land. He acknowledged that and proclaimed this next and last song to his “Native American brothers and sisters” before launching into “Ring of Fire”. Mike Ness, a true showman, walked to the corners of the stage to thank everyone for attending, before he and the band walked off stage.
Social Distortion’s Set List:
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