Last week at Philly’s Johnny Brenda’s, the punk rock of the Flesh Eaters swallowed the sold-out crowd whole. The mythical Los Angeles dream team of frontman Chris D., Dave Alvin and Bill Bateman (both from the Blasters), John Doe and D.J. Bonebrake (both of X) and Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) filled the stage to the brim with sweaty hellfire rock for the ages.
Touring behind this year’s I Used To Be Pretty (Yep Roc), the first release from this lineup since 1981’s A Minute To Pray, A Second To Die, the Flesh Eaters were a glorious sight to behold. Alvin’s blistering guitar solos—matched with Doe’s bass lines and Berlin’s sax—made for a heady mix of jazz-ish punk to accompany Chris D.’s evocative lyrics. Add to that Bonebrake’s marimba and Bateman’s drums, and it’s a propulsive sound like no other for a show that may never be replicated again.
Minnesota’s Porcupine—featuring Hüsker Dü’s Greg Norton—opened with a super-charged rock set of its own. Norton’s bass (and stage moves), Casey Virock’s gut-punch vocals and Ian Prince’s crushing drums were a sublime start to the night.
—words and photos by Chris Sikich
