Nov 30, 2016 Announcing Save Music in Chinatown 11: Rikk Agnew Band, Ford Madox Ford, Rough Kids, The Side Eyes
Bands have descended from much larger stages and arrived from much farther away to play Save Music in Chinatown benefit shows. But the lineup for our eleventh all-ages matinee fundraiser, which will take place on Sunday, January 29, is one of the most exciting for me because it’s the closest aligned to the Hong Kong Cafe scene from the late ’70s that inspired us. Mike Watt & The Secondmen, The Gears, and Adolescents actually had the same spirit but it took place a block away at Human Resources and not at the Grand Star, where the old Hong Kong Cafe location sits in plain site.
A friend of ours unearthed some old calendars from the club that her parents happened to own, and, holy crap, look at those lineups: Alley Cats, The Go-Go’s, Fear, The Gears, Flyboys, X, The Last, The Crowd, Descendents, Black Flag, The Cheifs… For our next show we’re lucky to have Ford Madox Ford. The new band features Chip Kinman from working-class punks The Dils, who released singles like “I Hate The Rich” and “Class War” on the crucial What? and Dangerhouse record labels. Will his brother Tony (who played with Chip in The Dils, Rank & File, and Blackbird) show up for a return to Chinatown show?
Headlining the show is the Rikk Agnew Band. Rikk is famous for being an innovator in L.A.’s punk scene (he was a formative and key member of Social Distortion, Adolescents, and Christian Death among other much-loved and totally different-sounding, genre-defining bands) and a survivor of drug addiction (who has been sober since 2010). He is also an exceptionally nice human being that loves having non-dairy ice cream with little kids and playing for causes that matter to him. He promises to play a “wedding set” with songs that are old (from all of his bands), new (the recently released album will blow your mind), and blue (stuff off the Adolescents iconic blue-colored debut record).
I felt like it was important to have some younger bands in the lineup, too, and was super excited that Rough Kids would sign on. All the members agreed to do it about 15 minutes after I reached out to them via Facebook–unheard of! “I guess Rikk Agnew has that effect on people,” Ethan told me. In addition to being part of the SoCal punk lineuage, I hear slivers of gritty, first-generation L.A. power pop like The Plimsouls and The Quick in Rough Kids’ sound, which I dig very much.
And then there’s The Side Eyes. This is how much I love the band: When I saw them at the In The Red Fest, I only had a 20 dollar bill and they had no change. So I bought four copies of their split 7″ with Redd Kross covering early Go-Go’s songs and gave the extra copies to friends. And not only are they a ripping live band that plays timeless teenage punk and roll, but they have actual DNA from The Go-Go’s and Redd Kross! So perfect for our lineup.
There’s also a yummy bake sale, cool raffle, a new zine in the works, and other surprises too. Please spread the word about the 2:00 matinee and hope to see you there… Support music education and public schools! Take kids to shows and empower them with DIY culture! Have fun and eat cookies! And then be done around six, maybe get some noodles for dinner while you’re in Chinatown, and get home at a decent hour and be ready for Monday.
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