The Hi-Dive – 08 DEC 2022
By creating an experimental atmosphere, OFF! created the perfect environment to show off their new album.
You know you’re in for an intimate experience when a punk legend plays the small venue that your friends’ local bands play at. It was the kick-off show for punk supergroup OFF!’s fall tour, and therefore their first time playing songs off their new album Free LSD. OFF! Has been around for a little while now, but Free LSD finds them with a revamped lineup with a new rhythm section, meaning this was mostly the debut show of a new band. And it certainly felt like an experiment in sound, like a test run of something distinctly different.
I did unfortunately get to the show late and missed the opening band, Zulu. I hate missing openers so, Zulu, wherever you are, I owe you a live review next time you’re in town.
OFF! took the stage and played the new album in its entirety in order, which would be a bit of a cop out in a lot of situations, but made sense in this instance since Free LSD isn’t really a collection of songs so much as it’s one coherent statement as a complete work. Keith Morris clearly made a number of mistakes through the set, but it worked because of the way the whole show felt like an experiment. While the album featured frequent free jazz interludes, the band didn’t bring a saxophone player with them on tour and replaced those interludes live with electronic elements that seemed to be controlled by guitarist Dimitri Coats.
After finishing Free LSD, the band launched into a series of classic OFF! tunes, which new members Autry Fulbright II and Justin Brown had never played before live. The classic tunes had a fresh energy, and Brown was simply a very impressive drummer to watch through the whole set.
In the end, the experience was very unlike any other concert experience I had ever taken part in, and easily one of the most exciting punk shows I’ve ever seen. By creating an environment where experimentation—and even making mistakes—is encouraged, the band showed off their latest work which is a huge, daring experiment, in a way that really showed it off.
Julie is punk rock, lesbian time lady from the future. The greatest things in the world are punk rock and science fiction. Check out her website JulieRiver.com!
