After moving from rural Illinois to Arizona in 1988, it didn't take long for me to learn that the Phoenix area gets more than it's fair share of shows featuring punk and hardcore bands from California. This is especially true when it comes to bands from the 80s, ones that much of the world have very little clue still exist. I have lived here for 21 years and have seen about 21 D.I. shows advertised. I have probably seen six of these shows. Two of which I was member of the local supporting act. Now, here in 2009, I am contemplating if or not I will see D.I. again. The most famous punk band ever from Fullerton, CA are playing at Club Red in Tempe on September 12th. It's hard to call this a reunion show since D.I. -  regardless of their minimal discography of the last 15 years and fading importance on the overall global punk scene - has ventured out to Arizona on an average of once a year.



I am not sure what the recent lineup of D.I. will bring and how it will compare to various past lineups. I am impressed that the three men Casey Royer currently has backing him up have been with him for over 6 years (although they had just recently became a 4 piece again after longtime guitarist Chckn left the band). The first time I saw D.I. was at the Silver Dollar Club in December 1992 when they brought a very young Face To Face with them.. That may had been the most fun and tightest D.I. line-up I have even seen. Although the Tragedy Again album had been out for atleast 3 years, the line-up of Royer-Elliot-Hedge-Bosco-DRT was in full effect (note: D.I.'s Wikipedia entry states that the Live in A Dive lineup existed between 1990-1992, however I remember distinctly that Hedge was on bass and I do not recall seeing Alfie Agnew at all on stage.)

D.I. would go on to play The Nile Theatre in Mesa several times in the mid-90s -  two of those shows featured a classic line-up that was almost the same as  the one that appeared in the movie Suburbia (Royer-Maag-Taconne-Knight...in Suburbia, Social Distortion's Derek O'Brien played drums instead of John Knight). These were the two shows that my band, Snap Krackle Drop, were booked as one of the supporting acts. Even though D.I. were only a four piece for these shows, the Suburbia-era songs ("Richard Hung Himself", "Guns") sounded better than they had in the past. The overall setlist may had been more or less absent of songs from What Good is Grief? and Tragedy Again,  one show D.I. opened with "Chiva" while later surprising their audience by performing "They Must Want To Die". Other than their cover of The Germs' "Lexicon Devil", I remember only one other song from 1994's State of Shock in that set. I can'teven recall what the name is as I am totally unfamiliar with anythingD.I. has recorded since Tragedy Again. I just remember Casey saying that the song was about talk shows like Oprah Winfrey and Jerry Springer. This was 1995 and 1996, a time period Wikipedia says the band was on hiatus. As I stated before, much of teh world had no idea that D.I. was still active.

The last time I saw D.I. perform was ten years ago at the Mason Jar.I didn't recognize anyone in the band except for singer Casey Royer, but everyone else looked very young. I made a joke to some friends that Casey gathered some kids around the neighborhood to re-form D.I. and relive the glory days. I even referenced the scene in the Buddy Holly biopic where Gary Busey's lead character was jamming with a couple of school kids in his living room. These young kids who performed behind Casey did a fair job and have obviously grown since to be Casey's most consistent line-up since the Agnew brothers days. If you live in the Phoenix area and truly have not seen a D.I. show, then I encourage you to go. Casey is still one of the best, most entertaining frontmen in all of punk rock. My dance card is all punched out, though. I have no connection with any of D.I.'s recent material and wasn't compelled after seeing their 2007 music video for "On The Western Front", which was from an album of the same name released on the label owned by the Kottonmouth Kings, Suburban Noize. I still have my memories from my 1990s D.I. experiences and I am okay not seeing them again...unless ofcourse Casey ever reunites with Rikk, Alfie and Bosco with either Stevie DRT or John Knight back on drums. In that case, I would be there indeed.

Another California band that seems to come out to Arizona every so often is Agent Orange. They are playing again at Jugheads on October 24th. I believe I only saw Agent Orange once in my lifetime here. I am pretty sure it was at The Nile too, sometime in the mid-90s. My recollection is unclear. I do remember that they were good and remembered a few surf instrumentals scattered within the set. The only thing else I remember about their set is that they didn't play "Everything Turns Grey" but definitely performed "Bloodstains".


J.F.A. is based in Northern California now, but as many of you know the legendary skate-rock band began and spent their most active years in Phoenix, AZ. They were a huge part of the punk & hardcore scenes that revolved around Mad Gardens and Placebo Records (1981-1985). Since singer Brian Bannon and guitarist Don Redondo relocated the band to the bay area, any J.F.A. show that takes place back in Phoenix is a big deal. During Labor Day weekend, J.F.A. will play in Tucson at Club Congress with two bands that are legendary in their own right as far as the Tucson punk and skating scenes are concerned; Blood Spasm and F.U.C.T. (Feast Upon Cactus Thorns).



So if the new breed of punk rock bands have brought you down, atleast in Phoenix there are some old-school caliber shows that you can look forward to from time to time.

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