Phenomenal. The entire experience was superb; great bands, great venue, great weather. It was a perfect night. History was made, it was the first time, in their 40+ year history, that both bands, BAD RELIGION & SOCIAL DISTORTION were co-headlining. And there they were, back in NYC.
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Billed as "NYC's most scenic stage", The Rooftop at Pier 17 certainly lives up to that claim. WOW!!! Who needs the sphere? Video screens in a 360 degrees circle? Nah, we got that live right here. Located at the very tip of Manhattan, at the world famous South Street Seaport, every direction is a different picturesque scene. When you are looking at the stage, you're facing north and you can see the three bridges, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg. A couple dozen people stood and watched the concert from the Brooklyn Bridge.
Look to your right over the East River and you see DUMBO then keep going and you're looking at the Brooklyn Navy Yards and further south. Next you're looking at Governor's Island, then the Statue Of Liberty. You get to see everything! Keep going to the right you're looking at all the buildings in lower Manhattan, the two that really stuck out were City Hall and The Woolworth Building. Then to complete the circle you're looking forward again and you see the Empire State building through the stage.
2024 is the seventh season of The Rooftop at Pier 17 so it is a relative newcomer to the live music scene. This is a perfect place to bring someone if you really wanted to dazzle them; date, friends, co-workers, etc... When you do go, this place is fun to get there as soon as the doors open so you can enjoy the view while the sun is out, watch the sunset, then watch the city come alive at night. Fashionably late, no. Here's a link to the schedule:
The Rooftop at Pier 17 website
On to the music. They were the very first acts of the new season. I saw them on night 2 of 2 and I am glad I did. Night 1 there could always be some glitch somewhere along the way. And there was. The bass player, Jay, didn't even make it to night 1. That is so perfect, so punk rock. I don't know if someone filled in for him or if one of the guitarist played bass that night, we never found out. Night 1 was a Saturday and sold-out, night 2 was a Wednesday and not sold-out being a school night. It was still really packed but there was enough elbow room to make it enjoyable.
Standing room only because Pier 17 knew what they were doing. There was no way they were going to set up 4,000 folding chairs for this crowd! Everyone was on their absolute best behavior and there was no instances anywhere throughout the evening, but you still have to take precautions. If anything went sideways at anytime the chairs could be used as projectiles, from the rooftop.
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| The Brooklyn Bridge, from a side view, looks like string art. |
My friend, Rich Rickaby (filmmaker/ artist/ tonight's photographer) and I arrive. A band had already taken the stage. We immediately stopped to see who they were. I say "This can't be Social Distortion or Bad Religion, these guys don't look like they're over 30." Lovecrimes was the name written on the drum kit. They jammed! We caught about 20-minutes of their set and these dudes really impressed. The singer/ lead guitarist did a great solo as did the drummer. Definitely look them up.
Social Distortion took the stage as the sun started setting. The audience went wild like they were seeing old friends. The band had to postpone their summer tour the year prior due to the fact that the much loved vocalist, Mike Ness, had surgery for tonsil cancer. They're here tonight and they look great! 'Bad Luck' was the opening number, which was very well received. Following with 'Through These Eyes'. I loved 'I Wasn't Born to Follow'. The lyrics:
"When I grow up, gonna be a star
Gonna sing my songs and play my guitar."
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| MIKE NESS |
The plan was to play heavily from 'Mommy's Little Monster' as they recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of its release. Goal accomplished; 'Mommy's Little Monster', 'The Creeps' and 'Hours of Darkness' were the cuts we got to hear that night. Mike was telling little stories, anecdotes even, in between songs and they were funny! He had the place laughing each time. The stories were only about a minute long so everyone was fine with them. One story was about how they are from Southern Cal and their first time in NYC was in 1980. Another story was about his high school days in alternative high school. Hilarious because it was relatable.
'1945' got the crowd jumping. (Still, at our age.) They performed a handful more songs and encored with the Merle Kilgore written 'Ring of Fire'. As Social Distortion was leaving the stage they waved and said "We'll see you next year." And we hope so, we hope so. Next up Bad Religion.
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| BAD RELIGION on stage, Empire State Building in the background. |
Bad Religion was awesome. Fronted by vocalist, Greg Graffin, only consistent member since 1980, they looked great and sounded even better. They were all present and accounted for, meaning the bassist, Jay Bentley, another founding member, was there that night. Drummer Jamie Miller got the party started with a fast, hard pounding beat from the moment they took the stage.
Their energy level was high, the audience loved it gave it right back. Guitarist Brian Baker performed an incredible solo. And with the sun now set and the spotlight directed on him, he had everyone's focus. The fifth member in the band is 'The Serb', Mike Dimkich, the rhythm guitarist. He was in the band 'The Cult' for 20-years before he joined Bad Religion in 2013. Mike kept the rhythm going.
The mosh pit started moshing. Crowd surfing started surfing, people getting passed around in the air. It was full on. Stage diving, no. There was a wide gap between the stage and the audience to prevent any of that. And thank goodness, nobody wants to get dove on, dived on?
It was a great show from beginning to end, very entertaining. As of today, 13 May 24, there is still 5-dates left before the spring tour concludes. Check out the schedule here.
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***I looked up Lovecrimes when I got home, the front man for Lovecrimes is Julian Ness, Mike Ness' son. Generational talent! I think we will see big things from them in the near future.
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| On the road again. The buses lined up, ready to go, parked on the South Street Seaport with the historic sailing ship (1885) Wavertree in the background. |
