Over the past four years, OFF! have proven to be more than just a band. They also raise a series of challenging questions. After four decades of heavy use, does punk rock still have any life left in it?
They’ve answered their own questions with a resounding yes through a packed itinerary of shows and a handful of recordings that are among the rawest musical experiences of the new decade. Combining reckless improvisational energy with the combined skills of four deadly sharp musicians, OFF! have dug down through a decades’ worth of accumulated stylistic garbage, and rediscovered the stripped down core of noise, speed, and rock & roll that punk seemed to have lost forever.
Off! was formed in Los Angeles, California in late 2009 by Circle Jerks/Black Flag singer Keith Morris, Burning Brides frontman Dimitri Coats, Redd Kross bassist Steven Shane McDonald, and Rocket From The Crypt/Hot Snakes drummer Mario Rubalcaba.
Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers has been one of Morris’ friends for over thirty years (Morris at one point in the 80s filled in for Kiedis, who was off scoring drugs and missed his band’s show), and is a huge fan and supporter of Off!. At every date on the Chili Peppers I’m with You World Tour, Kiedis has worn an Off! hat to promote the band.
Searingly loud, frantically paced, and best taken in a single 23-minute dose, Wasted Years is a sonic cinder block, a clenched fist raised in the face of rock & roll refinement. If you had any questions about the state of punk in 2015, this is your answer.
WHEN: Tuesday, 23rd June 2015
WHERE: IBOAT, Bassin à Flot n°1, Quai Armand Lalande, 33300 Bordeaux
COST: €13.00