I think it’s safe to say that out of the thousands of live performances I have seen, the one band I have seen the most is The Dragons. At my last count, it was 150 times. And that count was taken at their “final show” in 2004. You can probably add another 20 times to the count if you add up all the times I’ve seen them since that “final show”. And so there was another reunion show this past weekend (Saturday May 25th) at Supply & Demand in Long Beach. My wife and I were excited that the Humpers were playing, but once we found out the Dragons were added, we bought tickets immediately.
A few other friends came up from San Diego and I ran into and saw a few others that were local to LA. Tony Adolescent, fellow Flipside writer Bob Cantu, and Sherry Koko Puder from Sluts For Hire. I’m pretty sure Geza-X was there too. So lots of older people there and lots of the younger crowd too, some of which I’m sure were seeing the Dragons for their first time. Nice crowd who wanted to rock. The place was packed. Like way packed!
It’s certainly not the same without bassist Steve Rodriguez, but Hector Penalosa from the Zeros does an excellent job filling in for the departed Rodriguez. Since time was limited because the Dragons were doing support duties for the reunited Humpers, they ripped through their standard set of “hits”, saving a sole cover song for last: “Let It Rock” by the Four Horsemen. Actually, I can’t really say that they played their standard set of “hits”, because quite a few excellent songs were omitted. They just have too many great songs. Not a bad problem to have.
Fantastic set. Things sounded better from guitarist Kenny’s side, who sounded phenomenal. He was playing the flying V which he inherited from another dear departed friend who was also named “Steve”. Steve Foth from a local San Diego band C.L.A. which whom the Dragons played with often. Certainly not a band to be missed whenever and wherever they play. Had a great time talking and hanging out with everybody. Got some good ideas for some interviews on this blog. On the way back to the car, a violent but jovial old punk rocker told my wife he liked her style.
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