San Diego’s punk rock scene goes full carnival with The Adicts

Few things will get me out of the house on a rainy night in the middle of the work week, especially when I’m already running on fumes. It being the week before Halloween (my favorite), I’ve naturally already run myself into the ground in an effort to take full advantage of spooky season (as I do every year). But when I heard The Adicts were coming to town on a Wednesday, I had to suck it up and go.

Why not add moshing to the itinerary?

A visual circus, The Adicts are one of the few punk shows I’ve been trying to go to for a while now. I’m more of a goth/darkwave babe, very rarely venturing out to see a band loudly playing three chords over and over. But The Adicts are different… they are theatrical, thematic, and poetic in their lyrics (as simple as they might be). Plus, they’re my high school bestie’s favorite, so a perfect excuse to share a show with her.

Parking outside the Music Box in the Little Italy area of downtown San Diego, the rain began to pour. Torrents of water gushed down the streets, suddenly flooding the entire area. It was hauntingly picturesque to see all these punk rock kids emerging in the darkness from all directions as the rain beat down. Inside, the place was already lined with people smelling of cigarettes, sweat, and spilt beer; it’s been awhile since I’ve covered a punk show inside a building and forgot the stank. It was nostalgic, though… took me back to my high school days.

First up was GVLLOW, but we had missed their set already.

Dead City was direct support, a band that had no problem expressing their history and political agenda. From “f*ck ICE” to “I used to smoke crack on Skid Row, Los Angeles”, Dead City’s vocalist was pretty, well, vocal in between hardcore songs that had the circle pits going. The drummer at one point lit his cymbal on fire! Never saw that before! The place smelt of burnt metal and chemicals after that… but the stunt was pretty sick.

A short set change later, it was time for the main attraction. Garbed all in white, Adicts members took their respective places before head-hauncho Keith “Monkey” Warren appeared rocking an LED butterfly cape. Bowler hat atop his head, Monkey’s signature look is full Clockwork Orange droog attire and makeup; his actions and expressions onstage are always Vaudevillian. And no Adicts show is complete without Monkey tossing a myriad of props out into the crowd, with this night ranging from playing cards, oversized joker cards, “I Am Yours” Valentines, a white-and-red hearted necktie, and a decked-out tambourine. Streamers were shot out of a cannon and an oversized umbrella rained down confetti.

It was pure spectacle genius.

As sing-along after sing-along erupted, Monkey stopped to say that “sometimes, things go worse than expected. Sometimes, things go better than expected. And, sometimes, it’s Pete’s favorite song”. Original guitarist Pete “Pete Dee” Davidson then asked on the mic if anyone in the crowd knew what it was. When an audience member shouted “You’re All Fools”, Pete Dee said they had won a “free dollar” before correcting the prize to be “a free ticket to our next show”. What a way to show fan love!

After an extended set list that stretched into the wee hours of the morning, I staggered home wondering how on earth I was going to be able to go to work in a few short hours. But attending my first Adicts show was entirely worth it.

Photography by Kristy Rose

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