Redd Kross (Photo by Deb Frazin)
It was Father’s Day, and I had nothing to do, so I decided to head down to The Echoplex and check out the “Punk is Dad” show featuring The Side Eyes and Redd Kross. When I walked into The Echoplex, I noticed a lot of fathers with their kids in the audience (it was heartwarming, and put a nice vibe in the room). I quickly made my way up to the front of the stage, just in time to watch The Side Eyes tear the place apart. They ripped through their set with a fierce punk rock energy that reminded me of old punk bands like The Bags. In case you didn’t know, lead singer Astrid is the daughter of Redd Kross’ Jeff McDonald and The Go-Go’s Charlotte Caffey, and their talent definitely runs through her veins. She can wail, and she never stops moving around the stage (it was a bit of a challenge shooting her photos). Their set was filled with a lot of great originals, and they finished with a killer cover of The Eyes’ “Don’t Talk To Me” (a punk rock classic written by Caffey when she was in The Eyes).
Next up was Redd Kross. Jeff walked onstage wearing a Lou Reed “Blue Mask” t-shirt, then came Steven sporting a “Daddy” t-shirt. They opened the show with a wild version of “Neurotica”, and the hits kept coming, one after another throughout their set. I was thrilled to hear classics like “Annette’s Got the Hits” and “Blow You a Kiss in the Wind”, but so disappointed they didn’t play “Deuce” (the one song I was looking forward to hearing all week). Oh well, you can’t always get what you want, right? Hope you dig the photos!
Photo gallery after the jump. All images by Deb Frazin. All rights reserved.
You’ve got to love the talent of Red Kross and of course Charlotte Caffey of The Go Go’s who was the first all female rock band that played their own instruments and wrote their own songs in the history of the Billboard music charts to ever hit number 1. The Go Go’s made history and have put something new out after all these years. Their website is https://www.GoGos.com