Circle Jerks - June 23, 1988

Circle Jerks - June 21, 1986

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Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force - June 15, 1985

So Yngwie Malmsteen is the artist - the album name is "Rising Force" - not the band. Kind of an interesting way of doing it. The idea of concept albums weren't new by this point, but the reverse emphasis on the album for touring promotion is novel. I'm not a guitar guy at all and was not a fan in 1985. However, today I can appreciate this. Not my favorite by any stretch, but certainly not awful as I had imagined then. Billy Sheehan is a "bass playing virtuoso" so this show was for the musicians.

Megadeth - June 14, 1987

The handout ...

... and the poster.

7 Seconds - June 6, 1987

Sentinel Beast supporting 7 Seconds is as close to a metal/punk fellowship as you're going to get in Sacramento!

Siouxie & the Banshees - June 2, 1986

This one got by me from last week! Siouxie and the Banshees were terrific - all the punk girls I know adored her as well as Nina Hagen. Stylistically they both inspired a lot of the fashion among the young women in the scene. I also liked the proto-Goth Love & Rockets even though neither of these acts are punk - early alternative I guess you'd call them. Love & Rockets were named after a popular comic book - not the other way around as I had imagined. The comic was another pioneer in "alternative" entertainment.

Siouxsie - methinks Nikki Sixx may have been a fan.

The lovely Nina Hagen

Dead Kennedys - May 25, 1985

The modal male in my college experience couldn't be better described than "Terminal Preppie" - I mean to a T, every line an accurate summation: "John Belushi's my hero, I lampoon and I ape him" - these shits were a dime a dozen. I never found SNL funny and its so called "golden age' is a pretty sad contribution to American comedy. Belligerent boorish awfulness is a singularly unfunny approach and appeals to the worst of us.

Above was the creative version and here the logo drop version. The Subhumans were pretty popular with me and my fellow punkers . Like in so many areas, the English punk bands really deserved my admiration: G.B.H., Sex Pistols, Toy Dolls, etc, etc.

D.O.A. - May 17, 1985

Pretty sure this was my first concert I ever went to - even before my first arena show: Huey Lewis and the News at Cal Expo. Been a huge fan of the Circle Jerks ever since.

Hüsker Dü - May 11, 1986

The Hüskers were another band held in very high esteem that I just could not get into at the time. I've poked around recently though and I think I'd like them today. There's a time and place thing about these old acts where they resonated with you at a point in your life when they felt really important, but this one never spoke to me.  Now, the Descendents are another thing entirely who I adore all out of proportion. Their latest album Hypercaffium Spazzinate from 2016 is amazing. I had a demo tape of the Sea Hags around this time and that got a fair amount of play though they didn't record officially until 1989.

Logo arrangement for the poster one here and the more creative handout version above

Black Flag - May 11, 1985

I don't recall going to this one, but I wasn't a fan of the supporting acts either so it's possible I've forgotten it. Black Flag was big, but I definitely preferred other things at the time. Rollins is definitely the better front man, but I think the music was better under Morris.

This is the poster version with the above being the handout. (I had added the "hardcore" clipping, as well as the doodle.) Skulls with mohawks - iconic of my interests then!

Adolescents - May 2, 1987

I do remember being at this one - mostly because after which the band was roaming the streets of downtown Sacramento and asked us what there was to do here in the late hours. "Nothing" was our reply. They were a band whose work I knew and liked before seeing them for the first time -great teenage angsty material. Memories are terribly infallible, yet I think this was also the evening where a buddy and I were sucker punched and almost knocked out cold. By the time we stood up, the assailants were gone. No serious injuries and I believe we took a pair of girls home with us, so not a bad evening on the whole.

Sentinel Beast - April 25, 1987

Here's Heathen again - man I wish I had that demo tape of theirs - great riffs stick around forever.

This is the poster sized one with the postcard handout sized above.

D.O.A. - April 24, 1987

Club Can't Tell lasted about as long as the punk scene did in Sacramento (1984-1988) before shuttering. They hosted Iggy Pop, The Germs, and tons of others in the short time they were open.

Agent Orange - April 12, 1985

The Faction was skater Steve Caballero's band - solid. This is also the first appearance of the Crest Theater as a venue. This place was and continues to be great.

I'm sure it's been refurbished many times over the years, but it remains a central hub of cultural life in Sacramento. I have many fond memories of the place - and also in the context as a revival theater and movie house.

The poster version - with my inexplicable scribbling in the top right quadrant.

Vandals - April 3, 1985

I believe this is the second show I'd ever been to but can't recall. Again it would have been a good one and the Vandals' work seem timeless to me today.
As for RKO - I can't find any reference for them nor for the Pariah I think this is. I do remember Groovie Ghoulies being around though: Appetite for Adrenochrome

Circle Jerks - March 29, 1986

What could be more upsetting to parents than bands named Butthole Surfers and Circle Jerks? My kind of Easter indeed.

And the alternate

Dag Nasty - March 29, 1987

I don't remember Dag Nasty though I know they are still active. Doggy Style however, did some fine work years before Snoop took the moniker in an entirely different direction.

The mailer

The poster

Agent Orange - March 25, 1988

Agent Orange - another legend I never particularly warmed to though their music was a staple with the skater crowd I ran skated with. Also note the Chili Peppers in 1988 - though they already had three albums out by then, they were at their very best in these early days.

Poster version with the addition of I.G.D. (Infectious Garage Disease) - an ensemble that didn't take off.

Corrosion of Conformity - March 14, 1987

Corrosion of Conformity - yet another great band still touring today. And SNFU purportedly meant "Society's No Fucking Use" though members insist it's without meaning, since I knew you were wondering.

This was on my turntable for weeks on end - terrific debut.

The Alarm - March 14, 1988

Not my thing, The Alarm, though I'm aware they have a sizeable fan base. A Monday night show, I'm certain I didn't attend this one.