The Misfits, Circle Jerks, Reagen Youth, GG Allin, Dead Kennedys and the the Sex Pistols were among my "gateway drugs" leading to my unquenchable addiction to my audible uncut dope of choice. Later I was turned on to Give 'em the Boot (my introduction to ska), Epitaph's Punk-O-Rama compilations, and Punk in Drublic (my metaphorical alarm clock). My experience at the 1995 NOFX show at Fitzgerald's in Houston changed my life. I believe it was their So Long and Thanks For all the Shoes tour (sic), if I'm not mistaken. I was an impressionable. 15 year old middle class (somewhat sub) urban kid at my first concert without parents. The set list included Bob (my theme song at the time, minus the scooter-riding girl), Murder the Government, Don't Call Me White and many others. I would be a liar if I said that I grasped the significance of the impact that this show would have on the rest of my life. These guys were singing (way out of key) about things that we all thought about, but was too taboo to speak of.
Although I didn't comprehend the full significance, I did know that there was more to that show than SHARPS and punks beating the shit out of each other, or getting a piece from the first willing b-hawk sporting chick. A seed was planted somewhere inside, and when it blossomed there was no running or hiding. Sometimes, I feel bad for neglecting some of the other great bands out there, some well known and some from the underground. I just connot help myself, I LOVE NOFX!!
Not like the way I loved my wives, this was a pure and unconditional love, which penetrated below the surface. I love their ideas, attitudes, and philosophies...and have adopted some as my own.
This was intended to be somewhat of an autobiographical writing, but so far as I'm concerned, that summer night in the mid-nineties was when my life began. I started thinking about things that I previously hadn't given any thought to. I started questioning the answers that I previously had, hastily and without much thought, accepted as truth. Fourteen years later, NOFX is still my favorite band. I have a letter, dated 1996, which I never sent to them. I figured that they got shit like that all the time and what's one more asshole kid asserting his cliches in approval of their music? I remember wondering if they even read their mail, then tucked the letter into a place where it would be forgotten for a decade and a half...
NOFX live 1995 - www.mediafire.com/?un7psglwicv
Although I didn't comprehend the full significance, I did know that there was more to that show than SHARPS and punks beating the shit out of each other, or getting a piece from the first willing b-hawk sporting chick. A seed was planted somewhere inside, and when it blossomed there was no running or hiding. Sometimes, I feel bad for neglecting some of the other great bands out there, some well known and some from the underground. I just connot help myself, I LOVE NOFX!!
Not like the way I loved my wives, this was a pure and unconditional love, which penetrated below the surface. I love their ideas, attitudes, and philosophies...and have adopted some as my own.
This was intended to be somewhat of an autobiographical writing, but so far as I'm concerned, that summer night in the mid-nineties was when my life began. I started thinking about things that I previously hadn't given any thought to. I started questioning the answers that I previously had, hastily and without much thought, accepted as truth. Fourteen years later, NOFX is still my favorite band. I have a letter, dated 1996, which I never sent to them. I figured that they got shit like that all the time and what's one more asshole kid asserting his cliches in approval of their music? I remember wondering if they even read their mail, then tucked the letter into a place where it would be forgotten for a decade and a half...
NOFX live 1995 - www.mediafire.com/?un7psglwicv