For one Saturday in June, the Fairplex in Pomona, CA was transformed into punk rock heaven for No Values. Concert promotion giant Goldenvoice summoned some of the biggest names in punk and ska—including Sublime, Iggy Pop, Social Distortion, Bad Religion, and The Original Misfits—for a single-day festival that, among other things, served as an homage to Southern California’s impact on head-banging, mosh-worthy, angst-filled music.
Sublime brought its Long Beach ska-punk bona fides to bear in a big way. Jakob Nowell, the son of the late frontman and principal songwriter Bradley Nowell, reprised his recently established role as his father’s stand-in with aplomb. Whether scouring the stage during “Date Rape”, ripping guitar the “Wrong Way”, or practicing “Santeria”, the 28-year-old Sublime scion looked and sounded like a spitting image of his dad, who succumbed to an accidental heroin overdose in May 1996. That same year was also the last time Sublime had played Toots and the Maytals’ “54-46, That’s My Number”, “Ball and Chain”, “Pool Shark”, “Right Back”, “New Thrash”, Bad Religion’s “We’re Only Gonna Die”, and Descendants’ “Hope” before the band’s set at No Values.
Sublime — No Values — Pomona, CA — 6/8/24 — Full Set
[Video: Geoffrey Gardner]
Speaking of Bad Religion, the Canoga Park-based punk outfit did its part to represent the genre’s revival in the 1990s. Lead singer and founding member Greg Graffin took a break from his professorial duties to bust through rock radio staples like “Los Angeles is Burning”, “New Dark Ages”, “Sorrow”, “American Jesus”, and “21st Century Boy”—along with a set-closing cover of Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town”.
Bad Religion was joined toward the top of the bill by its contemporary from Fullerton, Social Distortion. Band founder Mike Ness shared stories from his upbringing on the mean streets of Orange County during the 1970s in between a slew of hardcore standards, including “Mommy’s Little Monster”, “Ball and Chain”, and “Story of My Life” before closing the set with a classic cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”.
Perhaps no SoCal band did more to show off its punk stripes, though, than Suicidal Tendencies. The Venice-based thrash outfit, led by “Cyco” Mike Muir, burst out to “You Can’t Bring Me Down”, finished with “Institutionalized”, and scrambled frantically across the stage in between to tracks like “Freedumb” and “Cyco Vision”.
Suicidal Tendencies — No Values — Pomona, CA — 6/8/24 — Full Set
[Video: Jeff M]
The list of Golden State luminaries at No Values extended far beyond those noteworthy bands. From the hardcore of Agent Orange and Black Flag to the ska of Hepcat, The Aquabats, Fishbone, and Angelo Moore (the latter two having recently split), there was no shortage of California dreams fulfilled on display. But No Values was hardly a West Coast-only affair.
The Tri-State punk scene, for one, was well represented. The Original Misfits, led by singer Glenn Danzig and bassist Jerry Only, brought a heaping helping of their horror punk from New Jersey to California. Their headlining set featured such favorites as “I Turned Into a Martian”, “Vampira”, “Where Eagles Dare”, “Night of the Living Dead”, and “Halloween”, along with an encore closer of “Die, Die My Darling”. Not to mention all the trash-talking that Glenn laid on the audience throughout his performance.
The Dillinger Escape Plan went hard for the Garden State, as well. When he wasn’t screaming into the microphone, lead singer Dimitri Minakakis busied himself with getting into the crowd and spewing fire with a torch. At one point, he got an assist from Suicidal Tendencies’ Cyco Mike, and was supported throughout the show by guitarist Ben Weinman, who sat in with Suicidal Tendencies later in the day.
Baltimore’s Turnstile turned up the intensity during its set with mosh fuel like “BLACKOUT”, “FLY AGAIN”, and “HOLIDAY”.
Though Iggy Pop isn’t exactly an East Coaster, the manic Michigander was no less of a sight to behold. At 77 years old, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer had no problem powering through classics such as “Raw Power”, “The Passenger”, “1970”, “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, and “Search and Destroy”—all without a shirt, of course. During “Lust For Life”, he even got some help singing from a fan he invited onstage.
There were even some acts who parachuted in from overseas. Chief among them was The Damned, who emerged from the same London punk scene in the 1970s that produced the Sex Pistols. Lead singer Dave Vanian, now 67, still had plenty left in the tank as he pounded through foundational punk songs like “Noise Noise Noise”, “Neat Neat Neat”, and “Smash It Up”.
All told, No Values was a fitting return to Goldenvoice’s punk rock origins, long before it became best known as the production and promotion behind Coachella. But while it would seem to have little in common with its far bigger, longer-standing, world-music-oriented cousin, No Values did share at least one thing in common with Coachella and its ilk: An uncanny ability to bring together music fans across generations for the experience of a lifetime.
Check out a gallery of images from No Values courtesy of photographer Josh Martin along with a collection of fan-shot videos.
Turnstile — “Holiday” — 6/8/24
[Video: Julian Camarillo]
The post Sublime, Social Distortion, Bad Religion Supply California Punk To No Values Festival [Photos/Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
