Doc’s first gig…
It was The Dickies with maybe the Pandoras? Not sure on that one… I was 17 years old and had just gotten my driver’s license. The gig was at the world famous Whiskey in Hollywood. My oldest friend at the time; Glen and I were listening to bands like Devo, Blondie, Oingo Boingo and the like but The Dickies had always been one our favorites. I was excited and nervous to go to a real “punk rock” gig. I remember being a little scared about going. Were we going to get asses kicked? Would we “fit it”? I borrowed Glen’s trench coat and decided to take the chance. Remember guys back in the “old days” going to a Punk Rock gig could be a little “risky”. If you were found or thought to be a “Posseur” or were a hippy you were NOT treated kindly. You’d get beaten up or get your head shaved!
We took my car; The Red Scare [which I still have and use today] on the 40 miles trip from our city of Upland to Hollywood. I remember driving up to The Whiskey and seeing a line formed with people sporting mohawks, leather jackets and hard stares. The first thing I recall upon entering The Whiskey was a cocktail waitress walking up to us and asking “would you like a drink”? Glen was mormon and I didn’t like to drink alone!
Back then The Whiskey had a set of bleachers (like at a high school football game) off to the left of the stage. They also had an upstairs. Glen and I had heard about punks with barbed-wire wrapped around their boots to slice you while slammin’ and others that would sneak up to you and burn you with their cigarette (aka a “Germs Burn”). Neither of those sounded like fun to us so we made a beeline upstairs where we could overlook the entire stage. When The Dickies took the stage the air was electric. This is the original line-up. Leonard played his keyboards [hasn’t done that in years] and brought out all the props. They were fucking great! Blew my mind 100% We survive our first gig and were both hooked. The next month, once again at the Whiskey, was Social Distortion and Bad Religion. Another great gig [until Greg Graffin hit someone with the mic-stand just for getting on stage]. What a douche!
Oh, this picture was actually taken at Fenders in Long Beach a couple years later by the way….
