Rancid in Barcelona

First, if you aren't interested in extreme details of the Rancid concert, feel free to stop reading (although thank you for still registering as a hit on my page).  Second, I apologize sincerely for the poor quality of the picture, but that's the best I could do last night.

When my brother first let me know that Rancid was coming to Barcelona while I was here, I didn't think too much of it.  My always pessimistic self thought it'd be hard to get to from Granollers, expensive, uncomfortable and possibly unsafe, and not the same seeing them after all of these years.  As I thought more about, though, I realized two things... 1) my musical listening life started just as Rancid started and 2) Rancid is arguably the most celebrated American punk band in history.  People will argue the Ramones but I don't agree; the Ramones may have been a pioneer but Rancid is a categorical force; constantly evolving without ever straying too far from where they started, creating a record label and countless side projects, ushering in the whole wave of Epitaph and Hellcat records (culminating in interest from MADONNA at one point in the 1990s!), serving as the foundation and gateway for my love of punk music, and most importantly still rocking the same today as they did when I saw them in 1996.  My time frame bias is certainly inherent to my argument, but I really do think they're THE American punk band.  And with that, I decided I must have a ticket!

Anyway, I arrived to Razzmatazz (the concert hall) a bit earlier than scheduled "doors open" time.  I am sure this will shock everyone who's ever been to a concert but they opened the doors later than planned!  I know, that never happens.  Anyway, while waiting, I took in the scenery and realized that the young kids (minus their lack of hygiene, piercings, tattoos, beers, cigarettes, and joints) were me from 15 years ago.  Sure, I was a middle class kid from the suburbs but I still LOVED seeing any punk concert I possibly could, and so did these people.  Throw in the old school t-shirts from the likes of Operation Ivy, the Business, the Addicts, and others, and it was like a flashback to Graffiti in Oakland.  Eventually, the doors opened and I entered for the first time in five years (when I saw the Street Dogs and Bouncing Souls in Chapel Hill).  The club itself was very similar to Avalon in Boston (which is maybe closed).  They host concerts "early" in the night and then turn into a dance club later.  Overall, it was nice with huge bars on each side and an upper balcony to watch from (although I chose ground level)

Whether in Spain, North Carolina, or Pittsburgh, the concerts are the same.  The opening band (Gas Drummers) were actually good but had an audience of 15 mostly standing and watching.  The next band, Klasse Kriminale, grew the audience to "crowded but not packed", and then Rancid made it so no one could move.  Good veteran move by the late arrivers here, they didn't miss too much really.

When Rancid took the stage, the crowd went rightfully crazy and "Radio" began (here is a link to the set list for the concert http://www.setlist.fm/setlists/rancid-13d6898d.html).  For those that have seen Rancid, you know it's ALL music when they start... in this case, they played 31 songs in 90 minutes or so, only breaking for a few words maybe five or six times (including Tim's gem of "This song is about being rejected, and it's called... Rejected!).  The set list was heavy on "And Out Come The Wolves" songs, which is understandable because a) it's the best album they've made and b) it's the most popular as well (the Barcelona fans seemed to know most every song, but they definitely had every word down from this album).  They mixed in enough songs from every album to satisfy any particular person's needs, and they even made sure to feature Matt Freeman (who looked EXACTLY like Paul Goydos the golfer) on a couple. 

Switching to appearances... Tim wore his customary hat and sported a "new to me" beard, Lars had a perfectly shaved head, and Brett Reed inexplicably had shoulder length hair and jumped on his drums periodically through the night.  In my memory, he was always the most calm so this was a bit jarring, but eventually I just assumed he'd changed over the past 15 years.  Aside from him, the three others had their typical stage presences (Tim spinning, Freeman doing very little, and Lars moving around and working the crowd a lot).

A few other notes..
- During "Red Hot Moon", they had a random girl from the audience perform the "rap" part and she absolutely killed it.  Never before have I seen such a performance from a random person; she earned the loud cheers she got when she finished (and she didn't linger on stage too long like so many others would... all around great effort by whomever she was).
- Lars playing "Wars End" alone is always great, and last night was no different.
- I was somewhat surprised they only played two songs from their newest album... poor marketing decision there.
- The crowd was overall very well-behaved.  I saw two minor fights but none of the "one guy decides to start running into people who aren't interested in having him run into them" move that is too frequent for my taste.
- The merchandise selection was shockingly bad... basically just album covers on the fronts of t-shirts.
- My personal favorite songs last night were "Olympic, WA", "Rejected", "Old Friend", "St. Mary", and "Journey to the End".

Suffice it to say, the concert was fantastic.  Rancid sounds as good live as any band I can think of... the music doesn't sound "produced" but it is also not the inaudible muddle of guitar and screaming that can happen a lot given the type of music and the venue.  Even Tim Armstrong, who has more wear on him than should be allowed for someone his age, nailed every big moment all night.  I don't know that this was the best concert I've seen, just because there are too many variables that go into that, but it certainly is my most memorable.  After not going for so long, it felt so good to be back again.  Not only did the live music sound so much better, but it brought back countless memories of growing up and seeing whatever lousy punk or ska bands would roll into Pittsburgh on a Tuesday night for $6.  And for all of those experiences, I have Rancid to thank.