Suicidal Tendencies DVD review
Suicidal Tendencies – Live At The Olympic Auditorium DVD
Words by Ian Dickinson
Any Suicidal Cycos out there are going to go insane for this DVD. Apart from a dodgy VHS in the 90s this is the first Suicidal Tendencies (ST) live show to be rereleased for viewing pleasure. Apart from the bandana clad Cycos, I think the general viewer would be advised to stay clear of this sparse and thoroughly uninspiring DVD.
Filmed at the Olympic Auditorium in 2005, a venue the band first played in 1984 before being banned from playing in Los Angeles. A Live DVD performance this is. Crammed full of exciting extras, documentaries, music videos and interviews it is not. The pinnacle of excitement is being given the option to just watch the credits. Exciting stuff hey.
The feature opens with an interview with the legendary ST front man Mike Muir. This is possibly the highlight of the whole event. Muir gives a short but interesting insight into the bands history. He discusses issues of creativity over “commerciallity” (a word I think he made up) and the history and strife in the bands past. The interview is spliced with shots of police tagged, tattoo clad, wife beater wearing Suicidal Army recruits queuing to get into the venue in some vain attempt to build the tension.
As far as the actual performance goes the sound is good, something which is always a concern with live shows and there are plenty of different camera angles that provide a well rounded view of the gig from numerous positions including the stage and the crowd. The band are in good form and Muir is as energetic and animated, but I find it impossible to ignore the 100 or so people that crowd the stage. This lot are good for a laugh. Seriously I was expecting a drive by or a stabbing to occur. Guys flexing their muscles and posing like they are in a prison weights room. Some of them are so stern and serious that they look like they may have made the mistake of dropping the soap in the shower. It is sad that the motley crew on stage are more interesting than the actual performance.
Donald, one of the original Suicidal Punk rockers, is wished a happy birthday as Muir continuously discusses the bands past. This is a night for the fans and the band. Muir’s self gratification, at times sickening, does make you remember how important and unique ST are. They changed the rules of punk music. They would not conform to the so-called individuality of a contradictory scene where everyone had to dress and act the same.
Muir credits Dogtown and the Z-Boys for being the first ones to embrace the band before going into legendary skate tune, Possessed To Skate. Muir sarcastically woos the crowd for the stomping into another ST classic, the grimy and funky I saw Your Mommy. During Show Some Love Tear It Down some random dude dressed as the devil appears on stage, jumps into the crowd and minces around on stage a little bit, before anti-climatically leaving. Very odd and disappointing, rather like this DVD. The dubious ruffians eventually takeover the stage entirely for the set finale Pledge Your Allegiance. Not surprisingly a minor scuffle occurs and the whole thing fizzles out unceremoniously.
Apart from some of my personal favourites such as Send Me Your Money, Institutionalized and the aforementioned tracks, this DVD is sadly rather dull and at times laughable as gang signs are thrown up behind the Punk/Thrash Metal crossover legends. If you are a big fan of ST, you will obviously enjoy hearing highlights from the self titled 1983 debut, Join The Army and a smattering of over crowd pleasers from their discography. I doubt though that anyone unfamiliar with the band will be convinced to conscript to the Suicidal Army after watching this performance though.
Track Listing
I Shot Reagan
War Inside My Head
Subliminal
Aint Gonna Take It
Send Me Your Money
We Are Family
Possessed To Skate
I Saw Your Mommy
Waking The Dead
Show Some Love Tear It Down
Cyco Vision
Two-Sided Politics
Won’t Fall In Love Today
Institutionalized
Pledge Your Allegiance
