Show: Acidic
Date: July 12, 2012
Venue: Troubadour
City: West Hollywood, CA
Acidic
Photos by Nicolas Bates
Written by Dan Sinclair
Attention ladies and gentlemen: tonight’s performance by Acidic will not be your typical rock show. That’s right, folks, it’s apparently friends and family night here at the Troubadour. There are teenage girls taking pictures of themselves in front of the stage and holding homemade signs requesting their favorite songs like they’re at a Justin Beiber concert. There are couples in their fifties and sixties dressed to the nine standing in front of pierced, tattered and tattooed punk rock kids. Someone’s grandma is drinking beer out of a plastic cup. There is no standard age, style or dress code here tonight in West Hollywood, and yet no one seems to feel even a bit out of place (save the writer).
Acidic takes the stage to loud cheers from the younger crowd and some light golf claps from their elders. Did no one tell mom how to behave at a rock show? Frontman Michael Gossard stands center stage, holding a guitar and sporting what I can only assume is his signature look of a dark button-down shirt (based on the few pictures I’ve seen of him prior to the show). To his left is the long-haired bass player Ted Dubrawski, and to his right, the shaved head of Michael Thompson on the other guitar. Drummer Matt Whitaker sits behind them.
Fresh off a tour opening for Candlebox, Acidic is very happy to be back here in their hometown of Los Angeles, according to Gossard. After announcing this bit of news, his confidence seems to grow somewhere right in the middle of “not a shy guy” and “cocky.” I’m not sure if it’s because he saw me writing or because all the teenage girls are snapping his picture for which he’s only more than willing to strike a pose, but he seems to feel very proud to be the man center stage.
Acidic starts off the night by playing three new songs — “Only One,” “Scrambled Eggs” and “Pirate Eyes” — all of which will be on their upcoming album. The album will be their third after their previous indie releases, Iconic Dreams (2007) and Getting Lucky (2010). Acidic’s sound is a nice, clean mix of poppy punk and old school rock with some pretty heavy riffs. Though the sound for the most part comes off as very radio-friendly at times, these guys aren’t afraid to rock out. Gossard can really wail with his vocals at times and the band is full of energy. They move all over the stage, enjoying every minute of every song they play.
“Retrograde” seems to get the teenage girls all excited. I hear some screams and the signs go up again.
The moms and dads bop their heads and sing along. Three annoying weird kids try to start a mosh pit, but it’s rather pathetic. They push each other around pretty hard and knock over others that don’t even know what a mosh pit is. I see one of the Moms run. Two of the guys seem to realize how sad they look and relinquish their slam dancing dreams quite easy. The most annoying of the three does not get the message and continues to try and push people for the next three songs before someone knocks him down and he finally gives up.
At one point Gossard leaves the stage and wanders around the crowd. He lets some of his friends sing into his microphone and then he high fives or chest bumps some others. Here’s the perfect chance for annoying kid to have someone to mosh with…but no. He seems too scared and cowers back when Gossard comes near.
Acidic does a pretty heavy version of the Beatles’ “Come Together,” and they have a song supporting the troops called “The Brave,” which they played after another crowd favorite, “Uninspired.”
The final song of the night was “Strata Red,” and it couldn’t have come at a better time since it looked like much of the older folks in the crowd were ready for bed. Gossard travels the crowd again for the final song and Thompson holds his guitar into the audience for all to play. It was a short set due to the plethora of other bands Acidic had play with them, but they gave every song their all and all the fans loved it, from mom and dad to bro and sis to annoying mosh kid.