OFF!/Plague Vendor

Live In Ventura (2016)

Ricky Frankel

The show I went to November 12, 2016 was one of those rare occurrences where instead of heading south for a show I headed north to Ventura, California to see OFF! and Plague Vendor play in one of the most intimate venues I have ever been to. It is a little shitbox (I say that lovingly) bar called The Garage – no barricade and according to the sign on the wall the maximum legal occupancy is seventy people, but my guess was they were able to squeeze in a total of about a hundred.

To be honest this was my first time hearing and seeing Plague Vendor. They had a pretty weird take on punk rock. It was sort of this mix of almost psychedelic and proto punk with a hardcore influence. Their lead vocalist was the one who got the most attention from the crowd I would have to say. With his long hair over his face, he would hang on to the holes in venue’s very low hanging ceiling to keep his balance while standing on the PA. At one point one of the reflective tiles fell off the ceiling and he picked it up and would reflect the light off it into the crowd. It is safe to say that their performance was pretty out there.

Plague Vendor’s Set List:

Anchor

Black Sad

Breakdance

ISUA

Plague Vendor

Jezebel

CA Blood

No Bounty

Nothing’s Wrong

Chopper

Credentials

Once Plague Vendor were done with their set, OFF! took the stage with a very anxious and excited audience squeezing in towards the small stage. This must have been my fifth or sixth time seeing OFF! and as usual they put on a phenomenal show. The set list as you can see below had a great range of songs from all of their releases and the group was as energetic as ever. Dimitri kicked and sung around with his guitar constantly, while Steven got on top of the PA and gave crazy looks to the crowd and Mario slammed on the drums. Keith’s vocals were killer as usual. The way he performed at this show made you think that there is no way he plans to stop any time soon. They started off the show with my favorite track (and my current ringtone) “Void You Out.” Some other highlights of the night were when they played “Jeffrey Lee Pierce,” “Wiped Out,” “Red, White And Black” and “Darkness.” Let’s be honest though – has there ever really been a bad OFF! show? I don't think so.

After their set ended OFF! got back on stage to do something I don't think anyone really expected. Dimitri said (I’m paraphrasing here) that they were a filming a Spinal Tap-esque movie and he wanted to every one to boo, flip them off and throw stuff at them. Now the fact that some guy behind me was holding a huge video camera made sense. They played a part from “Hypnotized” and when Dimitri jump and swung his guitar he fell and the band stopped and the crowd began to boo and throw empty beer cans and give the finger. They tried to “get the song right” a few more times until they gave up and left the stage to more booing and more stuff being thrown at them. So I guess look out for some film starring OFF!?

OFF!’s Set List:

Void You Out

I Don't Belong

I Got News For You

Crawl

Now I’m Pissed

Over Our Heads

Blast

Poison City

King Kong Brigade

Legion Of Evil

Times Not On Your Side

Meet Your God

Borrow And Bomb

Wiped Out

Jeffrey Lee Pierce

Panic Attack

Mr. Useless

No East Escape

Hypnotized

Rat Trap

Wrong

Red, White And Black

Black Thoughts

Darkness

Upside Down

You can see some pictures and a video clip of the show on Punknews Instagram.