Free entrance, free beer, free T-shirts, and Suicidal Tendencies playing their first album in its entirety. Plus Taco trucks. What’s not to love?
If I were to pick one album that changed music for me, it would be Suicidal Tendencies’ self-titled debut album, released in 1983. I remember my friend Jesse turning me on to this classic album. The year was 1988. We were skating the parking lot of the local laundromat. He popped in the tape and I was hooked.
Ever since then, it has been one of my favorite albums. Back then the only Suicidal gear you could get was what you made. The band’s fans were known for going to shows with Sharpie pens and spray-painted white T-shirts, covering them with “ST” and skulls. The thing about ST that really got me was that they were all cholo skate boarders—my people.
Thirty years later, on Saturday, July 14, 2018, I finally got to see ST perform their classic debut album in its entirety. They played at House Of Vans in Brooklyn. I couldn’t think of a better venue than a skate park. The best part of the event was that is was all free: free admission, free beer, even free T-shirts. Thank you, House of Vans.
Suicidal did not disappoint. The sound was great and they were on point. It was as if I was 13 all over again. The band is currently on a world tour in support of a new album, GET YOUR FIGHT ON!. They are in Canada this week and will be all over Europe in the month of August. I recommend you catch them if they play near you in the future. If you were at all into skateboarding and hardcore punk in the 1980s, I guarantee you will enjoy the show.
