Punk and hardcore punk has been so influential and impactful in music. Artists like The Ramones, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Police, Black Flag, and even Green Day and R.E.M. had their punk music dominate the music scene and been so memorable. We also need to include in that list the band from Los Angeles, Circle Jerks. The band formed in 1979 with former Black Flag vocalist and co-founder Keith Morris. Along with guitarist Greg Hetson they would release the band’s debut album Group Sex in 1980. The album celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2020. The pandemic delayed the tour to celebrate the anniversary, but Circle Jerks is back on the road and had a stop at The Plaza Live in Orlando, FL on December 18th.
As the fans waited for the show to begin, Negative Approach was supposed to be up first. Instead, the setup on stage was showing for Municipal Waste. The band formed in 2000 out of Richmond, VA and performs thrash metal. They released their debut album, Waste ‘Em All in 2003 and since then released 5 additional studio albums and 3 EPs. Municipal Waste was founded by Tony Foresta (vocals) and Ryan Waste (rhythm guitar). The remaining members are Nick Poulos (lead guitar), Philip Hall (bass), and Dave Witte (drums).
The band didn’t waste any time getting the Orlando crowd moshing and moving opening up with “Breathe Grease” from their 2017 album Slime and Punishment. Hardcore at its best with its fast and furious rhythm had this Orlando crowd excited. They quickly followed it with “You’re Cut Off” from 2012 The Fatal Feast, a rapid song that hits you and is over before you know it. They continued on with “The Thrashin’ of the Christ” from their 2005 Hazardous Mutation. This was a fantastic start to their set and they were just getting started.
Thrash metal is one of my favorite genres due to the energy and passion that comes from these songs. It always gets my energy going, gets me screaming along, and the bands that perform them are usually frantic on stage. This fits Municipal Waste perfectly. Tony’s fast-paced vocals and constantly moving around the stage was getting the crowd rowdy. The more he moved the more they moved. Nick was all over the stage as well and playing with such ferocity. Ryan played up to the crowd often during his playing and backing vocals. Philip strummed away furiously at the bass and Dave joined that rhythm from behind the drums. Municipal Waste was putting on a hell of a show.
Their 16 song set had some killer songs like “Gravediver”, “Mind Eraser”, and “Slime and Punishment”. But, it was the end of the set that really had the crowd going and singing along. “Terror Shark” from 2005 Hazardous Waste is furious, bang your head song, that’s so catchy you can’t help but love it. “The Art of Partying”, the title track from their 2007 album, is so fast that you can’t even headbang fast enough to keep up with Tony’s cadence, even though you want to try. They wrapped up with “Born to Party” also from the 2007 album, which the crowd loved. Municipal Waste was very grateful and thankful to Circle Jerks for inviting them on this tour and they also thanked the fans for their support. You can tell they truly loved being back on the stage and on the road playing for the fans. If you want to check out their music and merch you can find it at their website HERE. Their setlist for that night was:
- Intro
- Breathe Grease
- You’re Cut Off
- The Thrashin’ of the Christ
- Poison the Preacher
- Beer Pressure
- Gravedive
- Headbanger Face Rip
- Mind Eraser
- Wave of Death
- Sadistic Magician
- Slime & Punishment
- Under the Waste Command
- Terror Shark
- The Art of Partying
- Born to Party
Next up to the stage were the headliners Circle Jerks. The band came out on stage once their gear was set and ready to go. They were very calm and collected as they made their way on stage, even though the crowd was going crazy cheering. The first thing Keith Morris (vocals) mentioned was the reason Negative Approach was not performing that night. He explained the band had a COVID scare so they decided not to perform. He then began to introduce the band starting off with Zander Schloss (bass). Keith joked that Zander would not be singing any songs that night, but if the crowd started tossing money on stage Zander might change his mind. Zander motioned for the crowd not to do that while laughing at the things Keith continued to say. He then introduced Greg Hetson (guitar) and mentioned you may recognize Greg from his time with the band Bad Religion. Keith then made his way to Joey Castillo (drums) the youngest of the group. And then he simply said, “And I’m Keith” and they made their way into their setlist.
Circle Jerks performed multiple songs in succession taking breaks at certain points. They broke up their setlist into blocks of songs and Keith would talk and joke with the crowd during each block break. And much like thrash metal, hardcore punk has that style of high energy, hard-hitting, and just makes you want to get moving. And Circle Jerks did just that. Keith shows no signs of slowing down and his vocals were on point that night as he performed rapid vocals and with fantastic power. Greg was ripping out riffs quickly and with such precision. He had some beautiful instrumentals that night. Zander though was a madman behind the bass. I had never seen a bassist strumming out notes so fast. And Joey was amazing with his hard-hitting drumbeats and showed such passion all night long.
The band had a great mixture of songs in their 33 song setlist that night. Yes, 33 songs. But, punk songs are usually short so they could squeeze out this many during their time very easily. Some of those songs included “Moral Majority” from 1982’s Wild in the Streets, “Casualty Vampire” from VI the 1987 album, and “Question Authority” also from Wild in the Streets. Of course, since the tour was celebrating the 40th anniversary of their debut album Group Sex the band performed songs off the album. The odd part to me though is they played every track off that album except for the title track “Group Sex”.
Overall, Circle Jerks performed wonderfully that night bringing us back to the hardcore punk sounds we all knew and loved. The band sounded amazing, the crowd was completely engaged with every song, and they seemed to enjoy their time back on the stage. I had such a great time at this show and you should not miss them when they go back on tour in mid-February 2022 and then again in mid-March 2022. You can find their tour dates, music, and merch at their website HERE. Their setlist that night was:
- Deny Everything
- Letterbomb
- In Your Eyes
- Stars and Stripes
- Back Against the Wall
- Behind the Door
- I Just Want Some Skank
- Beverly Hills
- When the Shit Hits the Fan
- Under the Gun
- Trapped
- Coup d’etat
- Wild in the Streets (Garland Jeffreys cover)
- Moral Majority
- Don’t Care
- Live Fast Die Young
- Paid Vacation
- Junk Mail
- Parade of the Horribles
- Casualty Vampire
- I, I, & I
- Leave Me Alone
- I Don’t
- The Crowd
- Beat Me Senseless
- World Up My Ass
- Operation
- Wasted
- High Price on Our Heads
- Red Tape
Encore:
- I Wanna Destroy You (Soft Boys cover)
- What’s Your Problem
- Question Authority
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