Rancid @ The Warfield

The Warfield on Market Street is a beautiful old theatre, now a bit rundown and worn from hosting decades-worth of rock acts. It was charming, had a lot of character and was an excellent backdrop to Rancid, revealing a unique juxtaposition of classical beauty and the organized chaos of a punk band.

Rancid has been on my ipod for about a year now - introduced to me by my punk of a husband. But I didn't really know much about them, other than they were lumped together in my ipod playlist with The Descendents, the UK Subs and Circle Jerks. So I came to the concert with an open mind and open ears. Sometimes it's better that way. With no pre-conceptions, my mind was an open slate.

The crowd had a smattering of 30-ish couples (like ourselves), a majority of neo-punk kids (I classify anyone below 25 as "young") and a few dads with their tween kids in tow. But we were all in the Rancid zone as they spewed out chest-throbbing riffs, pounding drumbeats and lyrics so loud, it drowned out my screaming inner demons. Their stage-side manner was awesome. The show came complete with skateboarder like jumps, spitting and flying fists. Their energy was infectious. From our view, we could see the kids down below moshing, as poker-faced bouncers guarded the frontrows. The hubby forgot about his cold and sore throat and belted every single lyric he knew, including "Journey to the End of East Bay".

A highlight of the concert was when the vocalist of their old band (I'll get my hubby to verify the name) for a once-in-a-lifetime jam. And revealing my age once again, I truly enjoyed the acoustic encore set. Playlist to follow! I'll try to get my hubby to add on to this one, it's more his thing but I'll be sure to listening to Rancid on my ipod more often from here on.

It was a good time.