Tunes | OFF! @ The State Theater, St. Petersburg, FL – 09.25.12

Keith Morris’ passion has never waned. Photo © No Comply Skateboard Mag

Punk rock and skateboarding…skateboarding and punk rock…synonymous. I grew up skateboarding and listening to bands like: Minor Threat, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, JFA, Agent Orange, Bad Religion, Social Distortion, etc…as I believe, most of us did. The message, the culture, the independence, are all one in the same. But, I don’t need to tell you that. Anyway, although both punk rock and skateboarding have both become more mainstream over the years, the passion in what has created who we are today is still as strong as ever. Not only has skateboarding come full-circle, but punk rock music has as well. The new generation of kids are as diverse in their skateboarding as they are in their music selections. More and more kids are skating pools, bowls, ditches, and vert ramps and listening to bands like Agent Orange, and Black Flag, and the Ramones…like it was the 80’s. Even their trick selection reflects this…I’ve seen more inverts and bonelesses in the last year than I have in 20 years.

Let’s also not forget these guys that are skating and playing music well into their 50’s these days with the same intensity that they always have. Keith Morris is the perfect example of the music aspect of that. Morris formed Black Flag with Greg Ginn in 1978, and after only a short time, left Black Flag to form the Circle Jerks with Greg Hetson. Seven albums, 15+ years, and a hiatus later, OFF! is formed. OFF! is Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks), Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides), Steven McDonald (Redd Kross), and ex-professional skateboarder Mario Rubalcaba (Hot Snakes, Earthless, Rocket From The Crypt). OFF! came to be after a failed attempt to breathe life back into the Circle Jerks in 2009. Coats had been working as the producer on the album, and he and Morris already had several songs written, so they formed OFF!. OFF! made their live debut at the 2010 SXSW Music Festival in Austin, TX and in typical punk rock fashion, their first release was a 7″ vinyl EP called 1st EP. In December of 2010, OFF! released First Four EPs and in May of this year released their first full-length self-titled album.

I missed OFF! the last time they came through town, so I was determined not to let that happen again this time around. OFF! played with Negative Approach and Double Negative at the State Theater in downtown St. Petersburg, FL on Tuesday night and I had the opportunity to shoot some photographs. Enjoy. -Nicks

Check out the photo gallery HERE.

September 27, 2012 | Categories: Skateboarding, Tunes, Video | Tags: Black Flag, Burning Brides, Circle Jerks, Concert, Dimitri Coats, Earthless, fl, FLA, Florida, Hot Snakes, Keith Morris, Leo Romero, Mario Rubalcaba, Music, NPR, OFF!, Photographs, Photos, Punk, Red Kross, rock, Rocket from the Crypt, RVCA, Show, Skate, Skate Punk, Sound Opinions, St Petersburg, St. Pete, State Theater, Steven McDonald, tunes, video | Leave a comment