Suicidal Tendencies - 'Live At The Olympic Auditorium' (Suicidal Records)

Suicidal Tendencies – ‘Live At The Olympic Auditorium’ (Suicidal Records)

Written by Matt Phelps
Wednesday, 07 April 2010 05:00

Lights? Camera? Cycos on the set? Check! Check! Check! What else? Well there’s a set list packed with 16 sticks of the finest inspirational lyrical dynamite to ever ship out of the US West Coast and the assembled mass of 4000 heavily tattooed Suicidal Maniacs packin’ more bandanas than Bret Michaels’ overnight bag. Now that’s what I call cyco vision!

Having been filmed way back in October 2005 the reasons why this show has taken nearly four and a half years to finally reach the public domain are for discussion elsewhere. The fact we focus on here is that it has arrived, and nothing else matters. And boy was it worth the wait. A visual documentation of a sweat soaked, riotous night in ST history finally available for the worldwide army on what is unbelievably Suicidal’s first ever DVD release. At long last we get to see the Venice Beach marauders stampeding their way through a select choice of hugely infectious grooves thrashed out under minimal lights with maximum ferocity. Headlining the final show ever to be played at LA’s legendary Olympic Auditorium ahead of its closure and rejuvenation into a Korean Church, the ’05 line up of Mike Muir (vocals), Mike Clark (guitar), Dean Pleasants (guitar), Steve Brunar (bass) and Dave Hidalgo (drums) waste little time in cranking up the cyco power and raising the roof closer to God than any prayer group or acro prop ever could.

With the footage recorded on just four hand-held cameras mingling around the stage and throughout the crowd, editor Alex Gomez has worked some serious magic to craft a sleek, engaging memento of the night’s proceedings. Stitching up more cuts than Elm Street’s A&E department, he ensures that the action on screen stays as quick paced as the motivational Muir talks that precede many of the energetic bursts of rampage that engulf the stage and crowd alike. The crowd sound levels are a little quiet at times and could be more prominent in the mix but the enthusiasm and dedication to the cause is clear as bodies fly and fists pump spurred on by Muir’s rants and relentless stomping back and forth across the stage like a man possessed.

A career spanning retrospective this is most certainly not. Large swathes of classic Suicidal material from the most commercially successful years are largely ignored. ‘The Art Of Rebellion’ and ‘Suicidal For Life’ are blanked completely. While only one song per piece from 1990’s ‘Lights, Camera, Revolution’ and 88’s ‘How Will I Laugh Tomorrow….’get inclusion here. Namely the evangelical funk of ‘Send Me Your Money’ and the set closing war cry of ‘Pledge Your Allegiance’, which comes complete with full scale stage invasion by the Suicidal Army and delivered with all the intensity of a cyco stamping hardcore episode of Sesame Street. Brought to you with total devastation by the letters S and T.

Void of any extras bar a fleeting intro/interview from the cyco with the miko, front man and original founding father, Mike Muir, ‘Live At The Olympic Auditorium’ offers up a short but savage 70 minute demonstration of brutalised skate punk revolving mainly around 83’s much revered debut album. One by one the knock out blows of iconic heavyweight punchers like ‘Subliminal’, ‘I Saw Your Mommy’ and ‘Institutionalized’ are decked out and mixed up alongside a splattering of equally infectious cyco anthems including ‘War Inside My Head’, ‘Possessed To Skate’, ‘We Are Family’ and ‘Waking The Dead’.

The only thing lacking from this package is a suitable safety sticker adorning the front of the box giving warning of the possible pitfalls facing prospective purchasers. Should you choose to invite a few friends around to enjoy this suicyco assault on home entertainment with you you’ll end up caught in a living room mosh so intense that it will leave you more bruised and confused than one of Michael Barrymore’s pool party guests. So stay safe out there people, but above everything else…. STAY CYCO!!!