Coachella 2013: Descendents, true to their lineage

1

coachella13-descendentsWho: Descendents at the Outdoor Theatre
In 3 or Fewer Words: Skate Punk Perfection
Memorable Because: The looks on the faces of teenage girls jockeying for position to see Two Door Cinema Club as Descendents raged through “Bikeage” was almost as good as the show itself. Almost. Milo Aukerman and company have aged, but not yet committed the All-O-Gistics sin of adulthood, and this caffeine-fueled show had it all: 30-second punk tantrums (“Coffee Mug”), three-minute Replacements knock-offs (“Silly Girl,” “Clean Sheets”), angsty screeds (“My Dad Sucks,” “Everything Sux”) and Bill Stevenson even farted into a microphone – just like on record! The multigenerational fan base especially came to life during the aforementioned “Bikeage” and “Suburban Home.” Setting this latest in a string of reunion shows on the Outdoor Theatre made it more of a punk-rock museum artifact than a legitimate elbow-scraping mosh fest, and Aukerman never seemed most comfortable crying out the words to “Nothing With You,” the closest thing the Descendents have to a love song. But it was a killer set. And festival highlight.
What I’d Tell My Friend Who Was At The Postal Service: I never got it, but I hope they took you to such great heights.
– Ben “Mouse” McShane