Kevin Bronson on April 18th, 2011

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Who: OFF! in the Gobi Tent
In 3 or Fewer Words: Past and present
I’ll Remember This Until: The next time I see a fellow AARP card-eligible rocker get me this excited. “You guys are the best f*cking band here,” a fan shouted at the punk quartet’s frontman Keith Morris early in OFF!’s set. “I beg to differ with you, sir,” the dreadlocked 55-year-old said, pointing a lecturer’s index finger in the air. “That Duran Duran band that’s playing later on, they f*cking rule … But, hey, does that mean next year we get to headline the big stage?” Now that would be something, Morris mused. “We could play our friendliest, nicest, kindest song … Here it is, it’s called ‘F*ck People.'” That song, just over a minute long, ends with the ex-Black Flag and Circle Jerks singer saying, “Just kidding” – but he and his band of veteran rockers weren’t on Sunday. The fans, who started a moshpit seconds into the first song, got vintage punk-rock volleys, political discourse, reflections on aging and a minute-long scorcher inspired, Morris explained, by shopping with the downtrodden at Von’s in Hollywood. And that moshpit casualty from San Diego who sustained a gory-looking broken bone in his elbow (and was refusing medical for it)? He said he was his best 30 minutes of Coachella.
What I’d Tell Those People Who Were Showing Up Early for Folk Duo Angus and Julia Stone: The joke’s on you.
– K.B.
Photos by Jim Donnelly (except moshpit by Bronson)