Staff Editor on March 18th, 2019

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Old-school was in session Saturday night at Alex’s Bar as four bands whose histories date to the late 1970s and early ’80s played a multi-generational celebration of punk rock, as well as a salute to pioneers from that era who are no longer with us.

Headlining were the Dils, who roared out of San Diego County in 1977 fronted by brothers Chip and Tony Kinman. Both went on other musical exploits, including most recently Ford Madox Ford, a band that Chip fronted and Tony produced. Tony died in May 2018 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, but the Dils were reborn in January, playing a fundraiser with Chip fronting a trio including his stepson Giuliano Scarfo on drums and Scarfo’s longtime bandmate Brian Melendez on bass. It was in large part Scarfo’s enthusiasm for spreading the gospel of the Dils that this incarnation happened, and on Saturday night the sold-out crowd at Alex’s saw why.

There was a heavy “fuck the establishment” attitude throughout, with Scarfo smashing so hard at one point the show had to be paused to reset his drum kit. (The Dils also experienced another existential blow recently when they learned that one of their original drummers, Vancouver punk legend Zippy Pinhead [William Chobotar] had died of a heart attack. The Dils are playing a show in Vancouver on April 5 and Scarfo was looking forward to seeing the man whose parts he is playing.)

The Dils’ set included both songs from their 1977 debut 7-inch, “I Hate the Rich” and “You’re Not Blank,” along with 1980’s “Sound of the Rain” and “Red Rockers” and both their songs on the late-’70s Dangerhouse compilation, “Class War” and “Mr. Big.” It ended with the long jam “What Goes On.”

Leading into the Dils were Mike Watt and the Missingmen, the long-running trio fronted by the bass legend who founded San Pedro’s the Minutemen back in 1980. Watt’s set showed the range of his music, powering through loads of material with guitarist Tom Watson and drummer Raul Morales raising the bar.

Before that, the Horseheads (originals Mike Martt and Gregory Boaz of Tex and the Horseheads) rocked a set joined by young’un Nick Aguilar on drums (the band joked that they were too old to keep up with him). And the Last repped late-’70s South Bay pop-punk with young James Nolte joining brothers Michael and Joe Nolte and the band. Joe is back from a stroke the sidelined him 4 1/2 years ago, and the Last ended their set with a classic, “She Don’t Why I’m Here,” from their not-quite-40-year-old debut “L.A. Explosion!”

The age ranges of both the performers and the audience was striking and endearing. Each of the bands made wisecracks about their ages, but once the music began the time that had passed was irrelevant. The crowd packed against the stage the whole night, and at one point even a tiny mosh pit broke out, although many were past the mosh pit stage in life and were content to just enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Photos and recap by ZB Images