Tiger Army, one of the biggest bands in the pyschobilly genre of music, hosted a week-long event at the Grove of Anaheim, ending its stay on Halloween night.
OCtoberflame 2008, as the short stint was titled, was Tiger Army’s only West Coast performance.
The band’s temporary home began Oct. 23 and continued through Oct. 24, 25, 26, and, of course, 31.
Ten bands were recruited in support of the shows, including fellow Hell-Cat Records mates Civet, and famous psycho bands like Creature Feature, 12 Step Rebels, the Quakes and Sweet and Tender Hooligans.
But at the Oct. 26 show, fans were in for a treat.
Original stand-up bass player Geoff Kresge, who has rejoined the band, and Nick 13, guitarist and lead singer, were joined on stage by original drummer and current drummer for AFI, Adam Carson.
The original trio played songs from their first two albums, “The Early Years” and the self-titled “Tiger Army.”
“It was a great show,” said Alex Perez, a Los Angeles resident and Tiger Army fan. “I forgot Adam would be playing tonight, so it was like a blast from the past. Especially since I think AFI sucks now.”
Both Geoff and Nick 13 were urging the crowd to lose control, asking why they were so quiet and trying to stir more of a reaction.
But the overall feeling felt like that of amazement and appreciation.
“I think people were just caught in the moment,” said Natalie Gutierrez, a Los Angeles resident and Tiger Army fan. “Like here is the original Tiger Army. This is how it all began. I think everyone realized that and just wanted to watch it happen and be able to soak it all in.”
Tiger Army, which has five total studio albums, first began in 1995 in Berkeley, playing its first show at the world famous Gilman Street, which also gave punk legends Rancid and Green Day their start.
During the show, Nick 13 explained the band’s history, saying that when they first started out, there was not a lot of love and support for a psychobilly band, but the punk community was the one group willing to open up and give them a chance.
“They are one of those bands that you can lose yourself in,” Josh Dalman, local Tiger Army fan, said. “Going to see them, you can’t be disappointed, and you know you’ll leave happy.”
According to Nick 13’s blog on the Tiger Army MySpace, playing along with Carson brought back a lot of memories and had such a different and exciting energy to the show.
He also pointed out that a lot of the songs on the set-list have not been played in years. The song “Neobamboom” had never been played live before until that night. This was the first live show for Carson in more than a year.
Alex Senyo can be reached at alexander.senyo@laverne.edu.
