The Casbah's (San Diego) 30th Anniversary weekend bash with the Dragon, Uncle Joe's Big Ol' Driver, Deadbolt and Madly, Saturday Jan 12, 2019

The Casbah has been one of the premier places to play and to see bands in San Diego for 30 years now, with owner Tim Mays being involved in the scene for a number of years on top of that. My LA bands played in his establishments and were always treated kindly and fairly and we often gigged there with the Dragons, San Diego's own, home grown version of the Stones/Heartbreakers. We were heartbroken when we heard about the death of the Dragons' bassist, Steve, a true sweetheart of a man, and when we heard that the band would reform for this celebration, we jumped at the chance to see the group again and give a toast to Steve at the same time.

We got there plenty early because we knew that the night had sold out and wanted to see everything that the night had to offer. First up was a group that I had never heard of called Madly, a female fronted combo that had a commercial 90's sound. Not something that connected with either of us, but I'm sure that they were part of the scene back in the day.

Out back, by the outdoor bar, the "Scariest Band in the World", Deadbolt, claimed a "stage" area and put on a set of their dual-bass-led, frightening surf sounds, accented by performance pieces like shooting off sparks, karate demonstrations (breaking a board), synchronized moves, audience insults, bad taste jokes and more. Always a good, Halloween-ish time with their hits like "Voodoo Billy Man", "Who the Hell is Mrs. Valdez" and plenty of others. They had a sit-in drummer for the night and he did a great job, even if he wasn't always sure when to stop the song!

Back on the main stage we got Uncle Joe's Big Ol' Driver, an awkwardly-named band that was big on the SD scene back in the early 90's and who mined similar r'n'r territory as the Dragons - kinda 70's rock mixed with punk, with a lot of dual, melodic guitar leads. They brought up the Dragons' string strangler, Kenny, for a song, where there was a three guitar lead-fest and they closed with a sloppy, anarchic version of "We're An American Band" - I guess their thing was to do 70's covers like this or Foghat! (Sorry that I didn't get any good pix - the floor was pretty packed for them).

After imbibing some liquid courage we did decide to stake a claim right up from for the main event and in doing so we missed a second set by Deadbolt - sorry guys! But from the moment the Dragons stepped on the stage - original members Mario (lead vocals/guitar), Kenny (lead guitar/vocals) and Jarrod along with Hector, the Zeros bassist filling in for Steve - we were transported back to a Dragons rock'n'roll party, even if the guys were all pretty much sober these days.

They had played the night before, as well, and I'm sure there were some variations in the set, but they did a number of their best tunes, like the classic "High" from their debut LP, Painkiller, "Loaded", "Whoa Yeah", "Three Steps to the Bar", "Sin Salvation" and a bittersweet dedication to Steve and others who have gone before us in their incredible "Fade" with its catch phrase, "I'd rather trip than slow down". Every minute on the stage was utterly wild'n'wailin', with Kenny shootin' off sparks with his insanely fast leads (always a pleasure to watch him play), Mario engaging the audience with his natural rapport and classic Les Paul, Jarrod poundin' the hell out of his drums - he has lost nothing over the years - and Hector holding down the low-end fort. For their well-deserved encore they did Steve's cover tune, "Bad Reputation" (fantastic, but it also tugged at my heart strings), a sloppy take on "Rock'n'Roll High School"(they were known for doing whole sets of the Ramones and the Stones) and a blastin' "Let It Rock".

Few bands could compete with the Dragons for pure rock'n'roll fever when they were firing on all cylinders and this night their were in top form. I always loved playing gigs with these terrific cats as well as simply experiencing their r'n'r abandon and I've certainly missed seeing this style of music in person. This was a wonderful throw back and a terrific way to celebrate 30 years of one of the best clubs on the west coast. Here's to many more!

(Tim Mays, the man responsible!)