4.16.2009

Raise Your Glass: The Jagermeister Music Tour

It’s kind of fitting that is co-headlining this year’s Jagermeister Music Tour. The alcoholic sponsor of said annual music fest frequently made us barf in our teens if we weren’t careful. And if there’s one thing Pennywise guitar player Fletcher Dragge likes to do, it’s throw-up. In an infamous appearance on the “Loveline” radio program, he vomited on several people in the studio before being punched by Dr. Drew, though it’s not known whether Jagermeister was involved (incredibly, this was the band’s second-most controversial appearance on that program).

“This is like band practice,” said Dragge to the Seattle crowd on the opening night of the tour. “We haven’t seen each other in weeks.” The veteran Hermosa Beach punk rock band blew through their 17-song set in less than an hour, though it wasn’t obvious from their performance that they hadn’t been rehearsing — no doubt a benefit of having played together for over 20 years.

While most bands vary their tempos from song to song, Pennywise go at it fast and furious, only pausing briefly to chat with the crowd and never slowing their double-time rhythms.

The band played songs spanning their discography and even threw in a Nirvana cover, which Dragge said had become a tradition when playing in Seattle. “People say they were a grunge band,” he told the crowd. “But they were totally fucking punk rock.” And with that, the band launched into an effective version of “Territorial Pissings,” one of Nirvana’s most ferocious songs. As always, the band concluded their set with “Bro Hymn,” an anthem about recently-departed friends and family, made more poignant thanks to the recent death of Dragge’s brother.

In between bands, a white, tattooed rapper named Big B rapped over sampled tracks and served as emcee while the Jagermeister girls, dressed in orange, attempted to rally the crowd by doing shots.

Pepper, a Southern California trio by way of Hawaii, closed the show, loose and laid back. No, these photos weren’t taken in the middle of the band’s set. All three members hit the stage shirtless — just board shorts and sneakers.

Clean, white sneakers, with ankle socks.

The band cruised through their brand of dub, reggae, ska and rock, gliding into and out of groove-y jams and back again, like a laid-back Hawaiian holiday, a gaggle of friends bopping up and down on the sidelines, just over the shoulder of guitarist Kaleo Wassman.

The Expendables and Authority Zero opened the show, which continues across the country through May. Check out the tour’s official site for dates, info and Jager recipes.

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