Today was the KROQ/Levi's Inland Invasion. "The biggest gathering of punks in the world ever," according to Greg Graffin. It was more like a 25th Anniversary of Punk concert. Over 52,000 people, 17 bands, 13 hours, 2 stages. We got there a little late because Jim's car overheated before we left and we had to trade cars. TSOL, The Adolescents, and The Distillers had already played. The Circle Jerks were playing on the lawn stage as we were waiting to get into the Blockbuster Pavilion around 1pm. I was a little disappointed because they were one of the bands I really wanted to see, but they sounded good from a distance. It was hot when we got there, but we poured water over ourselves before we went in because they wouldn't let us bring our water bottles into the venue. We walked around for a little while to check the place out as GBH was playing. We made our way over to the lawn stage around the time The Vandals were going on. We couldn't get anywhere near the stage. The whole field was one big dusty mosh pit. The Vandals sounded good, but we wanted to head over to the main stage where our seats were for the other bands. They started the bands on the main stage a little early so we missed Unwritten Law. Our seats were amazing. We were only about 20 rows back and we were in the shade for most of the day. Internet Pre-sale's rule! It was organized very well. Each band on the main stage played for around 45 minutes. The best part was that they had a rotating stage, so while one band was playing, the next band was setting up backstage. There was no waiting between bands. When one band finished, the stage rotated and the next band came out. The Damned came out next. I love The Damned. They played a mix of old and new songs, but they didn't sound that great outside. They're much better in a small club. Next, came X, who I think was the hilight of the day for me. I'd never seen them before and they were amazing. After them was New Found Glory, who everyone booed because they really didn't belong on the stage with all these veteran punk bands. The Buzzcocks put on an amazing set, but the crowd still wasn't really into the show yet. Most people were sitting down. Pennywise changed all that. They really got the crowd on their feet. I was a little annoyed at first because they were trying to get the lawn people to charge past security to get closer to the stage where we were sitting, but security did a good job keeping people where they were supposed to be. I'm not a big Pennywise fan, but they played a bunch of covers: Black Flag, Germs, Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, and the Ramones. They even got Fat Mike from NOFX to come out and sing with them. Next was Blink 182. They were just goofing off and sounded terrible. Most of the guys in the audience sat down when they came onstage, and after they played a few songs, the girls started sitting down too. It was about that time that I noticed a big bonfire on the lawn. By the time the Bad Religion came on there were about 7 bonfires going and people moshing around them. Bad Religion put on a good show, but I've seen them before. The biggest excitement during their set was the fight that broke out between the guy standing next to me and the guy behind him. Social Distortion came up next and played well, but again, I've seen them before several times. At that time I could see about a dozen fires. The Offspring came up next, but I don't really care for them. They weren't bad. The singer had a "EVEN JESUS HATES CREED" T-shirt which was pretty funny. And finally the time had come for the Sex Pistols! They were amazing. They sounded great, Johnny Rotten was really funny, and they played for over an hour. They played lots of songs, and Johnny interacted with the crowd a lot. At one point he had ripped his shirt so he had to ask if anyone in the crowd had a safety pin he could borrow... heh.
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