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The Senator Theatre's red, white and blue neon light illuminated the night's sky last week, acting as a symbolic beacon leading listeners to the politically charged message that echoed from inside, a message that demanded immediate political and social change in the United States.
But there were no congressmen rambling, no TV pundits analyzing and no pantsuit-wearing soccer moms to be found. Instead, there were four punk bands and a raucous crowd, with no fancy backdrops, pyrotechnics or computerized light shows to add a sense of spectacle - only a small 3-by-2 yellow banner above the stage that read, "NOFX."
A legendary punk band that has been together since 1983, NOFX headlined the show after opening acts Love Equals Death, Dead To Me and Strike Anywhere laid the tone for the evening: The Bush administration sucks.
In Dead To Me's song, "Don't Lie," the band spoke out against the Iraq war, referring to images of, "folded flags and epitaphs, fair and balanced telecasts, to remind us that the job's not done."
The dreadlocked, fist-pumping frontman of Strike Anywhere, Thomas Barnett, raged into his microphone in a song called "Prisoner Echoes," calling for citizens to "take the banner, hang it upside down, this country's in distress."
Though the booming fast-paced guitars and the pulsating bass and drums drowned out much of the lyrics, the opening bands had the crowd on the floor moshing and singing along, while others played it safe in the beer garden balcony above, bobbing their heads and drinking their $3 Sierra Nevada Pale Ales.
After the three opening acts were done, the crowed waited a half-hour for the main act to start.
Chants of "NOFX" were shouted from the balcony, and then a roar of applause came as lead singer Mike Burkett, aka Fat Mike, and the rest of the band walked on stage and opened the show with a 30-second cover of the famous piano duet "Heart and Soul."
After the ditty, Fat Mike welcomed the audience, which responded with a thunderous roar.
"I'm the youngest guy in my band," Fat Mike said. "I just turned 40 last Tuesday."
As he explained his birthday festivities - which he said included getting high on ecstasy - a large, baby-blue bra flew on stage, and the band made fun of its awkward shape and color.
"Where'd she buy that? K-Mart?" joked guitarist Eric Melvin.
Then the band ripped into its 18-minute song, "The Decline," which rails against blind faith in religion, an apathetic citizenry and the deterioration of American justice.
As the band shredded its way through the ups and downs of the punk opus, the aging quartet didn't seem to miss a note and looked like it was having a lot of fun, grinning at the audience and each other.
Even when beer and water washed up from the crowd onto Fat Mike's green sweatshirt, he still played, sometimes dodging guitar picks that were also being thrown.
When the band finished "The Decline," Fat Mike took off his wet sweatshirt and played the rest of the show with his beer belly exposed, sipping on his mixed drink of vodka and cranberry juice in between songs.
Though the band members have had years of practice under their ever-expanding belts, they stopped twice midway through two of their songs because they messed up.
"Sorry, we can't breathe because we're 40," said guitarist and trombone player Aaron Abeyta, aka El Hefe.
The band continued with its anti-establishment repertoire with songs such as "Franco-Unamerican," calling President George Bush "an embarrassment." They changed the lyrics in "Murder The Government," to end with "I want to see Dick Cheney have a heart attack and George Bush do time."
After the hour-and-15-minute set, the band left the stage offering no encores, ending the play-it-fast, play-it-hard, no-frills show.
Mike Murphy can be reached at mmurphy@theorion.com
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