Joe Sib Broken Word with Jesse Malin – at Largo – Los Angeles, CA

Joe Sib bought his "broken word" show California Calling back to Los Angeles at Largo. Joe who's a staple in the SoCal music scene, the Wax frontman, co-owner of independent label SideOneDummy Records and host of Punk rock radio show "Complete Control" on 98.7FM held a night of stories covering his obsession for and love of skateboarding and Punk rock and how his growing up in California has helped him develop that love.



This would be another notch in our belts for attending Joe's broken word event since it's debut back in October of 2009. Since it's debut back then, California Calling has been making the rounds all over the place and creating a very strong buzz. As we noted in our previous report we have had the luxury over the years of hearing many of Joe' stories and we never get sick of hearing even more. Tonight Joe was joined by longtime friend, New York Punk singer/songwriter Jesse Malin, who opened up the show with a special acoustic set.

In between his set of over a half dozens songs he too had plenty of really good storys to tell. Some of the storys could be described as a bit of a "roast" with love mixed it. One of the short stories that Jesse told was of Joe on his birthday running in the back of the van as they drove through the Holland Tunnel in New York as he cites just one of the examples of Joe's out of control energy level. It has to be noted the Jesse's acoustic set was a real treat to open the show, he is an extremely talented musician with an unique style and swagger to him, go check him out on MySpace and add him as a friend www.myspace.com/jessemalin.

After a very quick intermission, a capacity crowd of 250 were introduced to the world of Punk rock and skateboarding as experienced by Joe Sib. The stories tonight did vary from the last time we took the Joe Sib show in, while he leaves in all the staples of his upbringing and discovery of Punk rock and skateboarding in the mix. The rest of the stories are all different and that is because Joe has so many that leaving you laughing your ass off as well as identifying with the goofyness of many of them in your own experience in life.

JoeyBoy, "These are your people", was a classic line that Joe's dad would proclaim whenever they came across other skateboarders or Punks.

Some of the snippets from the night were: Joe asking for a T-shirt from the band as a reward if he started the pit for their set, to which many opening bands easily pony'd up as an inexpensive way to have their set go off -Funny thing is that Joe was probably gonna start the pit anyway regardless, so getting the shirt was just a bonus. The show had many funny moments the use of the F-word when his dad and others said they did not like that, and well Fuck, ok, I will say Fuck not too much, Fuck. This is not to say that Joe is a big time user of the F-word, just that some stories need the word inserted as a well seasoned adjective for effect. The story of him taking a bus to buy a Sex Pistols record, playing and being stoked, then realizing that if his mom heard the lyric content when it was playing. When a certain set of lyrics played through the little record player, Joe simulates jumping on the record player like a soldier jumping on a grenade so that no one in the house would hear it. He then packed the record back up and literally a few hours after he bought the record, he was back on the bus to return the record back to the store in fear that his mom would totally bust him for having the record. This whole story like the others during the night had the entire audience laughing their head off. Any honest Punk from back when the whole Punk scene got started will have a similar story to tell, after all, Punk was not the tame music and themes of the 60's and 70's music that most parents identified with.

Quote of the night that stuck out was, "Man Joe, everything is Life or Death with you". This truly sums up who Joe is as you peel the layers away. He adopts this philosophy from the traits that made The Ramones and Black Flag's great bands and made that a foundation of how intense he works and approaches the things he touches. He jokingly admits that this approach drives people crazy and how it has lead him to get kicked out of the many bands he started as a kid. On the flipside it is that driving work ethic for success that has been lost on western civilization because most people would rather be comfortable, than excellent.

The night of story telling ended with Joe telling the time that Joey Ramone said that he could be "The Pinhead" during their show that they billed as their last show, however sometime later The Ramones played Lollapaloza after that. Joe details the drama and the tryout he was gonna have to go through under the watchfull eye of Johnny Ramone, even though Joey Ramone had alreay green lighted Joe to do it. Needless to say, Joe did not end up being "The Pinhead" for that show because Eddie Vedder had rolled into town last minute and they had him be "The Pinhead". Joe talks of feeling a bit dejected as this was gonna be his night. Nonetheless after the show all of Joe's friends were all giving him praise for doing a great job and him having to tell him that it was not him and it was Eddie Vedder. Initially his friends razzed him and did not believe him and in the end they did. Joe ended the night by saying, "I am the Pinhead" as the applause filled the auditorium while Joe took a bow.

For a very small sample of Joe’s various stories, go check out the website at: californiacalling.net

 

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More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
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