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First punk show

11 Mar

by Eric Grubbs

Prior to seeing face to face in 1997, the closest thing I had to a punk show experience was during a talent show tryout. Ten minutes of fast, poppy punk by a local band called Speakeasy really set something in me. Something I would later jump headfirst in.

Living in a suburb of Houston, I wasn’t aware of the cool, non-venues closer to the city. I’m talking warehouses and pizza places that hosted Rancid and Jawbreaker. I merely heard about where Fugazi was going to play, mainly through rumor. Hell, Braid played an acoustic set at a house about ten minutes away from where I lived. (The guy who had the band his house was a drummer named Peter Beste, no less.)

If it weren’t for small corners of space in Rolling Stone, the Houston Chronicle, and Guitar World (along with a couple of people I knew that were in the proverbial “know”) I would have been almost completely out of the loop. MTV was helpful to an extent: they had 120 Minutes, Alternative Nation, and Week in Rock, as well as Beavis and Butt-head. This was helpful to the point where I was introduced to face to face on an episode of Week in Rock.

During that first time I saw Rob Kurth, Matt Riddle, Chad Yaro, and Trever Keith interviewed, a lot of things stood out to me. From their practical attitude about playing a matinee set at CBGB’s to their stance on (the dreaded, feared) “selling out,” something clicked in me. I thought I should get into this band even their music was barely played in the segment.

From Big Choice onto their self-titled record, my fandom was cemented. Ask any face to face fan and you’ll hear something similar. Chances are, he or she is still a fan.

In the summer of ’97, I was fresh out of high school and about to attend community college in the fall. face to face came through with the Hippos and MxPx. They were set to play The Abyss, a venue I had heard about for years but had never gone to. Plenty of punk and metal bands played there, from national to local. My friend Tim drove us down to the venue, which was almost an hour away. But we were determined to see the one and only face to face.

The venue itself was a bit of a dump. There was a steep decline in the floor from the back of the venue to the front of the stage. The sound was good though.

And the band did not disappoint. Playing songs from Don’t Turn Away, Big Choice, the self-titled, and Over It (an EP Trever Keith referred to as a something they regretted putting out), I was more than satisfied. Every song breezed by — I don’t think I ever looked down at my watch. Trever was a great master of ceremonies, keeping the energy going with in-song banter when he wasn’t singing his head off.

Though it would take me a couple of years to appreciate the greatness of the Hippos and MxPx, I was glad I saw the whole show.

In the years since, face to face has remained one of my favorite bands. Even though I rarely listen to pop-punk (but I have plenty of it in my iTunes!) I still listen to face to face. I saw the band play at Liberty Lunch in ’99, Deep Ellum Live in ’01, and the Warped Tour in ’10. Every time I’ve seen them, I’m reminded of why I love this
band.

And this all started with seeing those guys for the first time.

eric grubbs