Bay Area Punk Legends, Rancid, brought their fast-paced and riotous show to the Regency Ballroom for a good cause in benefiting the Ohloff Recovery Program to the sold-out crowd.
“Addiction does not care if you are black, white, male, female or transgender, just like Punk Rock. Ohlhoff [Recovery Program] does not care either. All they ask is you be human”. – Lars Fredrikson
The Ohloff Recovery Program is founded in San Francisco and has provided assistance to adults and adolescents in recovery from substance abuse and chemical dependencies for more than two decades.
After a stellar set from San Jose’s very own The Faction, Rancid took to the stage at about 10 pm.
Opening the show with the song “Radio”, co-frontmen Lars Fredrikson and a heavily bearded Tim Armstrong took turns with the vocals. Even though the band only played about an hour, they were able to get in quite a few of their signature songs, such as “Old Friends” (Which they dedicated to The Faction), “Roots Radical”, “Salvation”, “Time Bomb”, and ending their set with “Ruby Soho”. When they performed the song “Telegraph Avenue”, it was great to see the crowd singing the song word for word at the top of their voice.
The standout part of the show was when Lars Fredrikson stated that “Addiction does not care if you are black, white, male, female or transgender, just like Punk Rock. Ohlhoff does not care either. All they ask is you be human”.
Overall, it was a night I will remember from a band that has given their all for well over 30 years.
All photos © Scott Martin
