Live Report: Goldfinger, Save Ferris, Unwritten Law at The Wiltern (July 19, 2024)

By b.liebman on July 22, 2024

Last Friday night at Los Angeles' The Wiltern was the place to be for any fans of 90's ska and pop-punk, but even better, it appeared to be a wonderful family-night-out as many old school fans of Goldfinger, Save Ferris and Unwritten Law came and brought their kids with them. And the kids all seemed to be having a blast.

I have seen all three of the main bands before, so arrived with a decent idea of what to expect, and knowing fun was ahead. The only mystery of the night were openers Urethane. As the band came onstage, I could guess they were from San Diego before even announcing it. Everything about them, from their clothing to their backwards baseball caps, screamed "San Diego". And I'm not saying this as a bad thing; from blink-182 to Sprung Monkey, I love San Diego pop-punk. And musically, they had the sound down. The melodies of tunes like "Wyoming" and "Dog Years" were spot on. While the the vocals were a little too low in the mix, often being overpowered by the guitars and making the lyrics inaudible, the band of veterans artists (including John Feldman's high school friend Steve Caballero) were great for a warm up.

And speaking of San Diego bands, Unwritten Law has earned a spot in the pantheon of great musical exports from the Southern California city. Having seen them during their initial return to the stage in January of 2023, I was excited to catch them again and see how the crowd reacted to them. They opened with their 1999 banger "Teenage Suicide", immediately establishing their punk bonafides. That track is still a barnburner. While joining the band on guitar for that track and the underrated deep-cut "Rescue Me", frontman Scott Russo went full-frontman for "Lonesome", getting old school fans singing along on the chorus.

I looked at some of the younger members of the audience (those kids I mentioned before): they were clearly vibing to what they heard. It helps that Russo is a charismatic frontman who shamelessly dances and moves with the same panache he did twenty years ago. He was in full performance mode on "Beggars", the only new track from the band's recent album to be played. Everyone in the audience was singing along to "Seein' Red", the band's #1 alt rock hit, though surprisingly not their biggest streaming song. That would be "Celebration Song", which they played next. The band then did something interesting; Russo picked up an acoustic guitar, and they went into the tender "Rest of My Life", though a couple verses in, transitioned into "She Says", making it a two-song medley of sorts. They knocked out the anthemic "Save Me" and "Up All Night" and made their way off the stage, my guess is with some new younger fans.

The last time I saw Save Ferris was also at The Wiltern, opening for The Ataris during their 20th Anniversary So Long, Astoria show. The band was great, but had to call their set short when front woman Monique Powell appeared to hurt herself. She would reference this moment later in the set, but to start things up, Powell kept things light as she and the band broke into their catalogue of ska standards. Songs like "Mistaken" are still unbelievably catchy, and make me bummed that alternative radio in the 90's was so bad at supporting more than 1-2 female-fronted acts at once, since Save Ferris could have/should have been as big as No Doubt. Powell remains a force as a front woman, incorporating bits of burlesque into her performance, and (in my opinion) is a stronger vocalist than Gwen Stefani.

Thankfully it seems through their constant touring, the band have maintained a fan base, and judging by how many people were singing along to "Goodbye", have even gotten some of the younger fans on board already. What surprised me about the set was that it was also the release day for the bands new single, "Lights Out in the Reptile House", which Powell mentioned, but the band didn't play it (unless I somehow missed it or wasn't paying attention as well as I should have been). After mentioning it, the band went into their 90's bop "Turn it Up", and the wonderful "The World is New".

It was here that Powell mentioned their previous Wiltern show, and how she didn't get to play the following song because she threw out her hip. Tonight would be their chance to correct that, and they launched into their hit cover of "Come On, Eileen", which got the crowd waving their hands in the air. I remain excited to hear more new material from the band this year.

While No Doubt and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones seemed to come out on top of the ska-punk pile during the 90's, Goldfinger have shown to have some of the most surprising longevity. Part of this can of course be attributed to the Tony Hawk Pro Skater game's use of "Superman", but there's more to it than that. For a "90's ska/punk band", the group's newer music still streams surprisingly well, and frontman John Feldman has connected with younger generations of fans as a producer, working with a slew of young artists across the musical spectrum, and being a part of the Big Noise Music Group team, has helped shepherd a number of these artists into the mainstream. With all of these factors, it's no surprise the Wiltern was packed that night.

When the band hit the stage, what I would also realize throughout the night is there was not a single moment when I was bored or losing interest. Between the seasoned band's high-energy performance, stage antics, surprising covers, and guests, there was anticipation throughout the set keeping myself and fans wondering what was next.

The band's setlist for the night mixed up both classic and newer material, opening with "Spokesman" (2002), "Infinite" (2020) and "Counting the Days" (2000), all of which garnered positive receptions. As Feldman discussed how the band does either "punk" or "ska" songs, he then brought out the horn section of contemporaries Reel Big Fish, and Nate Albert from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones to play their first ska number of the night, "Get What I Need". With so man people on stage playing music, as well as so many people watching from the wings, the performance took on a party atmosphere; lively and endlessly entertaining.

More surprises followed, with the band bringing out Justin from She Wants Revenge for a cover of The Cure's "Just Like Heaven". The ska dancing continued for "Wallflower", before the band unleashed the biggest surprise of the evening; pop-punk queen Avril Lavigne casually walked out and joined the group on "Here In Your Bedroom". For those who might find this strange, Feldman produced Lavigne's most recent album, and she joined on a studio version of that 90's single for the Deluxe version of Goldfinger's last album.

The band continued to make their stage show fun through the night, whether playing their own material like older tracks like "San Simeon" or more recent tracks like the drinking ballad "Tijuana Sunrise", or breaking out covers like Blur's "Song 2" (sung by the band's bassist). At one point, the band was joined by someone dressed as a mummy and someone else as a wolf man to play with them (I couldn't hear what local band they were from), and the band invited up all the kids of fans onto the stage to dance with them for "Mable". Avril also briefly came back for this, dancing with Travis Mills of girlfriends (his drummer Nick Gross, also CEO of Big Noise Music, was on drums that night). It was also Gross' 36th birthday, leading Feldman to lead the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to him, as Lavigne brought out a cake and smashed it in Gross' face.

The group closed out the main set with "Superman", which got the audience going crazy. For the encore, Feldman promised to play some tracks they "never play", and the band proceeded to break out "Anxiety", "Get Up", "Question" and "Miles Away" before finishing the night with their hit cover (ska bands had a lot of success with covers back in the day) "99 Red Balloons".

As someone who grew up loving these bands, I'm thrilled to see them still going strong, and bringing in new, younger fans. May ska live on.

Check out Goldfinger's new cover of Post Malone/Morgan Wallen's "I Had Some Help" with Less Than Jake here!

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