Photo by: Face to Face

When it comes to music, I’ll admit I’ve been brought up on mainstream, Top 40s music. Needless to say, my trip last Friday to the Gothic Theatre to listen to live punk rock music was a first.

Although I wasn’t familiar with Face to Face, I was excited to see what the group from So Cal had to offer. From what I’d read as background information, I could expect a great performance.

What I wasn’t expecting was to arrive a half-hour before the “special guest” was supposed to perform to find that I had missed the first guest band and had come in the middle of the second band’s act.

If this band Stunt Doubles had been the only act, I would have been out of there in 2.5.

Their lead singer, whose name I don’t know and don’t care to find out, was literally screaming into the microphone

Members of the third band, aptly named Thrice, performed a set that was much more musical, with the slurred twang of the electric guitar complimenting the constant drumbeat. “See You in the Shadows” and “Trust,” two lyrical tracks off of their new album, truly showed their vocal skills.

But I had to laugh. The poor, unknowing teenage crowd forming on the floor turned their flailing bodies into a wannabe moshpit, were running in a frenzy to find someone to push out of their way.

The Movie Life came next, with an enthusiastic performance that could only be from New York.

Next was Midtown, coming all the way from New Jersey. The lead singer took a moment in between mediocre songs to ask the audience, “So uh, do you guys want to hear more songs? ‘Cause we know how to play a couple more.”

Face To Face made a grand entrance without compromising their musical ability. With the lights turned low, the lead began to softly sing a piece from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” It was quite comical, leading up to a blast of punk that threw any expectations of a calm performance out the window.

I wanted so badly to concentrate on the lyrics, which I knew were well-written from the Web sites, but “I want an explanation/not an apology” were the only ones I could make out.

And it did not help that the theater had extremely poor ventilation. The sweat of hundreds of bodies thickened the air and made it hard to breathe.

“Wow, it’s hot in here,” remarked the woman to my left, adding to the atmosphere with a puff of her cigarette.