So Mosh to Do This Summer : Three Big-Venue Festivals Are Likely to Keep Punk-Alternative Fans on Their Feet

The summer of love is long gone, and 1995 is turning into a summer of punk, with three big-venue festivals in the offing, each showcasing emerging bands from the Southern California independent punk-alternative scene.

Punk Show ’95 starts the season off, with 22 bands gathering Sunday at the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion for an 11-hour marathon.

The festival, staged by CPR Productions, an independent Costa Mesa concert company, originally was booked into the big white dome in Long Beach that used to be home to Howard Hughes’ Gargantuan sea plane, the Spruce Goose.

The promoters hoped to draw up to 10,000 to what would have been the first rock show at the dome, but its management (which also runs the adjacent Queen Mary) and Long Beach authorities had second thoughts about hosting a daylong visit by thousands of mosh-minded punk fans.

The promoters hastily found a new staging ground at the Blockbuster Pavilion in Devore, in San Bernardino County, moving the concert (and the planned between-bands laser show) from the shores of the Pacific to the fringes of the desert.

The marquee names on Punk Show ’95 are Voodoo Glow Skulls, Sublime, Face to Face, Guttermouth, the Vandals and the Cadillac Tramps, which will reunite for the event. Filling out the bill, which has an 11:50 a.m. starting time, are Youth Brigade, Jughead’s Revenge, Strung Out, China White, H.F.L., Vitamin L, Drain Bramaged, Nonsense, X-Members, D.I., Straight Faced, Vital Sign, White Kaps and Das Klown. Admission: $15. Information: (800) 757-5059.

Next up on the grass-roots festival calendar is Independents Day ‘95, in which the promoters of last fall’s inaugural Independents Day return to the concourse at Irvine Meadows on July 29 with plans for an even bigger event.

Last year’s show featured some 75 bands playing on six stages. Independent’s Day II promises eight stages, with as many as 100 bands, including a stage devoted to Christian rock acts. Joyride, the Ziggens, One Hit Wonder, Mystery Train and John Easdale’s Ghostly Trio are among the attractions lined up so far. Information: (714) 991-2055.

And last, Surf Aid ‘95, on Aug. 5, will mark the concert baptism for the Pyramid, the 5,000-capacity basketball arena that opened in November at Cal State Long Beach. The nine-band program features Skankin’ Pickle, Lagwagon, Unwritten Law and 7 Seconds, among others, playing to raise money for the Surfrider Foundation. Information: (714) 740-2000.

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The Cadillac Tramps’ reunion this weekend at Punk Show ’95 regroups the popular band that broke up five months ago without playing a farewell show for its large local following.

The reunion won’t be complete, however: Co-founder Brian Coakley is sitting out the show, preferring to forgo nostalgia and concentrate on his current band, Rule 62.

“I’m still friends with everybody [in the Tramps], but [a reunion] is not for me,” Coakley said. “I’m focusing on what I’m doing, just looking ahead and not looking back.”

One Hit Wonder’s guitarist, Dan Root, will take Coakley’s place alongside singer Mike (Gabby) Gaborno, guitarist Johnny Wickersham, bassist Warren Renfrow and drummer Dieter Hartman.

“It’s pretty much a one-shot thing,” Gaborno said of the reunion at Blockbuster Pavilion. “I thought it would be fun to get together and play some old songs and have a good time and leave it at that. I’m sure in the future, maybe in a year or so, I could see us getting together and doing another one.”

Gaborno’s main band nowadays is X-Members, a foursome that also includes drummer Mike Tracey, bassist Johnny Barrios and guitarist Ray Rodriguez. Punk Show ’95 will be a double-header performance for Gaborno, who will be fronting both his reunited old band and his emerging new one. Guitarist Wickersham also will pull double duty, performing with the Tramps and as a new member of the venerable L.A. punk band Youth Brigade.

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The Pyramid at Cal State Long Beach, just a few miles from the Orange County line, will jump headlong into rock ‘n’ roll after the Aug. 5 punk fest. Pennywise, the fast-rising South Bay punk band, will headline the modernistic indoor venue Aug. 11, followed by metal dudes Megadeth on Aug. 12.

Bryan Meckelborg, a Cal State Long Beach alumnus hired as a consultant to help coordinate concerts at the university-run facility, said that he and his partner and fellow alum, Ed O’Dell, don’t expect to maintain that pace.

“I think 20 concerts a year is an ambitious goal,” said Meckelborg, noting that the Pyramid already is heavily scheduled with varsity sports, physical-education programs and a summer basketball league.

Meckelborg said that some university officials have expressed concern about the hard-edged nature of the early concert offerings:

“The school [authorities] would be excited to open up with Perry Como, but they understand you’ve got to get the place on the map, and the cutting-edge bands are more likely to try a new venue. [Someone like] Sheryl Crow wants a place that’s more proven.

“We’ll keep the neighbors happy, be real sensitive to crowd control,” he added. Meckelborg noted that mainstream artists like Crow can command more money at similar-sized L.A. venues such as the Greek Theatre and the Universal Amphitheatre, where they can negotiate for a share of the parking and concession money. At the Pyramid, he said, the university will keep those extras, leaving bands and promoters to split only the box-office take.

The Pyramid figures to be attractive to punk and alternative bands, who have been limited in the south-of-L.A. area to Irvine Meadows and to two seldom-available UC Irvine venues, the 2,000-capacity Crawford Hall and the 5,200-capacity Bren Events Center.

The Pyramid is open to all promoters, and the first three shows are being staged by three of the region’s major ones, with Bill Silva Presents running Surf Aid ‘95, Goldenvoice putting on Pennywise and Avalon Attractions bringing in Megadeth. Meckelborg said that the fourth big Southland promoter, Nederlander Concerts, has expressed interest in bringing country and alternative music to the Pyramid as well.