Rock’s Shouters Go Bare-Amped

“Shake it up baby, twist and shout” was a revolutionary call to arms when rock was young.

But for the shouters who dominate the Orange County-Long Beach alternative rock scene, the way to really shake things up is to sit and croon.

For 18 years, the punk rock ethic of volume, speed and brawn has shaped many of the county’s best songwriters. But it also generally has kept them from showing off some of their best dimensions in concert. Fear that fans will tune out anything that moves at less than a gallop has made such local leaders as Cadillac Tramps, One Hit Wonder and Joyride timid about slowing down to show a more sensitive side.

Against that ballad-fearing backdrop, the first-ever Unplugged Night at Linda’s Doll Hut on Friday wasn’t just a hoot; it was a revelation of how an emphasis on warmth, spontaneity and close communication can foster a special sense of musical community.

Even on a bill packed with some of the most experienced and accomplished rockers on the local scene, confessions of nervousness and doubt abounded as players accustomed to the fortification of massive amplification made, in many cases, their virgin voyages going unplugged in public.

A little fear can be healthy. While nobody turned out to be a closet Richard Thompson when it came to acoustic-guitar acumen--basic strumming was the rule--every performer on the 13-act, nearly four-hour bill had what it took to get across to a charmed and supportive packed house.

Among those performing brief sets were such local standard-setters as Brian Coakley of Cadillac Tramps and Rule 62, Dan Root of One Hit Wonder, John Maurer of Social Distortion, and Steve Soto, the Adolescents/Joyride alumnus who organized the show. The songs that they and others on the bill sang proved that the artistic essence of the local punk-alternative movement lies not in its sound and fury but in its heart, wit, melodic appeal and willingness to grapple with everyday realities.

The night was made especially memorable by two knockout new arrivals, Jim Camp and Coleen Rider.

Camp actually has been on the scene for many years, playing in a series of roots-leaning rock bands. In his first-ever solo show, he burst forth a full-blown folk-roots ace.

Wearing a harmonica brace around his neck, tattoos for sleeves and holes in everything else, the lanky Camp came off as a modern hobo, and his three original songs fed off country and blues with the bold assurance and vitality of somebody who had trod in Woody Guthrie’s dusty footsteps. Ranging through country train-rhythms, weary, booze-soaked blues and an invigorating, Graham Parker-style rocker, Camp arrived with as big a bang as a performer can.

Rider, a statuesque young woman from Long Beach, arrived with a voice of striking purity, power and attention to emotional detail. Accompanied by Frank Agnew, the former Adolescents guitarist, she showed an ability to probe deeply in a song about the troubled legacy handed down by her father:

We found it, that old tape where he’s singin’ to the congregation

And I realized the gifts I have, I’ve been using as an accusation.

A feeling-filled rendition of Steve Winwood’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” led into a commanding reading of “Unchained Melody,” a song whose demands separate the talented from the gifted. Chalk up Rider among the latter.

Another good surprise was Maurer’s solo performance of songs he does with Fuel, the band he started with Dennis Danell to keep occupied in their time off from Social Distortion. Maurer takes his key vocal cues from Mick Jones of the Clash, and that breathy-not-bellowing approach served him well in an intimate set highlighted by “Kiss Me, It’s OK,” a sweet, gentle rock ‘n’ roll love song.

John “Bosco” Calabro and Sean Elliott of Crash Kills Four had the tough ice-breakers’ role. Good rhythmic drive, solid tandem singing and strong lyrical imagery carried them through nicely. “I’ve been sitting on this rock, like a lizard does,” went the refrain to one downcast number that had a Meat Puppets feel redolent of cactuses and arid, open spaces. A relieved Bosco then went back to his job tending the Doll Hut’s bar.

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Soto and his buddy from L.A., Bill Armstrong, teamed for a good folk-pop set that included “Spanish Eyes,” an original song with a wafting south-of-the-border romanticism. They said they had written it with Elvis Presley in mind, and the King probably would have been thrilled to sing it.

Brian Coakley, whose unreservedly passionate singing style and dark, desperate romanticism have seduced Madonna (Rule 62 is working on its debut album for her Maverick label), was a good bet to succeed in acoustic performance, and he did, with guitar help from bandmate John Goodell.

D/Railed unplugged offered the same bonhomie, catchy songwriting and folksy harmony singing as D/Railed at full volume, with the band’s trademark dual trombones pitching in, quietly, through baseball caps deployed as mutes.

Dan Root, a splendid entertainer as well as a tremendous singer-songwriter, did some serious business with a dynamic, markedly transformed folk arrangement of his One Hit Wonder burner “Tug of War.” Then he became perhaps the first rocker ever to cover KISS’ “Beth” and Hank Williams’ “Moanin’ the Blues” back to back--the former with humorous arena-band asides, the latter complete with hillbilly yodel.

The Ziggens switched to acoustic guitars, but otherwise played a full-band set, complete with Brad Conyers’ nifty, light-touch drumming. Funny and poignant, polished yet innocently garagy, playing country strums or surf-rockin’ shout-along riffs, eliciting laughs while capturing ears with catchy hooks, the Ziggens showed why they probably are the most diverse and purely entertaining alternative band in the county. A soulful reading of Sublime’s lament, “Badfish,” was a touching memorial to their friend Brad Nowell.

After the Ziggens rocked, the long evening had just the right mellow wind-down, with ex-Joyride partner Greg Antista’s crusty gargle followed by roots-rocker Russell Scott’s sweet, winsome crooning of pop standards. A concluding set found Soto teaming with bass fiddler Scott and teaching him most of the chords as they went along, including a Black Flag hard-core punk oldie, “Nervous Breakdown,” transformed into a laid-back lament.

Although MTV has done its best to turn acoustic performance into a marketing gimmick, genuine, intimate music-making has been pretty much unassailable since young David went unplugged in King Saul’s tent. The Doll Hut’s coziness always has led to honest, gimmick-free performances. Its first “Unplugged Night” was a winner that virtually demands encores on a regular basis.