Social Distortion - Royal Oak, MI - August 15th, 2015
I don't know if it's just me or I'm just lucky or what... but I just attended the best Social Distortion concert EVER. I've seen these guys twice already, making this show at the Royal Oak Music Theater my third. And I'm only 16 year old girl... that's awesome. But that's nothing compared to how AWESOME this night was. We got there early, as I had planned to meet Mike Ness before the show. We stayed by his tour bus for 2 hours without any success. But my spirits were not down. I knew there was plenty more chances for me to meet him. So we went in line, and we were one of the firsts. Great- we met a LOT of nice people, and everybody was willing to do nice things for each other. It was pretty awesome, a lot of the audience was cool. We made it inside the venue and managed to get front row, again, of course. It was a phenomenal view!!! The opening acts were really great! They seemed to go on forever, though. I don't remember who the opening acts were but all I know is that I was quite pleased with them. They interacted with the crowd and sang some great songs. But it was time for Social Distortion to come on. After the gigantic Social Distortion backdrop came down, the lights grew very bright and Social Distortion hit the stage! Mike Ness sported in all black, but instead of his "formal" wear like he had on his last tour, he was much more "relaxed" now. He had some black boots on, as well as black pants and a black "boxing" t-shirt. His hair; neatly slick back and a slight grin on his face as he went right in to some deep rock and roll of "So Far Away"! As they were promoting the 25th anniversary of their self-entitled album in 1990, they played all the songs off that album. Quite impressive that he can still do them all, if you ask me! It was such a delight to hear certain songs off that album, such as "It Coulda Been Me", "She's A Knockout", and "Drug Train". It was a great set list for sure. He even covered the Rolling Stones and it rocked the house down! Mike Ness was in a great mood that night, and you could tell. As usual, you had your moshers and crowd surfers. One person even threw a beach ball on stage. It was the usual- crazy punk rock concert. But over all, no beer was thrown on the stage, in fact the audience was quite respectful of him but still very eager and wild. It was incredible... Mike talked with the audience, teased them, and even played a little game where one fan had to guess a song to win $200. I have no clue if he got the money or not but I'm just gonna pretend that he did. "Cause that would be awesome. Mike played a lot of other interesting songs too, like "Misery Loves Company", "This Time Darlin'", and "Folsom Prison Blues". He did, however, leave out a few important hits such as "Reach For The Sky" and "Bad Luck". But that's okay because this set list was just way too cool and strong anyway. He did a FANTASTIC job. The whole band killed it!!! At one point during the concert, I wrote "Bring Me On Stage" on my hand. Last time I did this and it worked, so I was confident he would do it again this time. Halfway through the concert, he came up to me and I held up my hand. I watched him read it, with a slight smile forming. I was dying- he was so close to me and he just read my hand!!! He seemed to have done a little nod, and then walked away and continued the rest of the concert. I was in awe the whole time!!! But then it actually happened! We were getting ready for an ENCORE! That's right!!!! A freakin' Social Distortion ENCORE!!! Now THAT was cool. We all chanted "Social D" a million times- and them they came back out and I screamed along with everyone else! They started playing "Ring Of Fire"... and I just KNEW this was it. Sure enough, he broke down the song and I saw him scan the area for the perfect "kids". Now, I'm 16 years old but I'm very small and I look like I'm about 13. So I was fairly confident he would pick me. In fact, I KNEW he would pick me. I just KNEW it would happen. He walked over to my side and looked at me for a while. I was literally screaming like a baby! I couldn't believe what was going to happen. He motioned for another kid to come up on stage, then he looked back and me and I was screaming as LOUD as I could; jumping up and down! And he smiled right at ME and motioned his hand for me to come up. Suddenly I heard a few people scream for me. I could feel myself being lifted over the barrier. It felt like a dream, but I quickly snapped back into reality and I happily jumped on the stage all by myself- quickly running up to THE Mike Ness!!! I began to shake as I was one foot away from THE MAN himself. I couldn't believe it. He looked into my eyes, and I looked back, It was GREAT. I raised my hands out in front of the audience. There were wild cheers like CRAZY!!!! A little boy came up on stage with me soon after, and he got in between me and Mike Ness which was okay with me. As long as I got to be on stage with Mike, that's all I cared about. Mike began talking to us, then he asked us for our names. The little boy could barley hear Mike Ness, it was funny. He was only 8 years old but he was almost the same size as me haha! Then, Mike asked me for my name. If I can recall, he asked me, "And what is your name, little darling?" I wanted to faint. It was so cute hahaha!!!!!! I blushed, of course, and I bent down into the microphone (he was kneeling down next to the little boy) and I said, "Brianna". I was so freakin' nervous I'm sure my voice was shaky. He smiled at me and asked me how old I was. I answered by saying, "I know I don't look like it, but I'm actually 16!" There was a low hush and murmurer as people were in shock. I don't know why, but it felt AWESOME to be on stage with Mike Ness in front of hundreds of people. Mike began to talk to us about school and how to do well in it and how to learn from it. His speech was lovely, cool, and important. Dang, Mike Ness is such a cool dog!!! After he spoke to us, he reached out his hand for the little boy to shake. When he boy left, Mike reached out his hand for me but I denied it. Why would I want to shake his hand when I could give him a HUG!? I walked up to him- in front of everybody- and I gave him a hug. His arm went around me and my head went over his shoulder... He was all sweaty and my chin stuck to his shirt. But holy crap- most kids that he brings up on stage are very shy. But I went right in and hugged him- you should have heard the screams in the audience when that happened. I'll never forget how I got to squeeze him up on that stage. I felt AMAZING. And when he let go of me, I gave him a wave and I happily scurried back into my spot behind the barriers. DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPENED TO ME!? Me- a 16 year old girl just hugged Mike Ness- that's not something you see at every Social D show. In fact, that's gotta be the first time it happened!!!!! Immediately, people were smiling at me in the audience, telling me how lucky I was. I didn't have to hear it. I just KNEW how lucky I was that night. No one was gonna ruin my night now. In fact, there was only MORE awesomeness to come. As soon as the show ended, I immediately left the venue and found his tour bus. There was a line out there to meet him. I chatted with several people, and I made tons of friends. More people were cheering me on, telling me how awesome I was and whatnot. I felt so damn special. I got all of Social Distortion to sign my "Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes" album. It was so special. When Jonny "2 Bags" came around, he said, "I remember you!" And I got a photo with him! He was really nice!!! I was ecstatic!!!! Finally, Mike Ness came out and he was ready to sign some stuff. Because there were quite a few people, we had to be quick. No photos with him were allowed, but that was okay because my mom got a video of the entire meet and greet the whole time. Mike Ness was so handsome and sweet!!! When he approached me, he instantly smiled. As many of you know, it's hard to get a smile out of that guy. I stuttered immensely due to my nerves, but I said , "Oh thank you so much for doing that and bringing me up on stage!" He smiled again at me as I handed him my silver sharpie for him to sign my CD. M mom was right behind me and Mike asked, "Are you her mom?" She nodded and he continued to say how he was surprised how she made it out alive. It was GREAT. Once again, I was standing inches away from MIKE NESS and he was pretty tired, but he was so sweet. So many people say he's a jerk and I don't know where that came from- 'cause he was smiling and laughing with all the fans here!!! It was a GREAT night indeed!!! Finally, the meet and greet was over and Mike walked on back into his tour bus. My mom called his name and he looked at the both of us and we waved. He waved back! He was so nice and patient with all the fans, too! It wasn't like meeting a celebrity- it was like talking to your best friend. He was such a cool and casual guy. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a fan. He REALLY was such a kind guy. Very humble and down to earth, too. And it was so easy to meet him- just just hang around after the show and that's it. It was well worth the hour long wait!!! Eventually I made it back home, where I found the "Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes" vinyl that my dad bought for me at the show. The vinyl was red, which was pretty awesome. I can't wait to play it!!! All in all, I had the GREATEST NIGHT EVER again and I am SO HAPPY I got to fulfill one of my life long dreams... to meet Mike Ness, get his autograph, and to hug him!!! I got it all in one epic, long night. Yeah that night did not go by quick at all, thankfully. It was long and slow!!! THANK YOU MIKE NESS AND SOCIAL DISTORTION! YOU GUYS ROCKED MICHIGAN! Come back again sometime- I won't miss you for the world!!! (P.S. I got TONS of videos and pictures! I got an entire video of me going up on stage. I even got videos of the meet and greet. Stay tuned and I will post those soon. It was a great night.)