The Descendents have had a bit of a resurgence in the last decade and a half. Unfortunately, ALL has been left in the corner with very little attention outside of some one-offs for special occasions like Riot Fest and Jon Snodgrass’s Buddies Fest in Chicago. However, that hasn’t stopped either Chad Price or Scott Reynolds from making music or touring. Fans from California were treated to a mini-tour by Chad and Scott over Memorial Day Weekend, featuring some of their solo material and songs from their time in ALL. Their Long Beach stop, a small coffee shop, was the perfect place to see such a special show.
After a combination of bar shows and house shows, Chad and Scott made a stop at Jugband Coffee and Tea. The crowd was a good mix of hipsters and punk rockers of all ages. The shop itself is pretty cool, located in the Bluff Heights Neighborhood of Long Beach. A wall full of stringed and brass instruments hung on the wall with an upright piano just below. The space is mostly used for jazz and bluegrass, but it lent itself well to the show ahead. Opening the show were Will Huse and Joseph Bailey, each playing an acoustic guitar. They were a nice start to the show and set a tone for the afternoon’s sets. Their songs were calming, with Joseph’s lead parts melding well with Will’s parts to create a mellow vibe.
Chad and Scott’s performances were similar in the way that they built their setlists: a good mix of ALL songs paired with cuts from their solo stuff. The difference lies in each of their presentations. Chad’s set was more reserved and melodic. If you’ve heard his music post-ALL, it varies from the harsher sounds of A Vulture’s Wake to the calming, more picked sounds of his latest project, Chad Price Peace Coalition. Most of Chad’s set catered to the latter. He performed five ALL songs, opening with “Until I Say So,” but also including “Pummel’s” opener “Self Righteous,” which is a Karl Alvarez-penned song. Rounding out the set with songs like “Ice,” “Peachy Tuscadero,” and Drag the Rivers’ “Waste of Time, Valentine,” Chad played an unhurried mix of songs, and you could tell he had the time of his life doing so.
There was a very clear contrast between Scott’s and Chad’s almost regimented performance. He’s much looser about his sets and the way he presents. Scott was very upfront that he is human and makes a lot of mistakes. You could tell that, leading up to his set, Scott was a ball of nerves. Scott’s sets are more chord-based, almost campfire-like, as he is constantly telling stories about the songs, so much so that, at one point, he stopped in the middle of one to dissect a reference for the crowd. Scott opened with the only non-ALL cover during the set, a one-person jazzy rendition of the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.” From there, the set jumped between solo material, ALL songs, and a couple of Goodbye Harry tracks as well. Scott closed his set with the ALL favorite, “Dot” from the album Percolater, a definite fan favorite.
Jugband Coffee and Tea was the perfect venue for this show. The store itself had a “Kids on Coffee” sign, and the menu board declared, “We are all kids on coffee.” The amount of love shown between the performers and the fans was one of those perfect storms you don’t always see nowadays. Yet, a show this niche had a crowd that recognized how special it was. To have Chad and Scott play a brunch-time set starting at eleven in the morning and stick around to talk to us was an experience not unheard of in punk rock, but definitely appreciated. Even if you weren’t a deep-cut fan of ALL, this was a real treat.
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