The Queers returned to the Constellation Room in Santa Ana and brought along The Jack Trippers. Sunday nights rarely sell out at the Constellation Room, but by the time the Queers took the stage, the crowd was much livelier. While there were a handful of kids with their parents, the crowd was a good mix of all age ranges who came to enjoy Joe Queer’s music.
The Jack Trippers are a four-piece band from California. The Jack Trippers played a high-energy set full of musical aggression and sass in their lyrics. Lead singer Manny “JackTrippers” Espindola carried the set, with a vocal delivery reminiscent of Jello Biafra fronting a trashy punk rock band. This was fitting as they closed with a “Kill the Poor” / “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” mash-up. Songs like “My Glasses” and “Borrowed Time” gave an old man punk feel to their set; self-aware, cranky, and catchy. The rest of the band didn’t slouch, though. Brian, Candy, and Chris’s guitar, bass, and drums wove a web of songs that captured the crowd’s attention and won them over by the end of their set. If you like old-school punk with age-appropriate lyrics, The Jack Trippers are for you.
In the last few years, Joe Queer has kept the band alive by circling the country either on their own tours or supporting bands like the Dickies and Greg Ginn’s latest incarnation of Black Flag. It hasn’t been uncommon to see the Queers come through town at least two or three times in the same year. Joe mentioned the lineup was in a bit of an influx because drummer Hoglog Rehab was sick. They had a fill-ind on drums and bass. After a couple of songs, Dwarves’ guitarist Ginger Fanculo joined the Queers on stage, with Joe moving to vocals. Given the addition of keyboard player Ron Ramone, there were five members of the Queers on stage.
While the Queers’ setlist doesn’t change too much, the energy they bring makes the familiar feel fresh. They were able to fit a good number of songs into their forty-five-minute set. Opting to play the hits rather than mixing it up a bit, the song choices, like most of their sets I’ve seen over the years, were very heavy with songs from their sophomore release, Love Songs for the Retarded, a 1990s punk rock masterpiece to this day. Although unsure if they could do it at first, they did a pretty good cover of the Ramones’ “Rockaway Beach.” Throwing in other hits like “See Ya Later, Fuckface,” “Punk Rock Girls,” and “Born To Do Dishes,” they closed appropriately with “Goodbye California.”
It doesn’t look like the Queers have any intention of slowing down. That’s not an excuse to put off seeing them; if anything, it’s a reminder that you shouldn’t. While a band with this much longevity has inevitably had most of its parts swapped out, the musicians that Joe Queer has gathered together hold their own. The band doesn’t miss a beat, and you shouldn’t miss them.