Mersa / Unfair Fight @ Poker's Tattoo Parlor

Written by GE 138.

Since this event was going down less than 5 minutes away from my house, and since Unfair Fight and Mersa, 2 of the better bands here in town, were playing said event, and since Blue Tile Lounge Events was providing a half pipe ramp for the skaters to thrash on for the event, I decided to set my alarm clock early and attend this event going down on a Sat. afternoon. The event was a celebration for Poker's Tattoo Parlor's 10th Anniversary, and the event was also to celebrate the Grand Opening of the Skateboard Museum, which was located inside the tattoo shop. The only thing I knew about this tattoo place was that one time I was driving by and I saw that dooshbag Chumlee from Pawn Stars hanging out there, but I wasn't going to hold that against the place. ;-) It promised to be fun.

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I headed down to the intersection of Valley View / Russell to check things out. I almost ran over some of the guys in Unfair Fight, who stupidly thought they had the right of way just because they were in the crosswalk right in front of me, and after parking my hoopty I strolled around and took everything in. There were vendors there selling all kinds of cool stuff, some cherry looking Classic rides and custom bikes splayed out all around for people to check out, and and a cool assortment of people just milling about, doing nothing, chatting, eating, haggling, or being dirty on the down low. There was some shitty band playing on stage, with a guy on bass that I don't get along with, so I ignored them, pretty much like everyone else was, and I ventured to the ramp to snap off some shots of the skaters in action. The action was pretty hectic, with everyone waiting their turn to ride the ramp, and the best part of it all was the age difference between everyone involved. There were little kids raging full on alongside the tattooed salty veteranos, and everybody was learning something from everyone else. It was cool to see.  

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After that first band got done stinking up the place, it was time for Unfair Fight to get going and set things right. Watching people skate while some loser band was struggling their way through some watered down Sublime bullshit was monotonous and embarrassing. Skaters need some Punk Rock to thrash around to, not some mellow Hippy background shit that's the soundtrack to your parents sex life. It took them a while to set up, but once they did, man, did Unfair Fight sound fucking monumental. They had a new guitarist in the mix, some young kid that looked like he weighed about 90 lbs. soaking wet, and his contribution to the bands sound was immediately noticeable from the opening track of In A Room Full Of Lunatics onward. The guitar sound was HUGE, which was saying a lot, considering they were playing outside, and they were playing tight as fuck, nailing every stop/start/pause with razor like precision. They sounded excellent. Everyone was bringing their A-game to the stage today. Liz was rocking some pretty snazzy looking shades while bringing the thunder down on her bass, and with the new guitarist in tow, Chris' guitar shredding stood out even more, and he was just melting faces while screaming his head off on backing vocals. Or maybe he was just screaming because he felt like doing so, I dunno. Pete is seriously The Man when it comes to drums. His top work is furious and quick, and he has a heavy right leg, which keeps things hard hitting and fast. I could watch him play drums all day. The guy is a beast.

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Unfair Fight were playing so good that even the skaters on the ramp were stopping what they were doing, just to check out what the band was laying down. They had a few idiots jumping around to them, and the guy with the hole in his ass was both funny and pathetic. Best moment of the day was when Dan was serenading some precious little 3 year old girl, who was just digging on what Dan was doing. It was awesome to see. :-) The band was playing old stuff, new stuff, whatever the fuck they wanted to, and it all sounded great, and after a bit it was getting dark and Unfair Fight called it a day. It seemed like they played everything they they knew, because they were on stage for a pretty long time. They got applause from everyone there, and they deserved every bit of it. They're a great band and I love to see them play. I think this was the debut performance from 'the new guy' on rhythm guitar, and if it was, it was a pretty damn impressive one. Kudos to thee and thine upon yon wondrous performance. Twas most momentous, it was.  

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It was dark. I was getting hungry. It was taking Mersa forever to get their gear set up and start playing, so after like a half hour of waiting I decided to jet. Bob asked me for a ride home, and since it was right on the way, I obliged him. It was still early, so we set off in search of Del Taco and something to do. Cool little gig. Anytime I get to see Unfair Fight fuck shit up is a good one, ya know? :-)