Me First and The Gimme Gimmes
May 13, 2017
Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are a punk rock supergroup and cover band formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band is named after a children’s book of the same name by Gerald G. Jampolsky and Diane V. Cirincione. The band members are from various punk rock bands and consist of: Spike Slawson (vocals, Swingin’ Utters and Re-Volts), Scott Shiflett (guitar, Face to Face), Jay Bentley (bass, Bad Religion), Joey Cape (guitar, Lagwagon), and Dave Raun (drums, Lagwagon). The Gimmes don’t tour too often so fans of the band are excited whenever the band announces a tour. One of the stops on the tour was the historic fonda Theatre in downtown Los Angeles and was the perfect setup to enjoy on a Saturday night.
The Gimmes came out and started the show with their cover of Summertime (George Gershwin). The initial covers are done in punk style so it’s no surprise to have fast-paced music and of course the crowd went crazy and a mosh pit ensued not too long after the opening song started. Slawson was a very energetic frontman as he would show off his dancing skills on stage which was mesmerizing to look at. The covers that the band played were from a variety of genres other than punk to give the songs a twist. The second song played was Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver and was one of the more popular covers from the band as fans would sing along to the song. Slawson made the announcement to the fans that their usual bassist Fat Mike (NOFX) couldn’t make it out on this tour because “he was too busy bathing in his money”. Fans were looking forward to seeing him on this tour, but perhaps next time. The Gimmes continued to party with the Los Angeles crowd as they played covers of: (Ghost) Riders in the Sky (Stan Jones and his Death Valley Rangers), Jolene (Dolly Parton), Crazy For You (Madonna), I believe I Can Fly (R. Kelly), and Straight Up (Paula Abdul). The night went on and the crowd wasn’t slowing down with how energetic they were. Mosh pits and even a few crowd surfers made an appearance. The Gimmes finished with All My Loving (The Beatles) and left the stage. The crowd wasn’t ready to leave just yet and stuck around. Slawson came back out with a Ukulele to thank the audience for coming out and started their encore set with I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor). The crowd loved and continued to mosh the night away. The show finished with End of the Road (Boyz II Men) and the crowd let out any remaining energy they had left. The Gimmes left the stage and the fans applauded their performance as they were happy to spend their Saturday night with live punk music.
Review by: Misael Ruiz
