Bad Religion @ Jimmy Kimmel Live

I make the drive out to Los Angeles from the OC quite a bit... I'm used to the traffic by now. However, tonight was especially wretched, even with carpool lane use and it took me over 2 hours to get to Hollywood. When seeing the tapings of Jimmy Kimmel shows, they have pretty strict guidelines on the times they let people in, etc. I made it to the line, huffing and puffing from running from my car, just as they were letting people in. I land on the rail and proceed to have a full blown asthma attack.

I should have known the night was doomed when I ended up on the rail next to someone trying to convince his friend that Mein Kampf was a really good book.

I've done plenty of these Jimmy Kimmel shows and we waited a particularly long time this time around for the band to come on. Usually we're able to watch the show from a screen on the stage to at least pass the time, but this time it was on the side and you could barely see it. So, I was left to amuse myself with the insane converations occuring around me which varied from, of course, Hitler and his writing skills and how bummer people were that their buzzes were wearing off. Lovely. This isn't my first time with Bad Religion fans, but it was my first time with Bad Religion fans at a free show which might have made a bit of a difference... Just sayin'.

After what seemed like forever, the band finally came on!! I was excited to hear their new material and I always enjoy seeing them live (as opposed to Social Distortion, which I can't stand to see live). Now, as I said before, I've been to plenty of these Jimmy Kimmel tapings before and I know that they are not full sets. However, the bands typically play for about a half an hour or so total, between the songs that are aired on TV and then the songs they play after for the people who have been waiting hours, outside, to see them. With that being said, I was a bit surprised, and pissed off to be honest, that they only played five songs. Keeping in mind, that most of Bad Religion's songs are quite short. All that waiting and we got barely 20 minutes worth of songs. And honestly, the band didn't even seem into it. They seem annoyed to be there, especially Graffin, who is usually so energetic on stage. It just felt half-hearted and I walked out of the outdoor stage area feeling quite defeated.

Honestly, these free Jimmy Kimmel tapings are a hit or miss. I've been pleasantly surprised with long sets from Eagles of Death Metal, Stone Temple Pilots, and recently, Duran Duran. I do wish Bad Religion would play a show of their own locally instead of just small things like this, opening for others (who the hell thought THEY should open for Tiger Army and not the other way around?!), and playing festivals (I loathe all things KROQ when it comes to acquiring tickets). Hopefully they'll do some solo shows in the future and I can get the Bad Religion show that I know and love.

Setlist:

Wrong Way Kids

21st Century Digital Boy

Cyanide

Meeting Of The Minds

American Jesus

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