Lagwagon started their 2021 tour in San Francisco last week at the Bottom of the Hill playing two sold-out nights celebrating their albums: Double Plaidinum (1997) and Blaze (2003) each night playing one of the albums in its entirety. I went to the second night when they played Blaze, it was so great I regretted not going both nights.

All images & vids by Patricia Colli

Lagwagon is part of Fat Wreck Chords, the local San Francisco label owned by Fat Mike from NOFX, they’ve been on the label since the early 90’s and never wanted to sign to a bigger label proving that it’s possible to survive and thrive staying on an indie. There’s a documentary called A Fat Wreck that’s pretty cool if you’re into this kind of scene and to any artists and musicians out there.

Young, Broke, Punk & Beautiful

This was my first time seeing them perform live and my 17-year-old self was very excited about it! It was so cool to see them at a small and storied venue like Bottom of the Hill instead of a major festival ’cause nothing compares to watching a punk rock concert indoors with a great sound system. It was the start of their tour and there was no better place to warm them up than San Francisco.

Joey Cape reppin’ Goleta

A fan threw a Goleta (the band’s hometown) hat onstage at the beginning of their set and Joey wore that hat for the whole show, and bantered with the fans in between songs.

The fan from Goleta

They sing about aging and not being Ozzy on stage when they’re 50, looking like Elvis by the time they’re 40, but I have to say that at 55, Joey Cape and the whole band look and sound great! They have way more energy and stamina than Ozzy. It’s hard to keep up a punk rock show without missing a beat, but they sound exactly like their studio albums. I talked to a bunch of fans that have been seeing them through the years and they confirmed: Lagwagon is always great live and never disappoints.

Phoenix in da house

Rebecca and Dave are big fans from the early days and came over all the way from Phoenix to see them both nights.

They played some other classic tunes like Violins, Bombs Away and May 16 from other albums on the encore, and the crowd couldn’t be happier! At the end of the night everyone was stoked and sweaty like the good old days after a punk show.

Lagwagon is touring from the beginning of November until Christmas playing almost every night, from coast to coast in the US with a few dates in Canada. Lagwagon is definitely back in full force and far from falling apart, go see them if you have a chance!

lagwagon.com

fatwreck.com

bottomofthehill.com