The Idiot Parade - August 22nd Show
Ronin Records 5532 Woodruff Ave Ste 251, Lakewood, CA 90713
August 22nd. Some club in BFE Downey.Something weird happened - a band composed of 5 members all utterly pissed at the previous band for playing for a hour and a 1/2 with one guitarist was anxious to go with both vocalists lost their voices to drinking hours ago with the drummer not being able to hear worth shit - throwing his timming off (considering he is usually never off) put on a show WELL worth the price of admission. The Idiot Parade's raw energy fell upon the crowd you get my point i can only hope they can actually put on a show like that in front of the people who really matter in the biz with a sound system worth something with amps tuned right in a good frame of mind Comment by people in the crowd after the encore? "Can we go somewhere to just relax - sit down." after the show there was kind of this euphoria in what was left of the crowd - like the end of all kickass gigs. damn good guys. Darrin Kinney

The Idiot Parade - It's a Documentary, you Punk Bastard
Ronin Records (310) 298-2055
107 minutes. Unrated. Once again, El Kabong and Dogface have managed to cram as much raw footage into The Idiot Parade's new video album "It's a Documentary, you Punk Bastard." The video features the 1996 lineup as well as the fabled 1997 lineup, and shows the band at their best, performing live. You see the punk scene at it's finest; loud music, underage drinking, police oppression, spasmatic violence, girls in the mosh pit...I thought it was kind of excessive though to feature the scene with the wheelchair. The video is packed with humour content that only a "Clown-core" band searching for truth in post-modern falsity could achieve, from El Kabong hosing down a torrid underage couple making out with Korbel to Dogface throwing his entire drumset off a stage and storming off screaming "I want my M&Ms, damn you!" The video does manage to do justice to this bands live performances but nothing will ever substitute for seeing them play live. Darrin Kinney

The Idiot Parade - What's for dinner?
Ronin Records (714) 894 1182
When El Kabong first sent me this album to line up a gig at Gilman St., I was skeptical; yet another "punk" band that sounds like Third Generation Green Day. Much to my surprise I was wrong. El Kabong's echoplex-inspired solos are held aloft by the power of Jenny Strawberry's rhythm guitar, with Andy's basslines and Dogface's thundering drums keeping the bottom steady for the machine-gun like vocals uttered by Danny Mischief. It's hard to imagine what they sound like maybe a bit of Black Flag with East Bay Ray in it; with some Clash and Stooges, thrown in. All in all the music gives the socal "clone-punk" scene a good kick in the ass! Anyone sick of listening to 10th generation Green Day or 11th generation Op Ivy from the radio should check these guys debut vinyl album out, as well as their live gigs, which hearken back to the glory days of the Cuckoo's Nest and Gilman St. Darrin Kinney