The Germs will share the stage with The Adolescents for a five city tour, from San Diego up to Oakland at the end of December, stopping at The Key Club on the 28th for a night of punk rock revival with a couple of genuine old school punk bands. 

Punk crowds and mosh pits often provide dangerous spectacles on club floors, with gnarled punks swinging elbows and boots at breakneck speed, but the Germs are a band that takes that spectacle, and runs it through a ¼” guitar cable and out through the PA into the crowd. 

The band’s straightforward songs are riffs that have spurned more than one generation of hardcore listeners, in fact some fans of this pioneering punk band have been known to show their dedication to them by branding themselves with the band’s logo using the most punk rock branding iron imaginable, a lit cigarette. 

Pat Smear, the Hagstrom guitar slinger who has enjoyed success with such acts as Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, takes the stage with Shane West (singer), Lorna Doom (bass) & Don Bolles (drums).

West has been singing with the band ever since portraying original Germs front man Darby Crash in the film What We Do is Secret in 2005. Crash, the enigmatic punk icon who overdosed in a suicide pact with a friend in 1980, was a angry mixture of youth & experience, and to see West on stage in Crash’s spot does not sit well with some, but it’s the Germs blaring out of the speakers, and any would-be punk rocker who hasn’t heard of the Germs -love 'em or hate 'em,- has some explaining to do.

This will be The Adolescents’ second show after a brief tour in Europe, playing after only one week’s rest, the band will be delivering their brand of sharp, harmonious punk with a flair for the aggressive.

The Orange County (Fullerton) natives have been tearing up stages since 1980, when Steve Soto split Agent Orange to form the group. The band is one of the tighter punk groups to come out of the earlier phases of the genre's development, and their self titled debut album is one of the best selling punk discs of all time. They are currently working on a new album, & though they have gone through a host of members, many of whom have gone on to form respected bands in their own right, the current lineup is as frenzied as ever, with blazing speed & harmonies you would not come to expect from a punk band.  

The club itself is well suited to handle the show, voted best club for live music, their sound system is well known amongst fans and musicians as a fun place to play, or see a show. The stage and bars are well accommodated, with ample lounge areas, a packed floor, and an upstairs balcony. A welcome sight for some, as the dance floor converts to a grinder of a mosh pit for the more energetic crowds. 

The show is ages 15 and up, tickets are $18 ($20 the day of the show). For more information contact the Key Club box office, www.keyclub.com, www.ticketmaster.com, or show up, cross your fingers, and hope you arrive before it sells out.