Fidlar, Meatbodies and The Frights deliver blissful punk fueled insanity to The Regent

Fidlar

Arriving at The Regent last Friday to a long line of excited punk kids and misfits, it was apparent age was not a factor at this show, everyone was just stoked to be there. Fans were out and about excitedly chatting while others scrambled to find last minute tickets. The evening marked Fidlar’s first L.A. show in about a year or so. The last time Grimy Goods covered the band was at The Observatory back in October of 2013. As you can imagine, The Regent was beyond sold-out.

The anticipated evening started off with The Frights followed by The Meatbodies. The Frights, a San Diego surf-punk band tore up the stage with their enormous energy. Some of their number one fans were crowd diving at every opportunity they had, while singing along to their songs. These guys absolutely rip and were the perfect kickstarter to a raucous night of music.

Meatbodies

The audience only grew crazier and the crowd surfing continued onto The Meatbodies set, which was full of endearing moments like bringing the lead singer’s mom on stage, as well as saying happy birthday to their seven-year old nephew. They may be feral on the outside, but The Meatbodies are definitely some lovable guys who ain’t too cool to show love for their family.

Soon after The Meatbodies’ set ended, the amount of people multiplied like an infectious virus. Everyone was running around, scurrying to get more beer, hurrying to find friends … people were having have a great time in anticipation for Fidlar. As soon as the L.A. band hit the stage, colorful wave of bodies start bobbing up and down vibrating positive energy.

Fidlar

Opening up with “No Waves”, Fidlar had the kids going wild. Looking up at the balcony everyone had huge smiles on their faces as they watched the blissful insanity unravel.

Naturally, during Fidlar’s set, there was a constant rotation of crowd surfing, stage diving and hilarious crowd collisions. Everyone was going nuts. At one point lead singer Zac Carper walked into the audience and let them hold him up for a minute, before security dismantled the epic moment.

Fidlar

Fidlar played favorite songs such as Cheap Beer”, “Blackout Stout”, “Wake Bake Skate” and closed with “Cocaine” before coming back on stage with the strangest encore I’ve ever witnessed. A punk rock version of a Flaming Lips concert, only less flamboyant and a bit more grungy with a cast of kooky characters, masked, blown up, thrown up, and dancing all over the stage. The band members got lost somewhere in all the activity, but they still managed to play three more songs with all the crazy movement surrounding them. It was an eccentric end to an awesome show. The night was about music, having fun, and being with your friends. That’s what happened on stage, and off. People left the venue talking about the night, dripping in sweat, smiling, laughing, and reliving their favorite moments. Now that’s a GOOD show.

Check out our photos below of Fidlar with Meatbodies and The Frights!

Photography & Words: Jazz Shademan

Fidlar