After three decades, D.O.A. is just as important as ever
Vancouver's most legendary punk rock trio delivers 30 years of blood, sweat and

Middle Fingers By Jay Schreiber

O, Friday, September 19th, 2008, legendary punk rock outfit D.0.A. provided an evening
that will not soon be forgotten. To put it simply, the evening was Vancouver Punk Rock
History 101.

D.O.A, fronted by Joe ‘Shithead’ Keithley, may have been the highlight of the evening,
but did not overshadow special guests and other local punk groups like The Transmitters and
Dayglo Abortions. Both opening bands played to the best of their abilities and brought their
“A” game this particular evening. Then again, one would expect so much due to the nature of
the function and venue at which it was held.

Rarely does anyone get to see the “Fabulous Commodore Ballroom” overrun by “punkers,”
but on this special occasion there was not a regular person in sight. A typical gig for any one
of these bands would usually consist of one tenth of the Commodore’s 900 person capacity,
but Keithley insisted on taking over Granville’s best stage and did so with a fiery passion.
The second reason for the band’s booking of such a well known-venue was the release of
D.O.A.’s 12" Studio album, Northern Adventurer which was produced by none other than
Bob Rock.

Upon their new release, the band is still hacking away at social problems, religious issues,
and political rebellion, which has always been a popular theme for them. Much of the band’s
set saw D.O.A. playing their newer tracks, but regardless, the crowd seemed not to mind and
gave it their all even during unfamiliar riffs.

Having run for political office in both the 1996 and 2001 provincial elections with the
Green Party, politics has always been a key issue for Joe Keithley, the only original member
still in D.O.A. Stephen Harper was at the butt end of all political rants throughout the
evening which only added fuel to the already blazing fire that is Vancouver’s punk scene.

So why is D.O.A so great you may ask? Well, along with being Vancouver’s most
notorious punk band, they have also been able to promote social reform, as well as affect
politics both with the people and with the politicians themselves. At a local level, D.O.A.’s
record label, Sudden Death Records is responsible for promoting the Vancouver music scene
by signing a variety of musical acts such as JP5, Vice Squad and Ripcordz. Internationally,
D.O.A. has been associated with influencing such musical icons from Nirvana to the Red Hot
Chili Peppers.

While gathering three great punk bands on one bill made for an exciting evening, it simply
wasn’t enough. The focal point of the night shifted from not just celebrating D.O.A. but
celebrating 30 years of punk rock in Vancouver. Punk legend Mike Graham came onstage at
several points in the evening, most notably to assist in singing along with one of D.O.A.’s
most famous tunes, “Fuck You.” Although, to be fair, it was Graham’s band (Vancouver’s
Subhumans, also celebrating their 30 year mark) that originally wrote the song. Not only

that, but D.0.A’s backup band (consisting of two horns and a keyboard) joined in for a few
songs as well as a punk rock brawl spawned by The Black Halo’s lead singer Billy Hopeless.

Seeing local punk legends on stage helped to re-define what punk rock is all about: unity
and togetherness. It brings a smile to my face to see that 30 years later, the message hasn’t
changed one bit and neither has the attitude. While I may have only existed for two thirds
the span of D.O.A.’s career, I find it pleasing that music like this is still being made not for
money, fame or a record deal, but for a sheer passion and love of the art.

 

 

Lakeview Terrace is good, but not great », css

Te newest Samuel L. Jackson movie, Lakeview Terrace, is a thriller that gets creepier and
creepier as it goes on.

Produced by Will Smith, Lakeview Terrace stars Jackson as Abel Turner, an L.A. beat
cop in his mid-50’s who lives next door to Chris Mattson, played by Patrick Wilson, and his
wife, Lisa, played by Kerry Washington.

Turner is a racist and extremely paranoid cop who has to be in total control of
everything in his life. He wanders the neighbourhood streets by night, looking for trouble.

The plot involves the Mattsons moving into the secluded Lakeview Terrace
neighbourhood next door to Turner. Turner, whose wife died in a car accident three years
beforehand, takes issue with the fact that Chris Mattson is white while Lisa is black.

Turner resorts to increasingly desperate measures to break the couple up and to force
them to move. This causes Mattson to fire back. However, the central issue in the movie is
what to do about a bad person who happens to be a cop; who do you go to for help when the
person you’re complaining about is a police officer?

As the movie, which was filmed in Walnut, California, progresses, more about Turmer’s
character is revealed, as are the motives for his racism. While you find out more about
Turner’s character, he just gets creepier and creepier.

The movie starts out as just how to handle a bad, and slightly crazy, neighbour, but it
eventually gets a little over the top, which is what prevents it from being a must-see film.
Jackson is awesome, and he plays a completely different persona than his regular arrogant
jerk-off. In Lakeview Terrace he plays an arrogant cop jerk-off.

Patrick Wilson turns in a surprisingly good performance. I went into the movie only

16

being vaguely aware of who he was, but afterwards, that thought didn’t even enter my mind.
He shines just as brightly as Jackson. Wilson has previously starred in Phantom of the Opera
and is set to take a leading role as Nite Owl in the upcoming superhero film Watchmen,
which is being projected as a blockbuster of epic proportions.

The ending of Lakeview Terrace is a bit of off-the-rack Hollywood. It isn’t bad by any
means, but it has a sense of being a bit generic and predictable. It’s pretty easy to see how the
movie will end about halfway through.

Lakeview Terrace has a measure of dark humour to it and for the most part is an
entertaining movie that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up at parts. But it
goes way over the top from being a relatively realistic film to becoming just another typical
good guy, bad guy picture. By the second half of it, all realism goes out the window despite
the reasoning, and while it never completely goes all the way downhill, it doesn’t get better
either.