Supporting Acts: The Muffs, The Flytraps

The Zeros

To quote the L.A. Weekly, "any show by the reunited Zeros is a big deal..." and packed clubs across the U-S, Europe, SXSW and NXNE seem to uphold that statement. The Zeros are playing to a new generation of young and old and its clear there’s still something magical about this band, as the iconic American punks return for select dates across The U.S. and Canada. The teenaged Zeros; Javier Escovedo, Hector Penalosa, Baba Chenelle, and Robert Lopez blasted out of the South Bay suburb of Chula Vista at the dawn of the punk explosion in 1976, and played their first major show the following year at L.A.'s decaying Orpheum Theater, known as the Hollywood Punk Palace. Three bands from that show; The Zeros, The Weirdos, and Germs would become an integral part of the history of West Coast punk, and epitomize its sometimes destructive collision of collective musical passion and personal excess. The Zeros; original members Javier Escovedo, Hector Penalosa, Baba Chenelle now joined by Mario Escovedo on second guitar and have been tearing up stages up and down the West and East Coast for the past two years. Lopez continues performing as “Elvez” and in Teatro Zinzinni. The U-K's Domino Records included two songs by The Zeros on a Jon Savage Compilation of the Best of American Punk Rock and Brooklyn based Last Laugh Records recently released two singles by the band and expect news from the band's original label Bomp Records in the near future. NEW YORKER MAGAZINE "The Zeros. Though they did not become as famous as their peers in X or Black Flag, this Los Angeles punk band played an equally seismic role in putting that city on the punk-rock map in the late seventies." The hook-laden garage punk of The Zeros, with influences that ranged from the New York Dolls, Stooges, David Bowie, Velvet Underground, T-Rex, and Kiss to '60s proto-punk bands like the Seeds, Standells, and the Animals, earned them a recording deal with music-magazine publisher Greg Shaw's Bomp Records, which released the raucous single, "Wimp"/"Don't Push Me Around" in '77, followed a year later by "Beat Your Heart Out"/"Wild Weekend." The Zeros, after relocating in San Francisco, would go on to play at such renowned venues as The Masque, Whisky Au Go-Go, and the Starwood in L.A.; San Francisco's Mabuhay Gardens, Deaf Club, and Temple Beautiful; and CBGB and Max's Kansas City in New York. The Zeros played with The Clash, were once joined onstage by Patti Smith, and even had their gear stolen at New York City's infamous Danceteria. The Zeros have inspired and influenced so many bands. Their songs have been recorded by The Muffs, Hoodoo Gurus, and Mudhoney, and Sator covered "black and white" and it went to number 2 on the Swedish charts. An opportunity to witness a reunion of such bonafide legends like The Zeros is not to be missed. This is Punk Rock history live and in person...and yea, “a big deal.”