PORT ANGELES –– Vancouver, B.C., punk pioneers D.O.A. are hitting Port Angeles as part of their farewell tour, and local rockers, be they veterans or rookies, are coming out of the woodwork to play with their musical forefathers.
“It’s an honor to be opening for one of my heroes,” said Craig “Fluffy” Logue, bass player for opening act MCFD and a veteran of numerous North Olympic Peninsula punk bands.
“I’ve been listening to them since high school — and I would have graduated in ’88.”
D.O.A. headlines a show Saturday in the back room of Coog’s Budget CDs on Saturday night.
Doors will open at the shop at 111 W. Front St. at 6:30 p.m. and the packed bill will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.
Opening for the veterans are local punks Decapitate the Disciples, The Estafets and MCFD.
Local influence
Carrying the torch of the 1970s originators of do-it-yourself rock ‘n’ roll that turned into punk rock, the Vancouver rockers have been blasting eardrums with their sonic sounds since 1984.
They’ve recently released a live album recorded on tour last year, “Welcome to Chinatown.”
Mike Colgan, owner of Coog’s and lead singer of MCFD, said D.O.A. has been a popular buy in his record shop since he opened 18 years ago.
“There’s a lot of people who cut their teeth with D.O.A.,” he said.
“And having such close ties to Canada, I think they’ve been a pretty important band for kids that grew up around here.”
Among those “kids” are Adam Harris, guitarist for the Port Angeles duo Decapitate the Disciples.
“They were there at the start. They really got me into a lot of the old punk bands,” Harris said.
Retirement set
D.O.A. has played Coog’s twice in the past three years but is stopping for the last time on a worldwide farewell tour.
“They were amazing. It’s so crazy to see this place go just crazy when it gets loud,” Harris said.
“There’s a lot of people around here that are into punk. They just need to get off their ass.”
The band is scheduled to play a show tonight in Oak Harbor at the I.O.O.F. Temple Hall.
A few more shows are planned for the Northwest before the bands leaves the continent to close out its career in Australia.
With a roster of three middle-aged rockers, MCFD should provide a fitting opener for the retiring D.O.A. with its songs about gout, morning aches and receding hair lines.
“We’re just a bunch of old guys that got together and started singing songs about getting old,” Colgan said.
Carrying on
But the younger set is hoping to add a little vinegar to the Ben-Gay, as Decapitate the Disciples brings its songs about scrounging for beer money, house parties and misguided protests.
“It’s a lot like punk used to be when it started,” Harris said.
Popular Sequim trio The Estafets, which has been rocking the Dungeness Valley for the past four years, will add its unique brand of post-punk indie rock to the bill.
“They’re fantastic,” Harris said. “Hands down, the best band on the Peninsula.”
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.