The Mr. T Experience—Hollywood 4/9/17

I’ve just finished a mini Green Day tour that concluded in San Diego, about 8 hours south of my home of San Francisco. There’s no rush to get back, so why not stop to see another show in Los Angeles on the way? So that’s what I did. The night after the final Green Day show, I made a pit stop to see The Mr. T Experience at the Roxy in LA.

MTX is pretty legendary in the Gilman/East Bay punk scene. They were one of the bands that inspired Green Day back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, and I recently got into them as well after seeing them at the Lookouting. They’re basically just all-around wonderful. Upbeat, clever lyrics, and a down-to-earth vibe. I was hooked right off the bat.

Before I even entered the venue, I spotted an Idiot on the street who had just been at the Vegas show with me a few days prior. Neither of us live in LA. Great minds, huh?

The Mr. T Experience was touring with the Nobody’s and Teenage Bottlerocket.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the Nobody’s. I didn’t mind their sound so much (they’re punk), but their lyrics were basically “I love to fuck” and “I wanna fuck your girlfriend” and that kinda killed it for me. Crude and not exactly thoughtful? Meh. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to see them again.

Teenage Bottlerocket was a lot of fun, though. They seemed to take turns on vocals, which was cool, and they had a lot of energy.

Then it was time for MTX.

I saw frontman Frank Portman just walking around the venue before he went onstage, and I awkwardly smiled and waved at him. I’ve seen him live a handful of times this year (aside from twice during the Lookouting, I also saw him play Joel Reader’s 40th birthday party), but there’s no way he recognizes me. Right?

I managed to snag a spot in front right by the stage. A girl a few people down from me was singing all the words to every song, and that gave me life. The biggest fans at any show are always my favorite to watch.

Weirdly enough, the only songs I recognized at this show were “Naomi” and “Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba.” But regardless, I love them. I just need to learn more of their music, clearly.

When their set ended, I headed to merch to try to fix that issue. Frank’s girlfriend was behind the table and I asked for her opinion on which CD I should go for. She gave me one that she said would be the best bang for my buck because it had the most songs on it. They have a lot of songs.

Then she asked me if I was at the Lookouting. Even if Frank didn’t recognize me, his girlfriend did! I told her that was when I first heard the Mr. T Experience, but that I’ve now seen Dr. Frank solo twice and the full band twice.

I have this tendency to fall down the rabbit hole sometimes. Have you noticed? Whoops. At least it’s a good problem to have.