The Circle Jerks are back on tour for the month of January. It has been almost 4 years since they were in Phoenix and it was great to have them back in town.

I knew that they were going to be in town and that I did not want to miss any of the fun, so I made sure to take a half day off of work. I got off work, checked some email, and got a phone call from Greg. He had some flight issues and wanted to know if I could meet him up at the airport. It was not an issue, so I got on the way.

I met Greg and we headed over to the venue. By now it was almost 4pm and time for soundcheck. We headed in and the soundcheck begun. The band worked through the soundcheck for a half an hour, including "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie" and "I'm Gonna Live". The latter is a new song that is available on ITunes and hasn't been played publicly too often. Once the soundcheck was completed and the gear backlined, a few of us decided to go out and get some dinner.

Greg, Zander, and I headed over to Mill Avenue in search of dinner. We settled on RA on Mill Avenue. We parked a few blocks away due to construction and walked the rest of the way. We spent a little over an hour at RA. We caught up on what everyone was doing, how everyone's Christmas had been, discussed various girl problems, etc. We finished up at RA, got some coffee on the way back to the car, and headed back to the venue.

Once we got back to the venue, everyone took care of the various last minute preparations. Strings were changed, setlists were compiled, and equipment was prepared. The last of the opening bands finished up and the Circle Jerks took the stage. The venue was packed and the heat of the crowd combined with poor ventilation made the club like a small oven. They played for almost an hour and a half. I was able to get video of most of the set. Some of it is a bit choppy as I was trying to help handle any stage issues while filming.

After 90 minutes of playing in the intense heat of the club, the show was over. A few fans were lucky enough to get setlists and guitar picks. The band retired to the backstage area to cool down and I pitched in to help get the stage clear and the gear packed up. By now, it was just about 1am and everyone was tired. The band and I said our good byes and headed off on our separate ways.

(Ed Note* I got the flu the next day and have been very ill since then, delaying this update.)