It's a Circle Jerks and 'Repo Man' kind of night at the Gardena Cinema

 
Circle Jerks rule the scene in front of the Gardena Cinema on Nov. 22.
From left to right, Zander Schloss, Keith Morris, Greg Hetson and Joey Castillo. Photo by Gary Leonard

By Chris Berry

“I can’t believe I used to like these guys,” says Otto, played by Emilio Estevez, while watching the Circle Jerks perform their song “When the Shit Hits the Fan” at a lounge bar in the 1984 cult classic film, "Repo Man." The sold-out crowd of 800 people in attendance at the Gardena Cinema on Nov. 22 still very much like the Circle Jerks, as do thousands of the band’s fanbase worldwide.

On that Saturday night, the Gardena Cinema hosted a special concert and film viewing in the South Bay for the Circle Jerks and "Repo Man." The film has been a cult classic for decades, partly due to its famous punk soundtrack and cameo appearance by the Circle Jerks. As for the concert by the Circle Jerks on Saturday night, they had not played in the South Bay since 2006 when they performed in Hermosa Beach at the Sapphire Club. Keith Morris and Greg Hetson are originally from the South Bay and the band had been wanting to perform in the area for a while, but were looking to play an all-ages space, which are few and far between. The Gardena Cinema is an all-ages space and became the location for their return.

As the Circle Jerks took the stage, their bassist (and actor in "Repo Man" as the character Kevin), Zander Schloss, walked up in a suit, mic in hand singing the 7-Up song that his character sang in the film, before the band belted out their first song “Deny Everything.” Schloss acknowledged later that his formal attire was an homage to the Circle Jerks lounge suits they wore in their cameo from the film.

Although the audience began sitting in the theater seats when the band took the stage, everyone was quickly standing as the Circle Jerks brought an intense energy to the venue. The band performed at full speed throughout their set, cranking out hits from their albums "Group Sex," "Wild in the Streets" and the recently reissued "Golden Shower of Hits" on Trust Records. 

The speed at which they played was at times faster than their original recordings, such as with the song “Coup D’etat” and others. Much of this was due to their new drummer Joey Castillo, of Gardena, who has played in more bands than can be recounted here (and has been with the band for several years now). Castillo's family and young kids were in the audience screaming their little heads off in support of their dad. Morris at one point gave a shout out to the South Bay and identified that he is from Hermosa, Hetson is from Hawthorne and Castillo is from Gardena. Every time Morris said “South Bay,” there were eruptions of cheers and “South Bay!” was yelled back by some in the audience. 

Fans screamed along to “Wild in the Streets,” “Live Fast, Die Young,” “Beverly Hills,” “Question Authority” and other hardcore anthems. The band also threw in some surprises by playing a number of Black Flag songs that Morris originally sang. On top of the Black Flag-turned-Circle Jerks songs "Wasted" and "Don’t Care," the band played "Depression," "Revenge," "Fix Me" and "Nervous Breakdown." 

Prior to playing “When the Shit Hits the Fan,” the song they perform in the film, Morris said he didn’t have time to talk too much in between songs since "Repo Man" was scheduled to start at 9:15 p.m. and their set began at 8 p.m. However, he spoke a bit about enjoying the benefits of social security after just recently hitting the milestone age of 70, a reference to the song where he screams, “Social security has run out on you and me!”

After the Circle Jerks' performance, while the band’s equipment was getting broken down and removed to prepare for the film, Morris told the audience his memories of performing in the film. He recalled showing up to the filming location in the morning after a late-night bender, expecting to get to perform and film soon after arrival. However, after getting into their lounge suits, the band had to wait in a studio camper until two in the morning when they finally performed their famous scene in the film. Then he handed the mic off to Schloss, who recalls meeting the band briefly on set with a less than enthusiastic greeting from the band, who’d been holed up in a camper all day. Little did Schloss realize that later that year he’d be joining the band as their new bassist after Earl Liberty quit the band. Schloss recalled the opportunity to join the band in a similar fashion to when Harry Dean Stanton’s character drove up alongside Estevez in "Repo Man" asking him indirectly to help him repossess his old lady’s car. Schloss was informed that the Circle Jerks were looking for a new bass player and he tried out, not expecting to get the job. Forty-one years later, he’s still their bass player. Liberty was also in attendance and the crowd cheered him on to go up and speak, but he only said a few words before everyone split as the movie was getting ready to start.

Before "Repo Man" started, the Gardena Cinema played the preview for "Pulp Fiction," a film made by fellow South Bay local Quentin Tarantino that took some degree of influence from "Repo Man," such as the mysterious briefcase in "Pulp Fiction" and the trunk of the ‘64 Chevy Malibu in "Repo Man." One can be pretty certain that while Tarantino worked at Video Archives in Manhattan Beach, that he and the guys probably watched "Repo Man" a bunch of times in the store. 

The last time I saw "Repo Man" was almost 20 years ago when a scavenger hunt was organized in honor of the film near the LA River and the 6th Street Bridge. The goal was to find a 1964 Chevy Malibu, like the one in the film. At the end of the scavenger hunt, everyone met in an empty lot next to a warehouse in downtown LA with the majority of the cast present (except for Estevez) and a huge blow up screen showed the movie. It was a great experience and one I didn’t think could be matched until tonight with the Circle Jerks. 

The film has long been a cult classic, representing Reagan’s dystopian America, as well as being an architectural document of downtown LA in the '80s. Although full of '80s cliches and satire simultaneously, the film makes many references to '80s punk, from Otto singing Black Flag’s “TV Party” to the '80s stereotype of violent punks. Otto’s three punk friends have some of the best one-liners -- “Let’s go do some crimes” and “let’s go get sushi and not pay” -- or when Duke is on his deathbed after a botched robbery and says, “I know a life of crime has led me to this sorry fate, and yet, I blame society. Society made me what I am.”

The last couple times the Circle Jerks played in the LA area were at the Hollywood Palladium, a venue that fits 4,000-plus people, so getting to see them at a much smaller venue along with the added bonus of getting to watch "Repo Man" on the big screen made it a wonderful night.