I have a confession: Social Distortion is my favorite band. They have been since I was a teenager.
By ninth grade, I was wearing fishnets and leopard print, pin-curling my hair, painting my lips red, and going to underground punk shows. Mohawks caught my eye, but if I saw a guy with slicked-back hair looking like Johnny Depp in Cry-Baby? Melt City. I die. Now that I think about it, if your first name was Johnny and your last name was Cash, Thunders, Horton, or Rotten, you had my interest.
I’m 14, listening to Social Distortion’s first album, Mommy’s Little Monster, on cassette alone in my room, watching movies like The Wanderers, and romanticizing greasers, rebels, and people who looked like they’d stepped out of the 1950s.
Soon I discovered Another State of Mind, the documentary that followed Social Distortion and Youth Brigade out on the road. I watched it on VHS over and over, wondering what it would be like to hang out with them in real life, be on tour, go to those shows… and, of course, watch Ness apply his eyeliner. (If you don’t know the reference, go watch it.)
I became immersed in the indie music scene in my hometown, and in a way it became my own version of what I’d been watching on that VHS tape.
At the same time, I was emancipated and living on my own (a story for another time). I was a straight-A student, but I didn’t connect with most kids my age. There were maybe five of us in my high school who were into the same music, and somehow we found each other. We went to shows together, discovered bands, some of them started their own, and we became our own little punk crew outside of school.
Throughout high school, I’d see Social D whenever they came to Florida, and when I graduated and moved to Los Angeles, I’d scour the L.A. Weekly to see where they were playing out here. Go ahead and toss in some Mike Ness solo shows, and many, many years later, well, I guess you could say I’ve seen them a lot.
So here we are now. It’s October 2, 2026, and I’m heading into the Hollywood Palladium to see Social Distortion again, with a new album out, Born to Kill (their first in 15 years).
I go inside and The Chats are onstage absolutely killing it.
Descendents (another longtime favorite) come out next and play “Hope” early in their set, which is my favorite song of theirs and the one I really HOPED to hear from them tonight. *Teenage self screams*
I check my phone after getting some messages and realize two people from my Florida days are here!?
What are the odds? I meet up with Dan Levy (the artist, not the actor), who I haven’t seen since elementary school. Then I find out my buddy from high school, James Bowman of the band Against Me!, is here too. He’s one of those select few from the crew I mentioned earlier, and I haven’t seen him since we were teens. Three Florida kids who knew each other way back when, standing together at a Social Distortion show in Hollywood.
Seeing them both seriously made my night.
We take a reunion photo. Then Social Distortion takes the stage.
Mike Ness grabs the mic and tells the crowd he had considered canceling the show and didn’t make the decision to go on until around 4 pm. He’s been sick, and the band had already postponed prior shows because of it. Tonight he tells us he’s going to need some help singing. They launch into “Ring of Fire,” and suddenly the Palladium is one giant, powerful voice. I get chills.
I love this band. I mean, I reallllly love this band.
For a man who almost didn’t perform tonight, Ness is putting on one hell of a show. You can tell he’s not feeling 100 percent, but I think he sounds spectacular. Jonny Two Bags is up there oozing swagger and pulling out the moves. The whole band is on fire. Hot damn.
Then the crowd gets a little rougher.
As “The Creeps” kicks in, guys start pushing their way through the crowd. Bodies knock into me, and a pit opens up about a foot away. There’s definitely some good (and bad) old-fashioned punk show aggression, and the guy standing next to me turns and says, “I’ll protect you. You can stand right here if you need.” Which was sweet, because I’m not trying to get my nose broken for a second time at a show, I’ll tell you that.
“Mommy’s Little Monster” starts, and for a second I’m alone in my room with that cassette.
Ness dedicates “The Way Things Were” to Dennis Danell, and behind the band old footage begins rolling across the screen: railroad tracks, fragments of the past, and footage from Another State of Mind (as if I wasn’t nostalgic enough already).
By “Prison Bound,” the entire audience is singing along again, myself very much included. Most of the videos I took tonight are ruined by me scream-singing.
At one point, Ness asks us all, “Is it hot in this bitch, or is it just me?” Sir, I’ve been asking myself that for a long time.
Then comes “Story of My Life.” There’s a line in that song about sitting in class dreaming about a rock ’n’ roll weekend, and just like that again, I’m back in a classroom in Florida doing exactly that.
The band disappears briefly before returning for the encore. They close the night with “Don’t Drag Me Down.”
The show is over.
Coming into the Palladium tonight, I wondered if I’d still feel that same rush and freedom I always feel when I see them, and be able to forget about everything else going on in my life for the next couple of hours. Hell, I saw them last year. At some point, does it ever stop hitting quite as hard?
Apparently not.
A lot has happened in my life since I was 14, but Social Distortion still has the same effect on me. I still know every word. I still sing way too loud. And I’m never too proud to be a fan.
The only difference?
That 14-year-old girl has a press pass now.
