With the release of Dave Scott Schwartzman's new book, If It's Tuesday This Must Be Walla Walla: The Wacky History of Adrenalin O.D. DiWulf Publishing House, with help from friends like Drew Stone, Jesse Malin, Randy Now, Fear Gods, Incendiary Device, F.O.D., The Accelerators, Batallion Zoska, the good folks at John & Peter's, and a host of others, put on a whirlwind of weekend adventure, featuring two shows with the reunited, original A.O.D. lineup and book signings to celebrate the first literary offering from the drummer-turned-author.
First stop was Friday night, with an early book signing and then a ripping show at The Bowery Electric. Several old friends and scene vets turned out to get a copy of Dave's new book and to see the show. NYHC Queen and Sunday Matinee cover star Alexa Poli-Scheigert had a blast, with her daughters in tow, and Wendy Eager (of longtime-zine Guillotine fame) was seen toting a copy of If It's Tuesday. There was even a Johnny Stiff sighting!
Fear Gods, which featured Jack Steeples in his first of two spots on the bill, ripped through their usual fun, angry, intense set. They were tight and relentless and totally relatable. They got things moving.
The Drew Stone-led Incendiary Device ran through a fantastic set of classics and even included a raucous and heavy-as-fuck rendition of Jane's Addiction's "Mountain Song."
Adrenalin O.D. were their usual selves - funny, slightly crude and yet, somehow witty, and the banter was just as good as the music. Once you saw the mic suspended over Dave's drums you knew it was going to be one of those nights. Running through a setlist that sounded like a near-perfect mixtape, Jack, Jim, Paul, and Dave led the first part of the set full of early material, then the lads were joined by former member Keith Hartel as he replaced Jim Foster to take care of the later A.O.D. material. Jack switched to guitar and off they went.
The next night at Dingbatz, in Dave's hometown of Clifton, NJ, was more of the same. In front of a packed house full of friends and family, A.O.D. did it again. The music and the jokes came at breakneck speed, at one point, with Dave playing one song as the band played another, Dave was chided (I couldn't tell who said it, I was too far away at the merch table) with a barb that went something along the lines of "you're supposed to be the smart one, you wrote a book and you can't even read what song is next?)
After a stop at Randy Now's Mancave to sign some books, Dave hosted a night at John & Peter's in New Hope PA with Philly legends F.O.D., Fear Gods, and Batallion Zoska.