by Heidi Siegmund Cuda
Photos by Alan Banks
You had to know somebody to get an invite to the secret Descendents show last Wednesday at the Standing Room in Hermosa Beach. Even the wives of punk legends Pennywise weren’t privy to the hush-hush affair until just hours before set time.
“Byron didn’t tell me the Descendents were playing until 5:45 p.m. that evening,” said Lori McMackin, wife of Pennywise drummer Byron McMackin.
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The secrecy was all the more remarkable because, as Standing Room talent buyer Ken Seaton once told me, the South Bay’s nickname is Mouth Bay because everyone knows everyone’s business.
The event was a 50th birthday party for Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge, who was honored with a personal performance by one of his all-time favorite bands.
Among the punk luminaries attending the show were Dragge’s fellow band members Jim Lindberg and bassist Randy Bradbury, Earl Liberty from Saccharine Trust, and Circle Jerks/Bad Religion guitarist Greg Hetson, who also DJ’d the event and is possibly the only DJ who could pull off playing the Steve Miller Band before a Descendents show. ER
