What it was like at Silverado Showdown, Orange County’s first large-scale concert since COVID-19 shutdown
Live music is back, and while most attendees at the inaugural Silverado Showdown seemed thrilled to be out at a festival that offered a comfortable vibe on a cool overcast day, some people were still figuring out how to behave in crowds again.
When the gates opened at noon for the rockabilly and punk rock fest at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado on Saturday, there was some initial hesitation and awkwardness among concertgoers. Signs asked people to wash hands and social distance, but that left some questions unanswered about how to stay distanced in an audience or whether they should wear masks, for instance.
During the early part of the day, attendees that showed up together tended to stick together. With a limited capacity of about 2,500, there was plenty of room to spread out in the sprawling grassy area in front of the stage. Some decided to set up chairs and blankets in the back for the ultimate social distancing; some wore their facemasks and others seemed to be celebrating the latest CDC guidelines that loosened mask mandates for those who received their COVID-19 vaccinations.
“I honestly have goosebumps,” festival promoter Cameron Collins of Brew Ha Ha Productions said of his first event back since the pandemic began.
Fans milled about the property, checked out the classic car show, grabbed cold beers and noshed on food truck fare as early bands Greg Antista and the Lonely Streets, Reckless Ones and Jesse Dayton took the stage. After those acts performed, the various band members could be spotted hanging out in the crowd or visiting with fans at their merch booths. Several women, dressed to the nines, competed in a Miss Silverado Showdown pinup pageant.
During The Delta Bombers set, however, things got rowdy when a mosh pit formed. Vocalist-guitarist Chris Moinichen, seeing the chaos from the stage, called for security to intervene, and a rush of Orange County Sheriffs’ deputies ran toward the stage. It was a frantic scene with dozens involved and a flurry of punches being thrown. The security staff and deputies got things under control, ejected the troublemakers and tended to those caught up in the fight.
It was such a disruption that The Delta Bombers announced that they had been asked by the sheriffs to end their set early to calm the crowd, which, for the majority of concertgoers who hadn’t been involved, felt a little like being put in a timeout by your parents for something your sibling did. The shutdown lasted for almost an hour as things were sorted out. Beer sales ceased and the vendors handed out cold, canned water. The DJ on stage played some fun, upbeat records while we waited for the next act.
“This is why we can’t have nice things,” one patron remarked as he shook his head.
By the time Throw Rag hit the stage, everyone was ready to resume the good times. Vocalist Sean Wheeler had just the right energy the crowd needed to pick back up, though moshing was at a minimum and folks spaced themselves out a bit and were on their best behavior.
Festival headliners, Nekromantix, were fired up and ready to emerge out of quarantine.
“I haven’t seen this many people in two … years,” bassist-vocalist Kim Nekroman quipped as he took a few moments to survey the audience. “I don’t know who is more enthusiastic, you or me. To be honest, I haven’t touched the bass in seven months.”
He could have been joking about that last part. It all appeared to come back pretty easily as he swung around his signature coffin-shaped bass and the trio launched into songs like “Demons Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” “Wrecking Ball” and “Alice in Psycholand.”
Nekroman did take breaks in the set to launch band T-shirts into the crowd. He admitted to going a little hoarse after “Devil Smile” and “Gargoyles,” but the fans were there to fill in the gaps.
At the end of the day, it was a fun first show back after 14 months of no in-person, larger-scale concert events in Southern California that weren’t done drive-in style. But clearly, some people just weren’t quite ready to be back out in the wild.