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Social Distortion tribute to return

Lake Tahoe Action
Mike Castillo, Matt Stone, Matt Walder and Mike Taba pay tribute to Social Distortion as Mommy's Little Monsters.
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The Social Distortion tribute Mommy’s Little Monsters are bringing a taste of SoCal punk back to Whiskey Dick’s on Saturday, March 7.

Like Social Distortion, Mommy’s Little Monsters began in Orange County, where guitarist Mike Castillo met drummer Mike Taba in high school. Matt Stone, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Mike Ness, likewise plays frontman, and Mommy’s Little Monsters cycled through a number of bass players before settling on Matt Walder.

The idea to pay tribute to Social Distortion dates to a dinner a couple of years ago at the Olive Garden on Beach Boulevard in Orange County. “We’d played mostly Social Distortion songs … ” Castillo said, according to a news release.



“And then (Stone) goes, ‘Tribute bands are so big right now ” we could totally be a Social Distortion cover band,’ ” Stone recalled. “And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ “

“We try our best to give them the show they’ve seen so many times,” said Stone, a Newport Beach native. “They know every step (Ness) takes, how he plays his guitar, how he coils his pickups, what hats he wears.”



Stone patterns his stage act after Ness, who has been the face of Social Distortion since it began in 1978. Stone tries to mimic not only Ness’ guitar and voice but his look as well.

The openers Saturday will be the South Shore crossover thrash band Ninja Slaughterhouse ” lead singer Chad Davis, guitarists Marc “Monkey” Jensen and Chris Nungary, drummer Ian Beightler and bassist Adrian Mills ” and Cobra Skulls from Reno. Ninja Slaughterhouse draws inspiration from Iron Maiden, horror movies and mixed martial arts, and plays loud, loose ” and fast.

“Chad comes from a punk, psychobilly, indie-kind-of-rocker genre, and I’ve got a lot of metal,” Jensen told Lake Tahoe Action last month. “Our sound is real guitar-oriented. It’s somewhere between punk and metal.”

“We’ve had some nice, dirty mosh pits,” Mills added. “I’ve looked down on kids hitting the floor and it’s been like, ‘Yes, we’re definitely doing our job.’ “


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