Shameful. Embarrassing. A waste of time and money. Those are a few words and phrases that come to mind when recalling Guttermouth‘s Valentine’s Day performance at the Outer Space in Hamden, CT. True, a punk show in Connecticut on a Sunday night that is also the biggest day of the year for dates isn’t a winning combination but Guttermouth both literally and metaphorically spit and shat on the show.
Lead singer and only original member of the band, Mark Adkins was “drunk” or so the rest of his bandmates warned before he took the stage. Adkins took the stage a shamble; Slurring his speech, stumbling around, and misplacing his microphone, he was the drunkest I have ever seen anyone on stage in my decade plus of reviewing shows. Pulling down his pants and wiping his ass with his hand, he chased his bandmates threatening to smear shit on them until he briefly passed out. During that time, bassist from opening act The Cryptics took over lead vocal duties. Unfortunately, Adkins did recover and returned to reclaim his microphone. A few seconds into his grand return to the stage, he stumbled over the drum set knocking over the ride and crash cymbal as well as a tom drum.
Perhaps most damning was Adkins anger towards the crowd because he was a shit show. He asked “how many punk bands come through this city?” Crowd member replied “not many” and Adkins quipped “I can fucking see why!” As if the crowd’s disengagement was a result of not understanding punk as opposed to not wanting to enable a drunken mess that everyone paid $18 to see.