NSFW
Forsaken Profits, the guys with jello shots in their pockets, they skate fast, eat ass and punk rock!
They’re out of Atlanta. I first caught a performance when they played during the PIZZA FEST 4 Pre Party, here in Jax, at Shantytown Pub back in 2018, and again at at Nighthawks for PIZZA FEST 4
Florida has since become a second home to them with Jax as their base of operations here.
Their drummer loves Jax so much he found a girl friend here and moved, of course I think the girl love came before the city love, but you never know, Jax has some killer thighs.
After that first show I published an article where I described the music of Forsaken Profits;
“Their lyrics are unapologetically filled and fueled, with and by, rage and anger. They attack the police state, politics, discrimination, oppression, and the status quo. That rage is far from directionless though. It is a rage with purpose, a rage against conformity for conformities sake.
That said, they are also some of the nicest people, both the band and those who follow them, you could ever meet. While on stage they might sing about burning your bar or club…the whole world down, off stage they would be the first in line to help you rebuild, should such a calamity occur.”
That is why Forsaken Profits playing a Scum sponsored Bridge Show came as no surprise to me.
The two bands are quite different in many aspects, but the members of both bands care deeply about the safety and wellbeing of their fans, and people in general.
Kenny, Squirrel and the Scum crew have been curating a safe space Under the Bridge for the Jax Punk Family. Forsaken Profits was an obvious choice when it was time to invite a traveling Punk band to the family gathering. I actually believe I had the pleasure of seeing both bands perform together for the first time back in 2018, at Rain Dogs.
If I’m wrong and they played an earlier gig together please don’t tell me, old guys need all the little nuggets of joy we can hold on to.
Back to the bridge, rather under it.
There were chess players, sidewalk artists, skaters, fire spinners, a fire spinner skater, tacos, courtesy of Dos Vatos Tacos, vendors, and MUSIC!
The pit stayed active throughout the night and though there were a few bruising bumps and falls it was a considerate and caring pit, as much as one could be and remain a pit.
Some folks missed out on the later playing bands and Forsaken Profits as they left early. It was a young crowd and for some it may have been past their bedtimes. Hell, it was past mine before the last guitar said goodnight, but I only had to answer to old creaking bones the next morning, not to a mom or dad enforcing a curfew.
I was a little concerned as Forsaken Profits is like the Incredible Hulk. Hulk’s power increases as he gets angrier. Forsaken Profits power increases as the crowd’s size and energy does.
I worried for naught. The crowd may have been smaller, but their energy was at the same level, if not more, than the ones who rushed home to appease mommy and daddy.
Or maybe the Hulk’s powers and Forsaken Profits powers merged that night. I know I’d have more than a bit of anger within me if I drove from the ATL to Jax and folks, curfew or not, bailed.
That formula of anger plus the crowd’s energy made for one hell of a show. Maybe anger isn’t the right word though, maybe mad is. Yes, I know people get angry, animals get mad, but I’m thinking mad more in line with Kerouac.
He wrote about the dingledodies, a word he invented to describe the people he admired.
“But then they danced down the street like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars…”
That is what happened Under the Bridge last night. The dingledodies danced and danced and danced. They danced while the biggest dingledodies provided the music, Under the Bridge.
Bands in attendance
Pride-less
Suspect
Deathwatch 97
Swamp
430 Steps
Scum
Forsaken Profits