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Manic Hispanic in the OC: A good time is always guaranteed by the near legendary punk cover band that reworks classic tunes wito have Spanish or Latin-themed lyrics. They are frankly brilliant. Swingin’ Utters and the Riverboat Gamblers also play.

It’s been four years since we lost Steve Soto, also of the Adolescents. Just before his untimely death, we spoke to him about Manic Hispanic carrying on without frontman Mike “Gabby” Gaborno, who had died 15 months earlier.

“We always had a blast doing it, and it was easy to keep going because it was fun,” Soto said. “With Gabby passing away, I didn’t really plan on doing anything after that. He and I had worked on some song ideas when he was sick, and at some point I thought that I wanted to go in and record the songs that we worked on. When we all got together, it felt good being around each other. It felt like he was there. It helped us get through it. We still laugh a lot, and it gives us an excuse to get together and keep doing it.”

But here’s the thing — Manic Hispanic have made it through. In a recent live review, we said: “Hosts Manic Hispanic didn’t let the fact that one of the mics kept cutting out slow them down. The local punk supergroup hit the stage hard and never let up, performing their parodies of punk classics by the likes of the Misfits, Social Distortion, Ramones, Sham 69, X and Rancid, changing the lyrics to reflect Mexican culture. Their version of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” (changed to “Mexican Girl,” obviously) is superb. Overall, their love of the music and their own tongue in cheek sense of humor makes for a ton of fun.”

Go see for yourself.

Manic Hispanic in the OC: The event takes place at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, May 6 at the Observatory.

 

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