Deviant Nation : Good Riddance : Remain In Memory: The Final Show

Good Riddance - Remain In Memory: The Final Show

Label: Fat Wreck Chords

By: Diesel
Aug 14 08

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Considered one of the forefathers of the Fat Wreck Chords label California’s Good Riddance decided to throw in the towel last spring after a successful career as a hardcore punk rock band. For over twenty years this solid act act toured the world relentlessly. The band may have decided to call it quits but in honor of their hometown fans they played their final show on May 27, 2007. It was only proper to record it so that the rest of the Good Riddance fans across the world could listen in to one of the greatest good-bye punk shows I have heard to date.

Good Riddance has a music style with good potions of hardcore and sing-a-long punk rock.

Good Riddance has a music style with good potions of hardcore and sing-a-long punk rock. This CD is full of choice tracks from the band’s discography that they decided to play live one last time. The raw recording was later mastered and released as Remain In Memory: The Final Show. It is a perfect farewell for any fan of Good Riddance and grasps the energy of the band playing to their fans in a warm way. It is almost depressing knowing such a high energy band decided to hang it up and move on.
The CD full of thirty one tracks starting off with “Heresy, Hypocrisy, and Revenge”. Just hearing the guitars open the song with the fans going completely over edge made me so jealous. I only could dream of attending this departing show. Lead vocalist Russ Rankin does not even seem to have aged while singing this track.
“More Depalma, Less Fellini” is a more recent song but sounds much harder with a nice sing-a-long feel to it begging the fans to join along. I can only imagine what the mosh pit was looking like. After this song Russ Rankin declares to the adoring fans “as you know this is pretty much it” and to “sing as loud as you can.”
“Out Of Mind” and “Darkest Days” were two tracks from the band’s last recording, My Republic. As much as I liked that release, it was nice to see the band dig into their older material. I really got a kick out of “A Credit To His Gender” as this was one of the first Good Riddance songs I had ever hear when I was young. Hearing it live by this veteran band made it all that more pleasing and judging by the fans response, I am not the only one who feels that way.
If the last song did not get me going, hearing “United Cigar” pretty much helped declare this album a classic to me. Any punk rock fan out there needs to hear this song if you have not already done so. This is the music that makes punk rock such a worthy genre.
“One For The Braves” and “All Fall Down” are two fun punk tracks that keeps the crowd participating. “Letters Home” was another track the fans had no problem lending their vocals to. “Shit Talking” was played so fast at the beginning, I almost missed it. “Pisces/Almost Home” took a moment to help gather up the band and fans energy but once they were all recharged this song was given it’s all by everyone in the house that night.
It was nice to hear one of my favorite Good Riddance tracks, “Mother Superior”. I now like the live version more than the original. Just hearing the energy the fans banish out on this track makes it that much more enjoyable. I have liked this song since I was a kid and listening to it makes want to go back to the days when the Warped Tour was something new and almost considered forbidden by mainstream people. The band takes a moment after the song to let everyone know that there are still t-shirts available and dedicates the final song to Mario, the merch guy.
Ending the CD is “Waste”, a song I am sure all who attended will remember. The hardcore punk track is fast and enraged and even if this song was recorded towards the end of the show, the band still gave it 110%. Once the song was completed, fans applauded in approval and soon everything fades out marking the last time Good Riddance will ever play live again.

I’ll say it again; this was one of the best live punk rock shows I have heard to date.

I’ll say it again; this was one of the best live punk rock shows I have heard to date. Sure it is remixed and mastered to sound a little better but I can promise you once you listen to this you will have wished you were there. The energy alone just grabs your attention and refuses to let go.
As an aging punk rocker, I truly appreciate that Good Riddance decided to release this CD so that I and any other Good Riddance fan out there may appreciate its glory. If you fathom yourself a punk rocker but have no idea who Good Riddance is, it would be in your best interest to go out and grab this CD. The final show may be over, but the memories of Good Riddance will last forever thanks to this live farewell show.