Concert Reviews

Circle Jerks Concert Photos and Review

by Brooks Robinson

Updated May 25, 2026

Circle Jerks – Majestic Ventura Theater – May 23, 2026

Ventura, California is a sleepy coastal town about an hour north of Los Angeles, and while most of the action typically involves tourists and the Pacific Ocean, it went off on Saturday night for night two of the Circle Jerks takeover of the Majestic Ventura Theater. I knew something was up when it took me twenty-five minutes to find a parking space in a downtown area that is usually devoid of cars at night. I wondered if all of the people responsible for the limited parking were going to the show, and the answer was a resounding yes – the Majestic Ventura Theater was as full as I’ve ever seen it and completely sold out for the second night in a row.

Circle Jerks

I arrived early to pick up my photo pass and get situated in the pit up front, where I took a minute and talked to security to get a sense of what to expect. The guy’s eyes grew a little wide when I asked, and I was told that night one of the Circle Jerks was off the hook, and the audience was wild throughout, with near-constant crowd surfers. The air inside the 1920s era 1200 capacity theater was already stale, stagnant, and hot, with a smell not dissimilar to a high school football locker room at the end of a long season – as if the previous night’s frenzied show was still hanging in the air. I was sweating before the first band hit the stage.

The pioneering Circle Jerks formed in Hermosa Beach California in 1979, and it’s amazing that almost 50 years later, the hardcore punk scene they helped create is still thriving. They are an institution, with nothing but respect from their fans and peers, and the reason was obvious from the moment they took the stage and the lights came up. They aren’t a band to rest on their laurels, they’re a touring machine - already having played 28 dates this year - yet when I walked up to the theater, there wasn’t a luxurious tour bus waiting outside, but a Pensky cube truck. These guys are punk to the core, and all that the punk ethos embodies.

The previous night’s show must have been wild, because when Gorilla Biscuits were about to take the stage, security kicked the photographers out of the pit, stating that it wasn’t safe for us to be there. Begrudgingly, we shot their set with telephoto lenses from the theater floor. When it was time to take our spots in the pit for Circle Jerks, security again told us it still wasn’t safe due to the amount of crowd surfers. I decided to test that theory, and went to the other end of the pit and asked the security guy on that side. He was about to let us into the pit when his supervisor was called. I pleaded my case to him, and after some back and forth, all seven of us got the go-ahead to shoot the customary first three songs from the pit – in photography as in life, it often pays to look for another angle if the answer given isn’t to your liking.

That said, by the time our three songs were up, the pit was becoming like a warzone with incoming crowd surfers, and I’m sure security was glad to be rid of us and have more room to operate. The crowd was bonkers, with the short, fast, and furious songs exploding from the speakers in rapid-fire succession, fueling the crowd in the pit, and gliding surfers through the air atop the hands of others. The majority of their set was from their inaugural album, Group Sex, with 10 tracks. These guys know how to put on a show, and the audience responded with an exhausting frenzy of motion and mayhem. The evening felt like a blur, between the ferocity of the set, the short length of songs, the three great opening bands, and the heat inside the theater - before you knew it, the show was over, but not soon to be forgotten.

Circle Jerks is:

Keith Morris – Vocals
Greg Hetson – Guitar
Zander Schloss – Bass
Joey Castillo – Drums

Setlist:

1) Deny Everything

2) Letterbomb

3) In Your Eyes

4) Back Against the Wall

5) Behind the Door

6) I Just Want Some Skank

7) Beverly Hills

8) When the Shit Hits the Fan

9) Under the Gun

10) Coup d'état

11) Moral Majority

12) Don't Care

13) Live Fast Die Young

14) Wild in the Streets

15) I, I & I

16) Beat Me Senseless

17) World Up My Ass

18) Wasted

19) Revenge

20) Nervous Breakdown

21) What's Your Problem

22) Question Authority

Gorilla Biscuits

The Gorilla Biscuits are a legendary hardcore punk band from Queens New York. They’ve been around since the mid-80s, and have used the resulting forty years to come up with a no-frills formula that works – great songs, huge energy, and care taken to nurture a rabid fanbase.

As previously mentioned, photographers weren’t allowed in the photo pit for their set based on the previous night’s sold-out show – security was concerned with our safety due to the amount of crowd surfers and the occasional stage diver. I’ve had the threat of not being allowed to shoot in the pit before, but never was it actually enforced – this was a first. It was quickly obvious why security had made the request – people were flying everywhere.

Vocalist Anthony Civorelli spent a good portion of the night standing on the back step of the barricade amongst the fans, leaning into their midst to sing, while also throwing his microphone into the throng for some lucky fan to sing the lyrics back to him. This was a top-tier band, and they put on an amazing show.

Gorilla Biscuits is:

Anthony Civorelli – Vocals
Walter Schreifels – Guitars
Arthur Smilios – Bass
Luke Abbey – Drums
Charlie Garriga – Guitars

7 Seconds

7 Seconds were formed in Reno in 1980, and brought everything they had to their tight forty-five-minute set. It was great to photograph them and watch how happy their music made people in the audience – this evening was a true celebration of great music, and their inclusiveness made it okay for everyone in the audience to participate in whatever form worked for them.

7 Seconds is:

Kevin Seconds – Vocals
Sammy Siegler - Drums
Bobby Adams – Guitar
Bobby Jordan - Bass

Cosmic Joke

Cosmic Joke is an LA-based hardcore punk/skate punk band, and they were a great way to kickstart a fantastic four-band night of hardcore madness. They played an incredible thirty-minute set that got the people going and set the mood for the remainder of the evening.

Cosmic Joke is:

Mac Miller - Vocals
Morgan Miller – Guitar/Vocals
Evan Rowe – Guitar
Jake Goldstein – Bass
Niki Vahle – Drums

Brooks Robinson Photographer & Writer

Brooks Robinson is an LA-based concert photographer, and 30+ year freelance camera operator for film, television, and music videos. He has photographed some of the largest film/TV projects in history, and hundreds of music videos in MTV's heyday.

Thanks for reading!