Venue: The Pinnacle
City: Nashville, TN
Date: August 31, 2026
Review and Photographs by: Jacob Smith (https://www.jhs-photo.com)
What a way to end a month: catching a Social Distortion show at The Pinnacle in Nashville, TN. Mike Ness and crew jumped onto the stage for a sold-out house in Nashville Monday evening. In an odd situation, Mike Ness had lost his voice earlier in the day and was having a hard time singing. So he asked the crowd if they would fill in the gaps for the full performance. The crowd took him up on that task and then some.
Playing a mix of tracks off of the newly released album and gems from the rest of their catalog, Social Distortion pulled out an extremely energetic 17-song set. Numerous times throughout the evening, Mike Ness would stop and talk to the crowd and give stories about the band and himself throughout the decades of being together and touring. Before starting the song “The Way Things Were”, he stopped to make it a point to dedicate that track for the evening to Dolly Parton, who recently passed away in town. And how he grew up watching her on television and always felt inspired by her.
This was one of those bands I have been a lifelong fan of but was always busy when they would be in the area to be able to catch a live performance. So this evening was highly anticipated for myself to catch. And I’m glad. The evening was beyond brilliant with the way even with having basically a hoarse voice, Ness was able to still weave the crowd into a solid throng of excitement and crowd surfing. I don’t understand why I never had the opportunity to catch a show but will try and make sure to not miss another one from here on out. Everything from the performance, lighting, and sound were exceptional. Their fanbase are one of those very enthusiastic but also nice ones to be in and the sense of love for the evening was felt by all.
Setlist: Born to Kill – Ring of Fire – Untitled – Tonight – No Way Out – The Creeps – Mommy’s Little Monster – The Way Things Were – Machine Gun Blues – Don’t Keep Me Hanging On – Partners in Crime – Ball and Chain – Through These Eyes – Story of My Life – Reach for the Sky – Bad Luck
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Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries
About the Author (Author Profile)
ToddStar – that’s me… just a rocking accountant who had dreams of being a rock star. I get to do the next best thing to rocking the globe – I get to take pictures of the lucky ones that do. I love to shoot all genres of music and different types of performers. If it is related to music, I love to photograph it. I get to shoot and hang with not only some of my friends and idols, but some of the coolest people around today.
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