{"id":464181,"date":"2026-09-15T06:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T06:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/464181\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T06:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T06:00:18","slug":"agent-51-brings-old-man-punk-angst-to-capital-of-crafts-return-to-broadway-pier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/464181\/","title":{"rendered":"Agent 51 brings ‘old man punk angst’ to Capital of Craft’s return to Broadway Pier"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Four<\/a>Agent 51, which will perform at the Sept. 19, 2026 Capital of Craft fest. (Photo by Alex Middleton)<\/p>\n

The\u00a0San Diego Brewers Guild\u2019s flagship beer festival\u00a0is returning to\u00a0downtown\u2019s\u00a0Broadway Pier, where it was last held in 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now known as the\u00a0Capital of Craft Beer Festival,\u00a0Saturday\u2019s event<\/a> will feature unlimited sampling\u00a0of\u00a0more than\u00a065 local craft beers, food vendors, an arts and crafts\u00a0marketplace and live music from Poway punkers Agent 51 and 80s Resurrection, a new wave cover band\u00a0presented by Dead Man\u2019s Party.<\/p>\n

Participating\u00a0breweries<\/a>\u00a0include local favorites\u00a0Pizza Port, Belching Beaver and Coronado Brewing Co., as well as lesser-known labels\u00a0like Burgeon, Kilowatt and Hopnonymous Brewing Co. Festival-goers\u00a0can\u00a0vote for their favorite\u00a0beer, with the winner receiving the\u00a0People\u2019s Choice Hoppy Beer Award.<\/p>\n

The Capital of Craft\u00a0VIP session opens at\u00a0noon,\u00a0followed by\u00a0the general session\u00a0from\u00a01\u00a0to\u00a04 p.m. Tickets are available\u00a0online<\/a>\u00a0(use promo code sdbeer for $5 off).<\/p>\n

Ahead of Agent 51\u2019s performance,\u00a0Times of San Diego\u00a0spoke\u00a0with\u00a0lead vocalist\/guitarist\u00a0Chris Armes, who\u00a0opened up about the band\u2019s alien origin story, 18-year hiatus, recently released Beastie Boys cover and their newest creation: \u201cRed Alert\u201d\u00a0IPA,\u00a0named after Agent 51\u2019s 1997 song,\u00a0which\u00a03 Punk Ales<\/a>\u00a0will serve at\u00a0the festival.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>Agent 51\u2019s IPA collaboration with 3 Punk Ales, \u201cRed Alert,\u201d will be served at Capital of Craft. (Photo courtesy of Agent 51)<\/p>\n

Q: Poway has spawned several great punk bands \u2014 blink-182, Unwritten Law, Agent 51. What do you think has contributed to that distinction, and how did you get started?\u00a0<\/p>\n

A: Back in the\u00a0\u201990s, the pre-internet era, if you didn\u2019t live by the coast, there really wasn\u2019t much to do. And if you didn\u2019t have a car, your best bet was to pick up a guitar or a\u00a0skateboard.\u00a0I remember\u00a0being\u00a0in high school and seeing Unwritten Law play a keg party. I\u2019m like,\u00a0\u2018Man, I really want to do this.\u2019 Alternative music was really big, but I couldn\u2019t play\u00a0a C chord, I could just play bar chords. Punk rock\u00a0is\u00a0the doorway to entry; it\u2019s\u00a0very simple and very immediate. All you\u00a0need\u00a0to have is teen angst and\u00a0know\u00a0three chords, and you\u2019re in.\u00a0I had plenty of [teen angst] at 17, so I just started there in 1993. I was washing dishes at Hamburger Factory for\u00a0$4.25 an hour\u00a0and got invited\u00a0to sing in this band called\u00a0Openfast.<\/p>\n

Q: Agent 51 formed in 1995, originally as\u00a0Area 51. What inspired you to\u00a0adopt\u00a0the persona of rogue secret agents with insider knowledge of extraterrestrial life?\u00a0<\/p>\n

A: I was into the\u00a0alien thing\u00a0since I can remember. I found an old preschool photo of me at like four years old and I have the\u00a0\u201cMork\u00a0&\u00a0Mindy\u201d\u00a0Shazbot Nanu Nanu\u00a0shirt on.\u00a0I\u2019ve always been really intrigued by these lights in the sky. I\u00a0wanted to incorporate that into our music because I hadn\u2019t really seen any other band do that.\u00a0And Area 51 at that time wasn\u2019t\u00a0really part of the cultural landscape, so I just went for it.\u00a0The idea for the suits was brought in by our bass player, Greg Schneider.\u00a0He said, \u2018Why don\u2019t we incorporate some visual stuff into this?\u2019\u00a0I thought\u00a0that\u00a0was\u00a0a great idea. That way, when people come see us, they\u2019re not only getting\u00a0the music, but they\u2019re getting this visual aspect as well.<\/p>\n

How did\u00a0Green Day\u2019s Billie Joe Armstrong\u00a0come to sign you to his\u00a0Adeline\u00a0label and\u00a0re-release your\u00a0sophomore album, \u201cJust Keep Runnin\u2018\u201d?<\/p>\n

We incorporated a comic book storyline\u00a0in our second album\u00a0about all our characters. If you buy the CD, it\u2019s got a\u00a0six-panel layout\u00a0of\u00a0each character in the band, what their superpowers are\u00a0and how we all escaped\u00a0this government entity called\u00a0The Syndicate.\u00a0It really helped our CD stand out\u00a0because it brought this visual,\u00a0comic-book element. So, when a record label\u00a0receives\u00a0it, they\u2019re like,\u00a0\u2018Oh, wow, these guys are doing something really different.\u2019<\/p>\n

I got an\u00a0email from some guy at Atlantic Records\u00a0who said, \u2018We liked your record. Give us a call.\u2019\u00a0I called the number\u00a0and it was some sweatshop in LA. It turned out it was my friend pranking me.\u00a0Then, a week later, I got a message on my machine:\u00a0\u2018Hey Chris, this is Billie\u00a0Joe from Adeline Records,\u2019\u00a0and I\u2019m thinking this\u00a0guy\u00a0is pranking me again.\u00a0So,\u00a0I called back and, sure enough, it\u2019s Billie\u00a0Joe.\u00a0He put out our record\u00a0with two new songs,\u00a0and\u00a0it really gave us a boost. We were able to tour, and people knew who we\u00a0were.<\/p>\n

On\u00a0Aug. 20,\u00a0Agent 51\u00a0released a cover of\u00a0the\u00a0Beastie Boys B-side \u201cMullet Head.\u201d What prompted you to put your spin on the\u00a0song,\u00a0and how did\u00a0that\u00a0come\u00a0about?\u00a0<\/p>\n

We did an\u00a0Indiegogo, like\u00a0a GoFundMe,\u00a0for our last record. If you were a backer and pledged a couple hundred bucks, we would cover any song you wanted, and\u00a0one of the backers chose\u00a0\u2018Mullet\u00a0Head.\u2019 We love the Beastie Boys anyway, and we covered\u00a0\u2018Fight for Your Right to Party\u2019\u00a0back in the\u00a0\u201990s, so we covered\u00a0\u2018Mullet Head<\/a>\u2019\u00a0and just injected our brand of old man punk angst into it. But we wanted to go dirty\u00a0instead of\u00a0making it sound\u00a0polished. We wanted\u00a0to go as nasty and raw as possible.<\/p>\n

Tell me more about the creation of last year\u2019s \u201cAge of Validation\u201d and what you had to do to get the\u00a0album\u00a0out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It started with the idea of doing a reunion show, and I thought\u00a0why don\u2019t we just write\u00a0one new song, so we have something to promote this reunion show?\u00a0One song turned into two,\u00a0two\u00a0turned into three, three turned into an EP and\u00a0then it turned into an album.\u00a0I hopped on this wave, and I just couldn\u2019t stop writing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But we didn\u2019t have the money to record it, and\u00a0that\u2019s where the crowdfunding thing came in.\u00a0Greg and I got together, and we\u2019re like,\u00a0\u2018How can we make this\u00a0a visual thing and\u00a0create a\u00a0video<\/a> where\u00a0Tom Cruise is\u00a0narrating\u00a0and\u00a0talking about Agent 51?\u2019\u00a0Thankfully,\u00a0there was still enough interest there for us to fund\u00a0a 15-song record. I\u2019m just blown away that we\u2019re still able to do this at our age.<\/p>\n

Agent 51\u00a0took a hiatus from 2005 to 2023, apart from\u00a0some one-off reunion shows.\u00a0What led to such a lengthy break?\u00a0<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re starting out and it\u2019s just a few guys in a garage and it\u2019s fun, you\u2019re like, this is the best ever.\u00a0Then,\u00a0by the time you manifest the record deal, it\u2019s now business.\u00a0I didn\u2019t understand the business side. So,\u00a0we\u2019d get off a\u00a0three-month tour, and I\u2019d\u00a0have $300 in my pocket because the RV broke down.\u00a0I was 20 years old, and I\u2019m like,\u00a0it\u2019s probably time for me to at least get a job so I can fund this hobby.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So,\u00a0we stopped touring.\u00a0I put all my focus on myself instead of the band.\u00a0I just decided it was time to do something else. I didn\u2019t really like who I was becoming because I was so focused on the outcome of success rather than just focusing on the creativity and writing the best songs I could.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What can fans look forward to at Capital of Craft, and what\u2019s ahead for Agent 51?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve\u00a0got a new beer out called Red Alert from\u00a03 Punk Ales<\/a>. It\u2019s kind of like a red IPA that they\u2019ll be serving at Beer Fest.\u00a0We\u2019re releasing a re-recorded version of \u2018Red Alert\u2019 in September, mostly\u00a0for\u00a0the beer. And on Oct. 3,\u00a0we\u2019re gonna play the Hop Stop in Poway.\u00a0Our beer will be on tap there\u00a0and\u00a0at 3 Punk Ales in Chula Vista\u00a0and Little Italy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We have a string of\u00a0singles\u00a0coming out, too.\u00a0I\u00a0think we\u2019re gonna go in a direction where it\u2019s really garage-y sounding,\u00a0moving\u00a0away from the polished sound and more like we just hung a mic in a room, like early Misfits stuff.\u00a0We\u2019re also working with the\u00a0San Diego Gulls<\/a>\u00a0right now to come up with either a theme song or something that\u2019s gonna play every time they score a goal. I\u2019m crossing my fingers that we actually get to do this.<\/p>\n

Donovan Roche is a longtime music writer\u00a0and regular contributor to Times of San Diego.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Agent 51, which will perform at the Sept. 19, 2026 Capital of Craft fest. (Photo by Alex Middleton)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[20302,9385,839,330,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-464181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-broadway-pier","tag-craft-beer","tag-festivals","tag-music","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}