Anarchy At The Circle K: On The Road With Dead Kennedys, TSOL, Flipper, Subhumans and… Heroin

by Patrick O'Neil, Mia d’Bruzzi (Foreword)

Anarchy At The Circle K is literally a punk tour-de-force. An in your face gut-wrenching, and at times humorous, tale of Patrick O’Neil’s stint as a roadie, road manager, and drug addict during punk’s heyday of the 1980’s. Crisscrossing the highways of America, on tour with such influential punk bands as Dead Kennedys, TSOL, Flipper, and Subhumans. O’Neil writes a brutally honest and no holds barred memoir depicting the sleepless nights behind the wheel, never-ending string of decrepit night clubs, a plethora of ruthless promoters, depressing dressing rooms, copious amounts of cheap beer, clandestine drug buys, riotous crowds, intense violence, inadvertent OD’s, and seedy motel one night stands. This book is an insider’s look at life on the road from back in the day and you’re along for the ride.

“Patrick O’Neil brilliantly describes the insanity of touring with a punk band in the 80s. Like his last book, Gun Needle Spoon, Anarchy at the Circle K is a page-turner, except that I had to keep stopping to catch my breath. How does he remember it so well when he was out of his skull? I can barely recall, and I was (mostly) sober. For me this book was like PTSD therapy, with forgotten incidents brought back by O'Neil’s bemused, smirking prose.” — Klaus Fluoride, Dead Kennedys

“Patrick is an authentic storyteller, and I consider him one of my oldest friends. He is and was the real deal, funny, friendly, smart, and tough. Few could tell this story, let alone live it and survive. His recall of all the people and places… is nothing short of miraculous as most of us who were there struggle to remember in such color and texture. Anarchy at the Circle K brought me back to a wild, free, and reckless time when we toured relentlessly and when anything seemed possible. We were a band, a gang, and a family always headed to the next town. Chris Grayson and Patrick were our crew. We inherited them from Dead Kennedys. Chris the soundman has passed (RIP), Patrick continues on and I think he still has a lot to say.”— Mike Roche, T.S.O.L.

“Anarchy at the Circle K is an insightful view that you don’t get or think about when you’re in the band—all the personnel, bands, girls, drugs, promoters, and venues. The rise and fall, the WILL to take it all, and do what ever it takes to get the band and gear to the next gig, and score the D… Patrick O’Neil, the man is a juggernaut. Thanks for not sugarcoating the shit!” — D. H. Peligro, Dead Kennedys

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography Memoir, History

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 8, 2023

About the author

Patrick O’Neil is the author of the memoirs: ANARCHY AT THE CIRCLE K (Punk Hostage Press, 2022), GUN, NEEDLE, SPOON (Dzanc Books, 2015), and HOLD-UP (13e Note Editions, 2013). He is the co-author on two instructional writing manuals, WRITING YOUR WAY TO RECOVERY: HOW STORIES CAN SAVE OUR LIVES (Independent Press, 2021), with the author James Brown. And PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing Program's, THE SENTENCES THAT CREATE US: CRAFTING A WRITER'S LIFE IN PRISON (Haymarket Books, 2022). His writing has appeared in numerous publications including: Juxtapoz, Salon, The Fix, Decibel, and Razorcake.

O'Neil is a contributing editor for Sensitive Skin Magazine, a Pushcart nominee, a two time nominee for Best Of The Net, avid supporter of PEN America, and a former Emerging Voices Mentor. His novel, LA COUNTY - the first book in a trilogy of noir crime novels set in LA - is currently making the rounds for publication.

O'Neil holds an MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles where he is adjunct faculty for their Continuing Education program. He also teaches at a Los Angeles community college and various rehabs, correctional facilities, institutions, and workshops. You can find more of his writing, music, and films online at patrick-oneil.com

Reviews

[Patrick O'Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Depending on the day, it's either the best thing I've ever written or it sucks so bad I can't even look at it. But right now this book is the best thing I have ever written. Yeah, I gave it five stars... don't be a hater.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patrick O’Neil has written another stunner. This book details his life working as road crew and road manager for various well-known punk bands. He also writes about being an heroin addict and trying to simply survive. Some of my favorite parts were when O’Neil would skip ahead to the future and write about results of his actions back in the day. Patrick O’Neil is a rare talent—so glad he wrote this book.

[James Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want an inside look at the life of a punk rock roadie, it doesn't get better than this. O'Neil is a writer with the fearsome courage to tell it like it is (or was) without pretense or formality, keenly self-aware and meticulously observant. He's been in the trenches and the voice of experience is loud and clear. A fine book by a fine writer.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patrick O’Neil isn’t fucking around. His memoir about his stint as a road manger and roadie for punk legends Dead Kennedys, TSOL, Flipper, and Subhumans is an epic account of stamina, sleeplessness, and bad decision-making. O’Neil skips the usual palaver about these stories being his memories and other accounts may differ with an uncompromising note: “You want to dispute what I’ve written? Then go write your own damn book. You want to hate me for telling the truth? Stand in line behind me, because I have enough self-hatred for all of us. You want to critique me for being a fucked up human being? You are years too late.” And on it goes.

In addition to being a road warrior on the front lines of punk rock in the ‘80s, O’Neil was also a not-so-secret addict. Although he documents his career as a “junkie bank robber” in his previous memoir, Gun, Needle, Spoon, Anarchy at the Circle K, explores a window of time when punk bands hit the road in increasing numbers before the experience was ruined by corporate middlemen and “assholes with clipboards.”

Anarchy at the Circle K is required reading for fans of Dead Kennedys and the San Francisco scene in particular, but will be of interest who those enjoy reading the sub-genre of punk rock tour diaries. O’Neil’s uncompromising account of spending four days with a broken-down van in Eudora, Arkansas in the middle of the summer sucks all the romance out of life on the road.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read. I was never a part of punk culture myself, but I have many friends who were, some of whom are mentioned in this book. I started with the chapter about them and then read the rest. I have a major problem with heroin culture, however. Heroin does not expand consciousness, it shuts it down. I think of the people I know who died from it, and also the ones who were lucky enough to survive it and get clean--including the author--and lament the waste. These were for the most part talented young people who mistook addiction risk for bravery. It wasn't brave. It was a knockout punch. I am thankful for my friends who survived.

[Stunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a ride. Going from a punk touring life that I can relate to, to a long slide into a darkness that's beyond anything I've experienced, Patrick O'Neil keeps the reader thoroughly engaged with humor, honesty, and a self awareness he clearly fought hard to gain in the years following these events. While punk and underground bands are still touring, the life documented here is almost entirely a thing of the past. I loved seeing it captured in this raw, unflinching manner, and with an energy level that matches the music. Immediately upon finishing, I picked up a copy of O'Neil's previous memoir, Gun, Needle, Spoon, and wholeheartedly recommend that, as well.

[Ian Welke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and well paced, the same dark sense of humor that keeps that I suspect saw the author through all of this also keeps the material feeling fresh and interesting throughout.

[PhattandyPDX · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. I went to shows in the Bay Area during the same time period as this book. O’Neill’s writing is surreal, moving, powerful, and told with a dry sense of humor. Imagine Hubert Selby Jr. driving a tour bus to the setting of the Du Long Bridge in Apocalypse Now. That’s what this book is like.

“I put up a good front. Or at least I think I do. But if I’m not loaded, I’m in fear. I’m convinced the world knows I’m a fraud. I don’t know what I’m doing. I have no clue how to live life, be successful, or find happiness. My whole identity is working in music and I’m only too sure the bands I work for are going to suddenly decide they don’t need me. I can run away from everything when I’m on tour. I have low self-esteem, a big ego, and I want people to love me. Not just like me. But love me. Yet I don’t know how to love them back. Every time I stick a needle in my arm all that goes away. Only being strung out with no money is taking its toll. I want to be loaded. I just don’t want to deal with the consequences. And I don’t want any of the bands to know I’m a junkie.“

“But for now it’s downtime and we’re all outside on the street standing around, bored, which isn’t good. A bored Flipper is a volatile animal.”

[Robert Morgan Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prequel to Gun, Needle, Spoon. Survivor's story. A minor masterpiece of squalor, nihilism, hilarity and unsentimental, candid reflection that is nonetheless enormously moving. Every person mentioned in this book, living or dead, needs to thank Patrick O'Neil's agile mind for capturing every detail of this unique, vital, peripatetic era in rock n' roll history and memorializing it on the page. We are all the richer for it.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a book about Patrick O'Neil's time working for punk bands, my favorite story was about Roxy Music (one of their album covers, actually). I couldn't put this one down and had to get his "Gun Needle Spoon" for more (also excellent, BTW). Books >= Drugs

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh boy , what a ride ! I can’t believe that someone can stay alive for so long , living with all the drugs and debauchery , and come out the other end not just alive but turn himself into a stellar human being .
I thoroughly recommend this one .

[Bruce Ferber · Rating 5 out of 5]

A PUNK MASTERPIECE! Patrick O’Neil tells it like it was in this raw, rollicking, and moving memoir of life on the edge. A tenuous as it often is, O’Neil’s passion keeps us invested enough to wade through the muck and experience the transcendent highs along with him. Plus — maybe the best scuzzy motel sex scene you’ll ever read. Buy this book!

[Cheyenne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Page Turner

Sometimes the truth of the matter is fr crazier than any fiction. All these stories jump off the page .
The people in this book are people I grew up listening to, going to see , and reading about in fanzines . They are just people doing stuff in the 1980’s .
It’s a non fiction book . You get the distinct feeling Patrick suffered and changed as a human as a result of all these stories. It’s a wild novel .
It’s a life.
A life others don’t experience.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arguably the least romantic punk rock memoir I’ve read, this is a book about the stupidity and violence of early punk/hardcore touring in the age of skinhead thuggery and wholesale audience hostility. O’Neil doesn’t come out of many of these stories looking good and neither does anyone else. He won’t even go into much detail about how the bands sounded on packed lineups of shows that have since become the stuff of legend, though he does acknowledge now and then that “this was an impressive lineup.” He’s writing about the experience of a serious heroin user who put heroin above everything else, and that included the array of astonishingly good bands he was on stage to see (and get stabbed to). As well, this book makes plain that it was hard to enjoy seeing some of the best punk bands of all time play night after night while attempting to avoid getting beat up or stabbed by audience members. Fair enough. Not a pretty book, but fascinating nonetheless and well told.

[Toni Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a long time fan of Patrick O’Neil’s writing. I used to hear him read his essays years ago at Antioch University where he got his MFA. His writing voice is fun and authentic, and he does not shy away from difficult topics.

His memoir Gun, Needle, Spoon was intense and amazing. This new memoir is equally good. His stories from life on the road with punk bands will amuse, edify, and sometimes shock you. It’s a glimpse into a world most of us won’t get to see and I found it fascinating.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I found the show stories to be leaving some meat on the bone, light on details, etc, and the writing could use a bit of editing or even just copy editing - but ultimately it’s just readable enough to keep me on board, with little nuggets about the Dead Kennedys and some rough but very honest drug/road stories that are illuminating about a certain level of roadie life.

[Greg Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I need a shower and a nap after reading this book. The real-life experiences of a roadie and the “glamour” of being on tour … and a junkie.

Great stories, harrowing tales and to much time spent in Eudora …

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

Thank you for sharing your story! While reading this book memories of being a young punk in the San Francisco bay area flooded in. This book is so well written I could see, smell and hear everything being described. What a wild ride!

[Quinn Kiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

a roadie's interesting perspective on the 80s punk scene and particularly west coast punk

[Mazter_of_Dizazter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart pounding page-turning insanity. Loved it.

[Steve Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patrick O’Neil bring his inimitable flair for sharp, wry and zippy dialogue—compellingly exhibited in his memoir ‘Gun, Needle and Spoon’—to this second offering, set in the world of the US punk rock scene centered around the California-based band, Dead Kennedys.
O’Neil’s first memoir gave readers an insight into the adrenaline-and-paranoia-fueled world of the heroin-strung-out armed robber. For anyone, this would be enough insanity for one lifetime, which O’Neil miraculously survived, but now, with this second memoir, one wonders why O’Neil is still here today to tell the tale!
On the surface, the idea of being on the road in the 1980s as a road manager with Dead Kennedys sounds like a real blast. ‘Anarchy at the Circle K’ very swiftly wipes away these preconceptions. Yes, O’Neil’s life was based on the ‘road’ and it involved ‘managing’ but the reality was that the job involved surviving, and ensuring that the band members also survived, the nightly maelstrom of on-stage violence that accompanied each gig using both defensive and counter-attack techniques.
Adding insult to injury, literally, O’Neil chronicles his various adventures and challenges in finding all sorts of creative ways of fueling his heroin habit on the road and, at the same time, concealing this fact from the band members and the rest of the road crew.
‘Anarchy at the Circle K’ provides an insight into a unique world, a behind-the-scenes look into the punk-rock heydays where every venue was a potential war-zone involving right-wing skinheads, a ‘less-than-friendly’ police force and shifty club owners.
The blistering pace of the narrative is interspersed with fast-forwards into the future where O’Neil highlights the long-term impact, and consequences, of that harum-scarum lifestyle, which are poignant, sad and sobering. This a great follow up and ‘Gun, Needle and Spoon’ and ‘Anarchy at the Circle K’ feel like two parts of a trilogy to me, so I look forward to the coda in this series.

[Brenda Perlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anarchy At The Circle K: On The Road With Dead Kennedys, TSOL, Flipper, Subhumans and… HEROIN by Patrick O’Neil is spellbinding. The life of a roadie for well known and beloved punk bands who happens to be a drug addict is totally addictive. This book is so well written and detailed, it grabbed my attention immediately and never let up.
There’s tons of punk history throughout the pages and candid moments that I’m surprised the author was able to remember but this story feels authentic. I mean we are talking forty some-odd years since these events happened.

For any punk, or music historian this is pure gold. And thank the punk gods, O’Neil is still around to tell his story.

Us old punkers are passionate about the bands that started it all and the tales behind the legends. It’s exciting to read a book that gets inside without glorifying the past or comes across arrogant about being there. Thought he was in the middle of it all! He hammers out his memories brilliantly with raw energy and emotion.

Also, I must note that the author and publisher, Punk Hostage Press did an insanely good job editing this book and making it as clean and crisp as it could be. Very impressive.

Storytelling at it’s finest. This memoir belongs on all our bookshelves.

Quote~

“I light a cigarette as a four-foot-tall girl with a blue double mohawk, leather jacket, Exploited T-shirt, red tartan Catholic schoolgirl skirt, torn fishnets, and Doc Martens stumbles into me. “Don’t I know you?”
“Hard to say. There’s at least ten of you at every show.”

I f*cking love this book!