The Dead Boys - Live in '77

I gotta send a shoutout to STUPEFACTION for making me aware of these videos.

Dead Boys, 1977, Down in Flames from Pat Ivers on Vimeo.

Virginia Beltway Drivers...

I understand that some people can't help but act out and get all "Road Rage," but the funny thing about what happened today was the some dude driving an old white Dodge - I think with Virginia vanity license plate GMAPOV - was cursing some dude out and then making out with his buddy in the passenger seat between middle fingers!

The Lord's Judgement Day Has Come

Random Ticket Stub: The Clash

The Incomparable Virginia "Ding Dong" Bell! (1940s)

Go See...Electric Frankenstein!

Just wanted give a shout for my friend Mike Mindless - former member of The Skulls - who has picked up the bass once again and is playing in Electric Frankenstein!  If you are near one of their gigs - then GO!

Oh, and go visit his store here:  Nuclear Jackalope.com 

Sep 7	The Depot	EF with Holley 750 (from Denver CO) and ESE (from Houston Tx) York Pennsylvania
August	US & Canada Northwest various	Wednesday August 1 Portland Or. @ The Hawthorne Theatre Promoter: Mike "Thrasher" Thursday August 2 Tacoma Wa. @ Hells Kitchen Friday August 3 Seattle Wa. @ The Two Bit Saloon Saturday August 4 Vancouver B.C. @ The Rickshaw Theatre Electric Frankenstein w/ The Stockers, Piggy (w/ Ron Reyes of Black Flag) Sunday August 5 Victoria B.C. @ Upstairs Cabaret Wednesday August 8 Kelowna B.C. @ Flashblacks Thursday August 9 TBA Friday August 10 Edmonton Alb. @ DV8 Electric Frankenstein w/ The Stockers & The Kroovy Rookers Saturday August 11 Calgary Alb. @ Palominos Tuesday August 14 Seattle Wa. @ El Corizon
July	OKC, Texas & New Orleans	July 11 - The Conservatory, 8911 N. Western, Oklahoma City July 12 - LaGrange, 2704 Elm St, Dallas July 13 - Rudyards, 2010 Waugh Dr, Houston July 14 - Siberia, 2227 Saint Claude, New Orleans
June 16	New Jersey	The Road Lords present: 'Scarlett Fever East 2012'. A benefit for Rett Syndrome and Scarlett's special needs. The Skels Lenny Lashley's Gang of One The Scrapers The Tombstone Brawlers American Speedway Electric Frankenstein Pie Tasters Maxwell's, Washington St, Hoboken NJ

Danzig & Doyle - Live At The Fillmore!

 

First of all, I have to give a tremendous shout to David over at DC Rock Live for tickets to this show.  He offered 'em up as part of a contest - and thank Satan I won 'em! 

I drove straight to my brother's house after work, had a very un-Misfits-like dinner of asparagus, quinoix (a funky grain), and other assorted veggies and fruit, and then grabbed the Metro for a trip up to Silver Spring, Maryland.

The Fillmore is a gorgeous venue - hardwood floors, wide open audience space, chandeliers, and a balcony with seating that ya gotta pay extra for.  Security was in full force to ensure nobody took photos or video: no cell phones, no hand-cams, nothing.  Glenn is apparently a photo Nazi and has completely stopped shows because of a single camera.  Why?  I dunno - maybe it's because he's put on a few pounds or lost some hair...but by George, he puts on a great show so why not let your FANS bring home a memory?

Now, I'll be completely honest with all three of you reading this - I don't know much of Glenn's post-Misfits output.  Mother '93 of course, but not much else, so I didn't know what I was in for.  Before I go into the headliner, though, here's a little on the warm-up acts...

MonstrO is a heavy, heavy sometimes-Stoner version of Alice In Chains - and I mean that in the best possible way.  Granted, I wasn't all that into AIC during their heyday, so Monstro just sorta helped get my ears ready for the next act.  Oh, by this time my brother and I had staked out a spot at the back of the venue - far away from what would become the mosh pit - and had an excellent view of everything for the whole show.


  
Next up was another updated 90s band:  Kyng, who sound like a Heavy Metal Soundgarden.  The dude sounds EXACTLY like Chris Cornell!  But what most impressed my brother was the drummer's insane abilities.  If I only heard it instead of seeing it, I would have thought the guy was using three or four bass drums - but it was only one.  A very hard, good band - but halfway into their set I was thinkin', "Enough of this.  GIVE ME DANZIG!"  So, I just stood there a little bored for another 15 minutes and breathed a sigh of relief when they stepped away.  Not because I didn't like 'em, but because that meant Danzig would up there soon.

After waiting nearly an hour with no band-members walking onto the stage, the crowd - myself included - started to get restless.  Then, there he was - a little puffier and balder than before, but still an amazing presence.  Glenn apologized to the crowd, as he was feeling a bit under the weather.  I'd add that this was definitely true, as his voice was pretty ragged (more on that in a bit) and he was spitting phlegm all night, and cancelled the following night's show.  Sick or not, Angry Glenn was cocked and ready tonight, slamming his microphone to the ground and screaming at the soundman.  I can't blame him for a second - how the hell can you have the opening acts perform flawlessly and then the headliners get microphone feedback throughout the set?!  He was yelling at the sound-guy at the side of the stage for a while...I was afraid he wasn't gonna perform...but they "were still going to put on the best damn show for you guys, even if fuckin' assholes like that guy want to fuck it up.” 

Glenn Danzig's devil horns at the Fillmore, 4 June.

Glenn was able to belt out all those loud notes and only struggled with his voice when he was required to sing softer.  Odd, huh?!  Well, after the Danzig portion of the set, Glenn put in the call for Doyle, who obviously is still hitting the gym after all these decades.  The crowd went absolutely fucking wild and the mosh pit instantaneously appeared in the middle of the floor.  Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein played the fiercest, fastest guitar I have ever heard in my life.

The Misfits tunes went by fast and vicious, with Doyle switching out his guitar after every song.  He was having a ball onstage, too with a huge grin across his Pan-Caked face.  

(Photo credit: Scott Gries/Getty Images) 

All in all, a fantastic night and my FIRST Heavy Metal show was a great one.  I wonder if Gorgeous Frankenstein is still touring...

SETLIST:  Danzig set - Wotan's Procession (intro music), SkinCarver, Twist of Cain, Hammer of the Gods, Rebel Spirits, Her Black Wings, Devil's Plaything, How the Gods Kill, Dirty Black Summer.  Misfits set with Doyle -  Death Comes Ripping, Vampira, Bullet, I Turned Into a Martian, Halloween, Astro Zombies, Last Caress.  Encore #1 - Bringer of Death, It's Coming Down, Mother.  Encore #2 -  Long Way Back From Hell, Skulls (with Doyle).  

I recommend you check out Rock N Roll Experience.com for a hyper-detailed review from a guy who was MUCH closer to the stage and took a few photos, too - but not of Glenn!

Bootleg Time: The Skulls - Cameo Theatre, Miami (1987)

The Skulls - and I'm not talkin' about the Canadian or Los Angeles-based bands who shared the same name - were a band that shoulda' been big.  Let's see...take the same horror/B-movie subject matter that the Misfits covered, but turn the dial down from Hardcore Punk to Punk Rock & Roll and you've got the Skulls!  A great band who put out criminally few records and never garnered the recognition that they surely deserved.  I know...coulda, shoulda, woulda...but this is MY blog - so Fuck You!!

Enjoy this live set from January 17, 1987 (opening for Johnny Thunders) and transfered from the master audience tape, recorded by Bootleg Bill.  This show is presented to you in LOSSLESS format!

Setlist
01) Motortest
02) Blacklight 13
03) Rocket Boulevard
04) Teenage Honey
05) Graveyard Signal
06) Coffin Cruiser
07) Jesus Put A Bullet Thru My Soul
08) Torture Ship
09) Skullcrusher
10) Idols & Dolls
11) Set Me Free (Sweet cover)

DOWNLOAD HERE!!

The Brian Jonestown Massacre Is Coming...

Joan Jett Covers Sly Stone

I don't remember EVER seeing this video!

Photo Of The Day: The Velvet Underground at The Boston Tea Party (1968)

Lou, John, and Sterl.  Moe is back there somewhere!

The Dandy Warhols - Live At The 9:30 Club!

Some fathers take their sons to football games.  My dad took my brother and I to a Dandy Warhols gig! 

So, to kick things off I drove straight from work to my Dad's house and we then drove into DC to pick up my lil' brother.  The three of us hadn't eaten in hours so Pops (I call him Pops because that's what Lamont Sanford used to call his dad, Fred G. Sanford)  drove us to El Centro, a Mexican place I've reviewed here before.  Meh...not even worth finding the site to link it to.

Anyways, it was still early so after food we went up to Duffy's Irish Pub - well, it's more like a good, albeit generic bar - adjacent to the 9:30.  We grabbed a few stools and swapped music tales, where Pops got to brag about the 60s, when groundbreaking albums were being released every week, and I got to reminisce about...the 80s...when good music was the exception - not the rule.

Side note:  In the middle of our conversation I ran out and met up with David from DC Rock Live, who handed me TWO free tickets to an upcoming Danzig concert!  More on that in a yet-to-be-written review!

So, after some more chit-chat we went over to the club.  We grabbed some spots on the balcony level, just above where Zia would be (ahhh....Zia...).  The opening bands were...how should I describe them...lacklustre.  The first band was a quartet out of Longview, Washington State named 1776.  Not too bad, playing sortof a mish-mosh of droney Psyche-Garage-Rock & Roll.  They are signed to the Dandies' label, Beat The World Records.



OK, maybe I misspoke. They were a pretty good choice for an opening act.  However, the "big name" opener was pure awful - and NO, I didn't misspeak that time.  Psychic Ills played pretentious shoe-gazing droney art rock that said, "You are lucky to be watching us play.  We are SO arty and noisy."  The bassist kept playing the same uninspired rhythm for every song, "dunk-dunk-dunk-dunk," the drummer had no groove...Jesus Christ...the rhythm guitarist at least threw out some catchy licks, but the singer/lead guitarist bored everyone with noodling solos and incoherent, mumbling marble-mouth-isms.  Listen, I know you are from New York - but I don't give a shit.  All the text-messaging happening during their set says it all.

Anyways, by now I was MORE than ready for the Dandy Warhols to come out.  I didn't know what to expect, as I'd never seen them live before.  They had their heyday in the mid-late 90s here in the States, and there is that amazing DIG! documentary of them and the Brian Jonestown Massacre (who I just got tickets for), but I went in with only moderate expectations...and was BLOWN AWAY.

Their set was almost 2 hours long and hit all my favorite songs and more.  Zia was fuckin' rocking out the entire time (sorry fellas, she keeps her shirt on now) and waving to what I believe was her daughter in the band-access balcony.  This was a great show from beginning to end in front of a near-sell out crowd.  I didn't know they had such a large fanbase - I mean, it was a Monday night! 

And when the beat would start bouncing, so did a swathe of the crowd.  They sound exactly like their records - and equally as important is that they still look great.  No aging fat slobs here.  No half-assing it.  They played to the audience and were in a great mood.  That's how EVERY band should be.  

All the photos below are posted with permission from Megan at the Fuzzy Logic blog.  GO VISIT HER!