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Dead Kennedys live review

posted by Kong on April 17, 2002

It was okay.

They played the inside room of Emo's to maybe about 150 people. As with any Dead Kennedys' crowd from "back in the day" it was an odd mix of young punks, old punks, frat boys, the merely curious and the unexplained.

I spoke to David Thompson at Emo's who booked the show and he said he was disappointed at the turn out. There were 60 presales. The band apparently asked for a $5000 guarantee, but agreed on $2500, and it looked like the door didn't cover it (so Emo's probably lost some money on it, bar receipts aside).

It was a weird show. It was 3/4 of the Dead Kennedys - East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride and DH Pelligro - with Brandon Cruz from Dr. Know/Courtship of Eddie's Father on vocals. It was strange seeing the "Dead Kennedys", hearing their songs, but not seeing Jello Biafra on stage.

I spoke to Brandon before the show, and he's a really nice guy (our paths ocassionally crossed in the 80s). He said he was really nervous about this, that this show was the beginning of a US tour - and was curious how it was going to be received.

It turned out they got a polite response. There was some moshing upfront (as I heard one teen say - "I know it's not the Dead Kennedys, but it's as close as I'll ever get). The band played great (I forgot what a great style East Bay Ray has - evil surf music) and Brandon did a fine job for a thankless job.

Still, it was just weird. I think a lot of the crowd was like me, enjoying a really great cover band. Arms kind of folded over, watching it all, but also bobbing our heads at the non-stop parade of Dead Kennedys classics - "Nazi Punks", "California Uber Alles", etc. They are such great songs, but again, it was weird to have it performed by anyone other than the person who came up with such witty lyrics and sang with that odd tremelo that you are used to hearing.

They played a fine set. They walked off stage, the crowd was prepared to leave and the soundman badgered the crowd for more. Quickly the played their encore - "Viva Las Vegas" and "Holiday in Cambodia" and that was that.

There were no rumored Dead Kennedys shot glasses or money clips for sale at the merch table. Just some classic DK t-shirts and the "reissued" (non Alternative Tentacles) versions of their albums on cd.

Comments

that cracks me up you went! did they say anything from the stage regarding the Jello Problem? i gather they don't have any NEW songs?

Posted by: lang at April 17, 2002 04:40 PM

There wasn't any mention of the Problem.

When Brendan was late getting to the stage for the start of the show, Klaus said to the crowd "tell him to quit talking to King Coffey", I was thinking "hey, don't drag me into this!"

Posted by: kong at April 17, 2002 05:21 PM

So, King, by engaging Brandon in conversation, were you purposely trying to prevent DK2K2 from performing? Are you a secret agent of the Jello Problem?

Posted by: mccreath at April 17, 2002 06:16 PM

Well, if I was a secret agent for Alternative Tentacles out to destroy the New Dead Kennedys, I would have to kill you, or at least "reluctantly" sue you.

I really feel sorry for everybody involved in this mess. My band was involved in a court fight with Touch and Go which was painful to be a part of, so I empathize with all the parties involved.

It is weird to visit deadkennedys.com (the official site for the New band) and there is zero reference to the Problem. All the selected press is glowing (I know this is what band sites do, but it still seems like they are hiding something). In the links section, Alternative Tentacles is omitted.

Over at alternativetentacles.com, the opposite as it play. They are very keen on the Problem. Visitors are told in the Welcome section that "Jello has reluctantly sued his former bandmates, here's the latest in Jello Biafra/A.T. vs. Dead Kennedys".

To some degree, looking at the way Jello is pushed hard on the AT site (Jello is mentioned 24 times on the home page, whereas a new release by Noam Chomsky -!- is mentioned once), I think I understand the band's greivance against their singer that "their" label was too actively promoting Biafra at the expense of everybody else.

Still, it seems like the band could be a little more forthright on the Problem, while AT doesn't really have to give up to the minute accounts of whom they are suing.

Posted by: kong at April 17, 2002 07:44 PM

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