I remember Dead Kennedys shows as being rebellious and quasi-political. DK v2.0 didn't spend a lot of time talking about welfare reform, the homeless or foreign policy. They played music. DK seemed willing to allow the music to speak for itself. You could be deaf and still feel the raw emotion in the music.

I felt it. I felt someone's hands grab my shoulders and pull me backwards into the crowd. I felt the floor hit hard against my back, while I covered my head to keep from getting trampled. I felt all of the oxygen sucked out of the room by the crushing crowd. I had to fight my way through the mob and away from the stage until I found enough space to catch my breath.

My buddy Don, that drove me to the show, wandered over to sit by the bar with me for a few minutes. I couldn't stay there very long though. You can't listen to DK from a distance and in comfort. It sounds like shit that way. I pushed my way back into the crowd and found a nook next to a speaker stack where I could keep from being pressed by the crowd. Nobody seemed interested in fighting me for my spot this time, so I was able to snap pictures.

I almost jumped onstage to take a shot at crowd surfing, until I saw a guy fall on his head as his support gave out. 20 years ago, I would have taken the leap, but 20 years ago I was a stupid fuck. Now I decided to settle for occasionally body slamming some guy half my age just because I could and just because that's what you are supposed to do at a DK show. It was fuckin' awesome. Don't tell my kids.

I haven't talked much about the band or Brandon vs Jello because none of that mattered. The music was all there. The emotion was all there. Brandon isn't JB, but who is? If you can't live without Jello Biafra, I hear he is doing spoken word shows now. If you want to be rocked by the Dead Kennedys, this BC edition will do the trick. Fuckin' way!

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