As a happy coincidence, get an overview of The Ramones tight HERE from uao.
Last night's show helped to prove a couple of things for me. One, The Ramones' music will always be alive in some form, and two, punk music, with a few exceptions, really isn't for me. I am more of a casual Ramones fan, I have heard a bunch of their songs over the years, and they were a band that I have been meaning to check out, but kept putting off. Then I got the tribute album that Rob Zombie put together a few years back, which is excellent, and I listened to Henry Rollins relate his experience at a Ramones show. When I saw that Marky was touring with a Ramones tribute act, and that he was coming to my town, I decided I had to go. I was a little unsure of wanting to see the openers, you see, I am really not one for punk rock. I get that it is about the energy and anti-establishment and all that, but there was something about it, something intangible about the genre itself that didn't attract me as much as say, the style of metal. I went, and what I got was a mixed bag.
I got there shortly after 7 PM to find a small crowd gathered and the first act already on the stage. The band playing was called Last Ditch Effort, and they were the best of the opening acts. I caught about 20 minutes of their set. They were a five piece featuring a female lead singer, who had apparently just joined the band. The music was tight and the singing very good. This is the kind of punk that I liked, it had some of that loose style, but there was a distinct structure and they played very well together. They joked around and seemed to generally be having a good time getting the early crowd going. This is an act I would be interested in seeing again.
Next up was a group called The Peeps. These guys were playing their hearts out, but it just didn't do much for me. They played an upbeat, bouncy, and very loose type of punk. I felt kind of bad for these guys, the reaction from the crowd didn't seem to be all too strong. I could see in their faces that they were dying for some crowd approval, urging for it, asking for it. They played hard, and the performance had a playful feel to it, but I just didn't really care for it. I do wish them luck in the future.
Article comments