Ladies and Gentlemen: The Dead Kennedys
by Timm Carney
 

 

With an approximate combine age of 165 years, the Dead Kennedys stepped out on stage. Their last stop on this tour was Axis on Lansdowne St in Boston.  One side of Lansdowne St. is lined with nightclubs and bars; on the other side of the street is the ass of Fenway Park.  Steven Tyler once owned a club called Mamakin on Lansdowne. It’s a street with “rock  cred”.

Reformed once again the DK’s are still pumping out loud fast punk rock.  The band looks and sound great.  Jello Trois (Jeff Penalty) does a fine job of resurrecting the spirit and it doesn’t hurt that he looks not unlike Jello when Jello looked like Jello.  One was able to forget the bands melodramatic legal troubles while they kicked out hit after hit. “It's the suede/denim secret police. They have come for your uncool niece”

“Last night we were in New York doing our last show at the real CBGB’s.”  If at all possible the campy “Viva Las Vegas” was camped up even more to become “CB’s Las Vegas”  The DK’s are always good for a laugh.  The show was fast fun and really short!  They played for about an hour.   Axis becomes a dance club later in the evening so once the show is over it’s out out out!  Less than 10 minutes later, the band was on the sidewalk surrounded by fans and autograph seekers.  East Bay Ray is an old friend of mine and it was fun seeing him as the ROCK STAR signing CD’s and girl’s t-shirts.  A friend of mine and I walked through the crowd and I tapped Ray on the shoulder. He turned smiling his celebrity smile and did a tremendous double take.

“What are you doing here?”

“Seeing a Dead Kennedys show” We talked and gossiped for a minute or two but he was still at work and there were t-shirts to be signed and camera phone to be smiled at.

 

 

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