Hidden Agenda
Are the Kennedys Dead?
by Schizo Frantic
In short – I am afraid so. I tried my hardest to go into the show with an open mind. Jello Biafra has always – and always will be a hero of mine. He may be a shady businessman and really screwed over the band, but his impact was unparalleled. That being said, I did go in with an open mind.
The show was opened by local boys “The Welch Boys.” They are good old-fashioned drunk rock/punk. The singer has a throaty voice that is reminiscent of Boston bands of yesteryear. Again, there were technical problems with the sound. The main mic went in and out. I think for Christmas this year, people should donate microphones to Axis and Avalon.
The next band was “The Generators” from LA. They were great. Playing punk in the vein of Bad Religion and Pennywise. They got into the show three minutes before their set and used the Welch Boys equipment. Music and vocals were great. I would see them again in a heartbeat if they played around here in the future. The highlight of their set to me was their rendition of “Telling Them” by Social Distortion – playing October 16th/17th by the way.
Now, was judgment time. The legendary band that shaped my life as a child – and turned me onto Punk as a genre. The Dead Kennedys. They opened their set in DK fashion. A 60’s type voiceover telling us about commercialism in records as advertisements. Peligro, East Bay Ray and Klaus Flouride took the stage and picked up their instruments. Jeff Penelty walked out wearing an armband with a happy face on it. Military sarcasm. It was a pretty accurate representation of what was to come. Incredible music, horrible singing, He seemed to be more of a parody of Jello, rather than a new singer playing with an old, great band. Bands re-create themselves all the time, and I don’t hold anything against them for trying, but I would have been much happier if the singer sounded less like he was trying to be Jello.
Ok, enough Jeff bashing. Overall, it was a great show and very entertaining. I was singing along to every song and loving the fact that the music sounded as good as on the records that made them famous to begin with. They played a good mix of the albums they put out, but focusing mostly on the songs that were on the compilation “Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death”. The highlights for me were: “Too Drunk to Fuck”, “California Uber Alles”, “Viva Las Vegas” – which they altered to be “CB’s Las Vegas” and described how they were moving CBGB’s to Las Vegas as Ramoneland, “Moon Over Marin” and “Halloween”. I was disappointed that they didn’t play Riot.
The crowd was mostly 16-18 year olds and it was obvious that they probably didn’t even know who Jello was. I would say, if they are going to stick together as the new lineup, they need to write some new material and stay current. I saw Jello Biafra with the Melvins last year and have to say, It was more like seeing the Dead Kennedys than this show.