Well the wife and I saw Jello Biafra and the guantanomo school of medicine tonight. pretty good show. Met Jello before the show had him sign my vinyl. He seemed irritated as usual. I met him 10 years ago, or so, and he seemed irritated then as well. Maybe it’s just his demeanor. (and no he wasn’t just irritated with me!- I know some of you fuckers were thinking that! …FUCKERS!)
He had a pretty decent set list, played a nice mix of the old and the new, including, bleed for me, California Uber alles (with updated lyrics of course), Holiday in Cambodia, and let’s lynch the landlord.
gotta give it up to Jello though, he still tries! over 50 years old and he still tries jumping around and being energetic. While flattering for the audience that he still tries at over 50, I’m still a bit embarassed for him. I would hold nothing against the guy if he leaned against the Mic stand all out of breath and shit like a certain somebody we know.
One guy that struck me was their guitarist Kimo Ball, he looks like he’s about 15 years old, when in real life he’s late 30’s to early-mid 40’s (found out he was in high school in '84 but I don’t know what grade)and from what I’ve seen from his pics online he’s dropped about 100 pounds (no joke) and looks like Mitch Cramer’s twin (from Dazed And Confused). The only reason I bothered trying to find out his Bio was because he was so out of place with how much older everone else looked. It literally looked as if one of their sons was up their filling in on the guitar. Seemed like I coulda jumped up on stage and punked him for his fender![:P]
Merch booth was pretty weak but very inexpensive. I got 3 shirts and a vinyl for 60 bucks. Two band shirts and a short sleeve A.T. Shirt. There was an ass load of A.T. band cds for sale though, Including damn near the whole Lard catalogue I think the only missing cd was 70’s rock must die.
jelvins, Les Thugs, Victims family, Alice Doughnut, Wesly willis.
they took the stage on time and played an hour and a half. if you got 20 bucks burning a hole in your pocket and like old DK (that’s seriously what they sound like- the new music is definitely in the vein of Plastic Surgery, In God We Trust, and Fresh Fruit) You’ll dig this new stuff. The Older songs blend right in with the new one. Jello’s body might be gone but the voice and passion are still there!
BTW the openers were Triceroclops(I think was the name) Horrible! EPIC FAIL! -1 and every other bad internet lingo descriptors! (Maybe I’m too harsh, The music itself was rather not bad but their singer just ruins any hope for that band! The guy from Pitbull Daycare had more charisma/chops/talent, which is really bad!
Old sKoolers M.I.A. were next and they were a pleasent change from that first band. Their sound was pretty tight. They had their shit together. No complaints.
Late,
grmpysmrf
Hey grmp, in what way did he appear ‘irritable’? He seems like such a mellow, cheerful, happy go lucky old fart?
i’d be kinda paranoid about strangers approaching me too after getting the living shit kicked out of me like he did by a bunch of punks 20 years or so ago…
Did jello go on any political rants or have any witty banter between songs or was it just serious play the songs kinda business?
Does he still slither around on stage? He probably should stop that if he does. Himself and Iggy Pop need to submit to old age.
Is there any more news on new Lard or has it been scrapped in favour of the “solo” album?
He didn’t know anything about a new Lard album and I didn’t notice any “slithering” it was all pantomime with 1/8 of an inch vertical leaps! [laugh]
Hey grmp, in what way did he appear ‘irritable’? He seems like such a mellow, cheerful, happy go lucky old fart?
Well, irritated in the sense that oh here we go, these people again!. His “on stage” persona is very different from his “mingling with the audience” persona.
i’d be kinda paranoid about strangers approaching me too after getting the living shit kicked out of me like he did by a bunch of punks 20 years or so ago…
That was probably closer to 15 years ago but that is an excellent point!
Did jello go on any political rants or have any witty banter between songs or was it just serious play the songs kinda business?
No No, Every song had a story and a rant at the beginning and some of them even had more rants in the middle of the song where a chorus should’ve been. He’s still a great performer and keeps the audience involved!
Late,
grmpysmrf
That’s kinda funny that he thinks he should be allowed to do a nostalgia trip and play Dead Kennedys’ songs, but the other 3 guys in the band can’t. I suppose the difference is that they’re using the name, but I think the principle is the same.
That’s kinda funny that he thinks he should be allowed to do a nostalgia trip and play Dead Kennedys’ songs, but the other 3 guys in the band can’t. I suppose the difference is that they’re using the name, but I think the principle is the same.
Well considering he wrote those songs… He never said those other 3 couldn’t play those songs. He’s just pissed that, yes they’re using the name but more importantly that when they advertise the concerts they still use his voice, when he clearly is not involved. I don’t think it’s the same principle.
Late,
grmpysmrf