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June 14, 2002 |
Team Goon / Sk8Shop.com Network . |
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Here it is another Friday night in the greater Los Angeles area what do you do. Well...do nothing or go to a Punk Rock gig. We choose Punk Rock, so we headed up the 5 freeway to the 101 to the famous Sunset Strip. Traffic and cop cars were everywhere busting people as we headed west to The Key Club which was going to be the scene of a Dee Dee Ramone tribute and old school Punk band the Angry Samoans were playing. |
| We arrived about 9:30 (Punk rock time) to the show and went to will call to get our media credential and we were in. As we entered the club the Angry Samoans were just taking the stage. We went asking what gives, did we miss the Ramones tribute. About 6 hours before the show Marky Ramone and his band were told by a bunch of legal types that if he did a tribute to Dee Dee Ramone or sang any Ramones tunes and that he would face legal action......can't we honor the dead? |
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Key Club is a cool place to hang out and see a show. It has a little bit of a rock star trip going on with how it looks yet the proprietors are all about making sure everyone has a good time. The bouncers in this place are cool dudes and we never saw them shutting anyone down, even the people who were having too good of a time. We found Casey Royer bro'ing down with these guys all night. |
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The tribute was supposed to feature Casey Royer of The Adolescents/DI singing some of the classic Ramones tunes and it almost did not happen, but it did with a small tweak. Back on stage The Angry Samoans were playing, a band that packed every place they played at in the 80's, still had the sound that made them a crowd favorite. The sound was still as it was back in the day, getting people moving and stage diving as the driving beat permeated the club. |
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Their set was like a best of going through all their top tracks. During the performance the lead singer and the drummer switched rolls, something typically not seen. Toward the end of their set the did and AC/DC classic "Highway to Hell", the crowd loved the unexpected surprise and screamed their heads off. |
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Well even though the lawyers stepped in the shut down the Ramones tribute, they did not say that Casey or The Angry Samoans could not do one. In true Punk Rock form, forget the lawyers and the rules and do your own thing, the tribute still took place. At the end of their regular set, Casey took the stage and announced to the crowd what they were doing, and the tribute was on since this was the original reason we all showed up. |
| They started out the tribute with "Blitzkrieg Bop" and doing 4 other Ramones tunes in tribute to Dee Dee who had recently passed away. We had bunch of people take the stage to sing along and slam on stage to some of the Ramones covers. As we saw from the reaction of the audience The Ramones and their music will always live on in the hearts of true Punks everywhere. This part of the show was allot of fun and we still had another band to go. |
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| With all the legal wrangling and Marky Ramone's band dropping out, the Key Club asked Orange County mainstay, DI last minute if they were available to perform. DI is one of those bands that are true partners with the scene and if they are available to play...they do. Well since Casey was already there for the Ramones tribute, all they needed to do was get the rest of the band there. Lisa, Steve, Chickenhead and Clinton arrived in plenty of time to take in the tribute and mingle in the club before they were scheduled to take the stage. |
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| DI emerged from their room backstage after going over their set list to take the stage to finish out the night of Punk Rock fun. DI opened up with "Rock n Roll" and all the people in the back of the club and the bar area moved up toward the stage. |
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| Casey went through his usual banter which is always a fun part of the show, yet tonight did not get into any lengthy banter and powered through the set. The crowd kept cheering to hear a song the epitomizes DI and what Orange County is all about, "O.C. Life". Combat authority but don't get out of line, They'll put you in the slammer You'll be doing some time, 714 tattooed on my head, I find myself labeled I'm a victim instead. We heard "Guns", "Reagan der Fuhrer" and "Hang Ten in East Berlin". The place was hopping an the slamming was out of control. Casey invited people to come on stage during the set and slam up there - and they did. |
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The show came to an end and the lights came back on - show over. It was another fun night up in Hollywood taking in a good show and seeing all of our friends. We ended up staying in Hollywood up on the strip till about 2:30am hanging out and cruising around the boulevard. Sunset strip is still a happening place to spend an evening. Go get all your friends together and go check out a show sometime up on Sunset - tons of punk rock. |
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