Photo: Aimee-Lee Curran
A valiant lone chant of "Hey! Ho! Let's Go!" welcomed Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg to the stage. Things started well enough with a rattling 'Rockaway Beach' but the third song, a rather chipper 'Do You Wanna Dance', was abruptly stopped in its tracks as Marky objected to the "singer" - who, I might add, sported stringy dyed dreadlocks, ludicrously tight bondage trousers, studded wrist bands and a jacket that looked more treated PVC than leather - copped the third cup of audience-thrown beer of the night. In what proved to be the most words he spoke all night, Marky stood up, took the mic and invited the "little pussy" who threw the beer to come onstage so he could "fix him up".
After a further memorandum from the drumming one not to throw any more beer, the song continued, but the whole good vibe of the night was lost - particularly when the band's guitarist proceeded to spit huge gobbies into the crowd for the rest of the evening - a touch hypocritical, I thought.
When they really lost me was during the song 'Poison Heart', when the singer spent the duration of the song emotively clasping his fist and plaintively staring at the ceiling like he was a Eurovision contestant. For me, the antics of the singer - which even descended into David Lee Roth air kicks, skank-jumping, heart grabbing, chest thumping and audience high-fiving - provided an utterly unwarranted over-the-top visual aspect to the songs which are strong enough to stand on their own.
While Marky was the reason for our attendance, he barely did more than bemusedly provide the back beat. We got to hear 'Beat on the Brat', 'Rock'n'Roll High School', 'I Just Wanna Sniff Some Glue', 'Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?', 'Psycho Therapy', '53rd & 3rd', 'Sheena is a Punk Rocker', a cover of The Heartbreakers' 'Chinese Rock', a version of 'What a Wonderful World' and a rousing finale of 'Blitzkrieg Bop', which as "songs" were inarguably great. But in 2009, some 30 years down the track, is there really any way to properly do them justice without the use of an Ouija board with its own inbuilt PA system?
Sadly Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg showed how badly whatever you could broadly label as punk has been diluted over the past three decades. While the drumming was tip-top, the rest of the band made it more about themselves trying to act and look appropriately "punk" than doing justice to the songs. The Ramones, more than anyone in the long and illustrious history of music, were about simplicity - doing a lot with a little - and knowing that all you needed to make music was three chords and something to say. It was the attitude, not the accessories, which made it "punk".
However one barely legal lass spent the whole show clasping a Ramones record cover to her chest, excitedly yelping along to every word and seemingly having the night of her life. So even if just that one girl goes home and picks up a guitar, or starts banging out a beat with her newly acquired drumstick, then touring "the songs" of the Ramones has been worthwhile.
Andy Ryan
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