Dead Kennedys / Guns On The Roof

Leeds young punks Guns On the Roof open the punk gates tonight with their speedy punk pop songs, similar to Rancid crossed with The Jam with a hint of Goldblade. Being young has it's merits, as the band can swirl about on-stage as much as they like, getting tangled up in long sound cables and jumping into the pit area. Singer Liam Brett relishes the chance to scream in people's faces, which the people seem to enjoy too.



After a few originals like 'Last Orders' and a basic cover of Johnny Cash's 'Ring Of Fire', it’s time for the lads to make way for the veterans and heroes of many a punk band, the Dead Kennedys.

Having seen only Jello Biafra before with his spoken word show, and growing up listening to various Dead Kennedy albums, tonight was a much anticipated gig for me, and many others I assume as I look around. Many are old enough to have caught the band elsewhere in the past; the t shirts back this up showing tour dates from 2004 and the nineties, but with only half the original members playing tonight we shall see how the DKs get on.

After the lawsuits and arguments over royalties, it was interesting to see where the rest of the members would go after Biafra left. Luckily, with him focusing less on the music and more on talking with that distinctive voice, the band are able to tour and still play the old classics, which the crowd love but new singer Ron 'Skip' Greer (ex-Wynona Riders) does not seem to like. "You're all living in the past" he states, before going into classics like 'Jock-O-Rama' and teasing us with the intro to 'Too Drunk to Fuck'.



The problem with Skip is that he looks strangely similar to Biafra, with the hair, and his voice (when he speaks) is high pitched. Are they trying to get a clone of Biafra or what? It doesn't seem to fit right; his vocals are strong, and he puts his all in, but he’s no warbling Jello.

As for the rest of the band, new drummer Dave Scheff (ex-Translator) does a good job at keeping the fast beat that is well known to the DKs, but it is the original guys East Bay Ray (Raymond Pepperell on guitar, showing his age by wearing a pink shirt) and Klaus Flouride (bassist Geoffrey Lyall) that seem to make the most fuck ups. For a band that are nearing thirty years together, even with the many line-up changes, these two core members should be able to keep it together, but it comes across very sloppy at times. They do not have that many new songs (1986's 'Bedtime for Democracy' was the last studio album, still with Biafra, all those since are best of and live releases), so they should have had enough practice!

There are plenty of encores, three to be precise, but only with a couple of minutes break in between, just to confuse us! When you get songs like a cover of 'Viva Las Vegas' and 'M.T.V. – Get Off The Air', it's worth the short waits. Shame there's no Rawhide, following on from GOTR's Cash cover earlier that would have fit in well...



Not that the crowd care; they love watching their heroes play songs from their past. Skip has a go at political rants, but it comes across more like he has spent the last hour before the show revising what to say, word for word. All in all, I am glad to have heard songs like 'Chemical Warfare' (with a bit of 'Sweet Home Alabama' thrown in) and 'Police Truck' live, but it's nothing like it would have been in the past. Maybe myself and some others are still living in it, but if you can't make it any better, than why not.

Forward To Death
Winnebago Warrior
Police Truck
Buzzbomb
Landlord
Area 51
Kill The Poor
Jock-O-Rama (Invasion of the Beef Patrol)
You Take The Cake
Too Drunk To Fuck
Moon Over Marin
Nazi Punks Fuck Off!
California Uber Alles

Bleed For Me
Viva Las Vegas
Holiday in Cambodia

M.T.V. − Get off the Air
Chemical Warfare

Kill The Poor

FUTURE GIGS

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