1,148 MARKY RAMONE’S BLITZKRIEG, The Blunders, Bristol Fleece, Saturday 27th July 2019

I only grabbed 1/3 of the list this time... but here's a pic of the full shebang...!

Here's another opportunity to go gigging with my little man Logan, this time at the all-ages friendly Fleece, and once again we’re indulging his predilection for old school punk rock; after The Skids and Stiff Little Fingers, here’s none other than Marky Ramone! The Ramones, seminal 70’s NYC punk rockers and one of the absolute root metaphors for any music I’ve loved since then, the band responsible for my first “rock” t-shirt (a “Rocket To Russia” special in 1979) and a band whom I’ve pretty much always owned a t-shirt by since then, a band whom I got to see 4 utterly magical, mental, manic times back in the day, but a band I’d of course never see again, due to the untimely deaths of all 4 original members. However, first replacement drummer Marky Ramone (who took over the drum stool ceded by Tommy for the 4^th album “Road To Ruin” and enjoyed 2 subsequent lengthy stints with da Brudders) is thankfully still in rude health, and gigging with his own iteration of the band, a revolving door of CBGB’s casualties and NYC punk acolytes including (although sadly not tonight) Andrew WK! So a nearby gig sounded intriguing, and Logan (for whom The Ramones were one of his first introductions to music – quite right too!) was well up for it too!

So, shorts and kneestrap clad (me, not my son!), we hit the road at 6.15, parking up handily around the corner and queueing for doors, which were late at 7.30. Logan liked the “No Dickheads Policy” Fleece sign, and also the fact we got a barrier spot, house right. A short wait, and support The Blunders were on. A trio of old punk lags, I wasn’t expecting much – particularly when they mentioned to the early couple of dozen folks in the venue, “this is a lot of people for us!” – but they were pretty good, impressing with some strongarm, socially aware street punk, recalling not only The Ruts and Theatre Of Hate, but also newbies like Autobahn and Idles. The cockernee vocalist sounded like an angry Jim Bob, “Fireproof” was an impressive and more upbeat early number, and “Human” a good slab of anthemic popcore. A final call to arms, “Legion” rounded off a decent and better than expected set, although they squeezed in an encore as they were running early!

A bit of a wait between acts as the place filled up, but Logan and I kept our front row spot. Then Marky Ramone arrived (as is his wont, apparently, turning up 10 minutes before showtime for gigs!), older but still the legendary figure of old, rock-star skinny with an utterly massive mane of dyed black hair, undertaking some last drum adjustments before departing the stage to cheers. Not for long, however, as The Blitzkrieg joined us at 9, all black-clad and NYC 70’s street cool, kicking off with surf-punk classics “Rockaway Beach” and “Teenage Lobotomy” in short order. From the outset they sounded great, ripping through this hallowed material apace but never so fast as to render the tracks unrecognisable. Former Circle Jerks/ Black Flag guitarist Greg Hetson did an exemplary job keeping the riffs chugging along, low-slung bassist Alejandro Viejo pulled Jaret Reddick-style gurns and kept the gig rattling along with the obligatory, “waunchewfreeFOUR!!” song introductions, and rangy, preying mantis-like vocalist Inaki “Pela” Urbizu was a cross between Joey Ramone himself and The Horrors’ “Goblin King” Faris Badwan, towering over and into the crowd and striking wide-legged rock poses. But all eyes were on Marky, hunched over the drumkit, economical of movement and drum style, drumming from the wrist and chewing gum 19 to the dozen. Just one of those times when you feel privileged to be in the same room as a true rock’n’roll legend.

Highlights? Wow, so many… a brilliant early trio of “Sheena”, “Havana Affair” and “Commando” (first rule…IS!!); Pela pointing out all the girls in the front rows during “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”, accompanied or not (!) then pointing at Logan during “Beat On The Brat” (!!), later handing him a discarded pick (!!!); Logan going utterly batshit mental during “Surfin’ Bird”: Marky’s dynamic drum rolls during the excellent “Chinese Rock”’s chorus; a quite brilliantly singalong “I Wanna Be Sedated”; a manic “Spiderman” with Pela miming shooting webs around; the poignant encore of “Wonderful World” (Joey’s last record before his untimely demise); and then the cherry on the icing on the cake of final number “Blitzkrieg Bop”, which fittingly closed out a great 1 ½ hours and 40 (yes, 40!) numbers.

Caught our breath then a swift drive home. Great night out, and great to know that Marky Ramone is keeping the Ramones fire burning brightly, doing complete justice to their legendary legacy. Only one way to end this write-up… Hey Ho, Let’s Go!