JOEY RAMONE'S BIRTHDAY BASH PART II,
SEPTEMBER 6, 1997, CONEY
ISLAND HIGH, NYC
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This review and photos are by CM.
Well here I was again in NYC having spent the last few days checking out
countless amazing bands during the CMJ Music Festival. I wasn't planning
on attending the Blitzkrieg Bash initially, as I was hoping to check out a
bunch of other bands at CBGB's. Unfortunately, the show was sold out, so I
hurried over to St Mark's Place to Coney Island High for the Ramones gig.
I got there early enough, so there was no problem getting in.
(PHOTO IN RIGHT: JOEY RAMONE AND THE
INDEPENDENTS)
(PHOTO BELOW: RONNIE SPECTOR AND JOEY
RAMONE.)
A bunch of bands played, before Joey first appeared on the stage to
welcome everyone to the evening's festivities. Joey came on stage to
introduce the one and only Ronnie Spector - "the original riot girl" as
Joey put it. Ronnie Spector is the lady behind such hits as "Be My Baby"
and the original version of "Baby, I Love You" which the Ramones covered
on "End of the Century". Naturally, Joey got back on the stage to sing a
great duet with her on this number and the place went wild. Ronnie closed
her set with "Be My Baby" and walked off into the crowd singing along with
the audience. Just amazing.
Later, a really great set was put on by a band called "Vincent", which
featured the all star line-up of Scott Asheton (ex-Stooges), Steve Baise
(ex-Devil Dogs) and Sonny Vincent. They put on one of the best sets of the
evening. Scott would return later, but more on that later...
Joey returned on stage during The Independents set - who again did not
disappoint - and performed a couple of Ramones tunes: SLUG and one other
whose title escapes me.
Finally Joey and Dee Dee hit the stage and tore into a pretty long set of
Ramones classics. I don't have the complete set list available, but I do
know the order of most of it, which was:
Chinese Rocks, Blitzkrieg Bop, Listen to my Heart, 53rd and 3rd, Commando,
Ramona Loves You, I Want You Around, Babysitter, Danny Says and I've
Seen UFO's - this last one was introduced as being from Dee Dee's upcoming
album. They did a few more before coming out to do encores.
There were all kinds of rumors that there would be a special guest at some
point. I speculated that since Scott Asheton was there, we might see Iggy
Pop get on stage. It turned out to be Wayne Kramer (ex-MC5) getting on
stage along with Scott Asheton, Joey and Dee Dee plus some other
guys.
Joey introduced Wayne and Scott by saying how much he was influenced by
the MC5 and the Stooges and so they tore into "1969" by the Stooges,
followed by "Kick Out the Jams" by the MC5. They managed to pull off
"1969" alright - sounding way better than the version Joey does on the
Iggy Pop tribute album. For "Kick Out of the Jams", the results were more
funny than rocking, because Joey had to use a lyric sheet but couldn't
actually read it - either bad lighting or poor eyesight! He managed to get
the chorus in every time, but was struggling to read it during the rest.
Wayne Kramer was laughing, and Joey seemed kind of embarrassed - but it
was still cool.
More bands were scheduled to play after them, but I was burned out, after
spending probably 7 hours in the club at that point. I'll say this for
Joey, he delivers on these shows. The quality of the bands that he books
to play on the bill are on the whole excellent, and he doesn't compromise
in his performances with them or with Dee Dee. If you're in NYC for one of
these Blitzkrieg Bashes, definitely go check it out!