Life’s A Gas: The Joey Ramone Birthday Bash
Irving Plaza, New York, May 19, 2004
“I don’t like the new ‘punk’ bands you see on MTV now. I don’t think it’s fair to even consider them punk because punk has just as much to do with an attitude as it does about music,” I assert to the man behind me on line waiting to get into the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash at Irving Plaza. I have learned within the last 10 minutes that this man is 40, from the center of England; and has flown to New York for two days only, just enough time to catch the tribute to one of his heroes. He had to coerce Ticketmaster into selling him a ticket to an already sold-out show. He is only one of many fans so dedicated to the legacy of the Ramones that to make such a sacrifice for a small concert isn’t a question. I’ll learn that in less then an hour.
“Yeah, in England we call it ‘bubblegum’.”
“Fitting,” I think to myself, before wondering if the EKG line that flattened upon Joey’s death was also hooked up to the genre he helped birth. Refused and At the Drive-In are the closest thing my generation has to great punk, but both bands have separated before reaching their potential. Is New Found Glory all that’s left?
The 2004 installment of the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash didn’t turn out to be an ideal concert by any means. The bands, for the most part, were local or low-profile national bands not used to playing to a house of a 2,000. And with only enough time for two or three songs, the musicians didn’t have enough time to find a groove before they were ushered off. As a result, the crowd seemed a little disinterested for the early half of the show. I even recognized a number of the videos that were played between sets from Kristy’s article about last year’s show, meaning fans that went to the show last year and again this year were probably disappointed at the lack of variety in Ramones footage.
Really, however, this night was about celebrating the life of Joey Ramone and having a good time more then anything else, and everyone who had an opportunity to touch the mic made it a point to thank Joey for the effect he had on them personally—either through personal interaction or just placing a piece of Ramones’ wax on their turntable. Like any repass, everyone congregated to share stories and celebrate a brief but significant life. Richard Lloyd (ex-Television) told a story that involved him going to Joey’s new house for lunch over 20 years ago. While together, Lloyd suggested that the pair write a song together and urged Joey to get his guitar out. When he questioned Joey about the quality of his acoustic guitar (which only had two strings on it), Joey accordingly looked at Lloyd slightly embarrassed and said “I can’t handle writing on anything more.” There he was, a figurehead of the brashest musical movement of all time, being painted as an unsure, awkward kid in a stretched body. He was the classic conflicted character, the bad boy with a heart of gold. This is why Joey was so polarizing, and why you won’t see any birthday bashes for Johnny Rotten. Rotten’s a prick, the total epitome of everything punk music is stereotyped as. Joey Ramone wasn’t fooling anyone—I would have trusted my daughter with him anyday.
The most striking part of the show was the age range of the crowd. There were 16-year-olds in Cure shirts, 40-year-old British men in leather jackets and ripped jeans (OK, maybe just one of those), and 8-year-old boys in grossly oversized shirts that read “R.I.P. Joey.” About 10 feet away from my spot on the balcony, there was a woman no younger then 50 or 60, pumping her fists to every Ramones’ song played between sets, shouting every “Gabba Gabba Hey” as if it were her last. And while I encountered people who came primarily to see other acts, including a 19-year-old girl waiting for Alkaline Trio (e-mail me), each of them expressed to me that they realize their favorite band wouldn’t be a possibility if it weren’t for The Ramones.
What about the bands, you ask? They were OK. The videos were pretty interesting, I guess. And the auction yielded some cool memorabilia. I think, though, that if you advertised a Joey Ramone Birthday Bash and let everyone stand in an empty Irving Plaza with nothing but light, they’d find a way to honor the man accordingly. What this celebration caused was the stark comparison of punk’s roots and where it stands today—and although we can always put on a Ramones record, it hurts to know the only thing fresh in what is still a young movement is bubblegum. For both your music and your unrelentingly kind soul, we miss you, Joey.
Elsewhere: Glorious Noise coverage of the 2003 Birthday Bash. Joey Ramone’s official site. Joey’s solo album, Don’t Worry About Me.
Nice piece, Tom. How was Alkaline Trio? I rather like what I’ve heard from them. One quibble. If you take the Ramones first album as punk’s ground zero (I think you can argue that it started even earlier), that means punk is almost 30 years old. When does it stop being a “young movement?”
In the grand scheme of things, punk is one of the younger movements in music, it may only be 25 or 30 years younger then rock itself, but it’s centuries older then, say, baroche. Besides, I know a couple of 30 year olds who would be quite mad if you insinuated they were old. Haha. Alkaline Trio were good, the best of the night by far. I haven’t heard much of their recorded material but I, like you, enjoy what little I’ve heard.
Ahhhh, the “grand scheme.” I thought you meant just in the context of rock.
I think that, as someone of this generation, and someone who loves punk rock, you are underselling Punk Rock. The Ramones, though one of my favorite bands of all time, are not the be all and end all of punk rock. I feel that there is a specific type of rock and roll that the Ramone’s invented, there are plenty more ways of doing it than in the style of the Ramone’s. Patti Smith is surely punk, as are Television, the Heartbreakers and the Voidoids. Up through Mission of Burma, Minutemen, Replacements or X, all of those bands punk, but not following directly behind the Ramones did as I think the Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, Bad Religion and even the Dead Kennedies did. While those bands did have thier own distinct sound, I think that thier sounds follow specifically in the Ramone’s brand of punk. I think that in a very real way Nirvana followed in the tradition of punk rock and while they didn’t necessarily make punk rock music, they certainly were directly informed by punk and wrote many punk rock songs. If we are going to scan the contemporary landscape and see what kinds of bands are on MTV today, it is bubblegum. Good Charlotte, to me is the epitome of what is bubblegum punk; directly influenced by Green Day with all of the Stooges drained from punk. Its pop-punk. It sucks. People who listen to Avril Lavign have that kind of punk on the same mix cd as her. That isn’t where you ought to be looking to see where punk really is. Punk lives, and has a throbbing pulse. Bands like the White Stripes or The Walkmen are as popular and as much on MTV as Alkaline Trio and they certainly are not bubblegum. Bands out of Chicago like the Baseball Furies or Bang Bang are doing great things with punk rock. And its the kind of thing that Punk rock ought to be; local bands playing for local kids, and the word spreads, and its the people who love the music making it spread. Punk rock isn’t meant to be canonized. Punk Rock is meant to live.
I think you make some good points, but this was a concert honoring Joey Ramone and the Ramones, so obviously, they are going to be the main topic of converation.
True enough, Jamie, but the thesis of the article seems to be an Andy Rooney-esque remember the good old days? Kids today have no appreciation and no talent. It doesn’t help new music to live in the past.
Anyway, much love and respect to Joey, I cried that Easter Sunday. I’m glad he is being honored.
C’mon guys, this is about as pointless as discussing what is the true definition of “emo.” Just let it be. Good article though, Tom, makes me wish I had been there.
Hey, you’re never going to drag me into a conversation about how to define punk rock. I definitely believe it has more to do with attitude than the strict parameters that most people currently apply to “punk.” I agree with ModernSocks that it runs the gamut from the arty drone of VU to the primitivism of the Stooges to the intricate guitar interplay of Television and the angry squall of Crass and Minor Threat. I was just commenting on the article.
Personally, I think Good Charlotte and Avril Lavigne are the epitome of punk rock ethics.
(steve-o sits and waits patiently for someone to bite.)