Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg
1st December 2017
The Studio, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Mike Thornton.
Tonight marks the night that one of the most pivotal members of Ramones history graces the stage of Auckland’s The Studio. With a tenure of fifteen years with The Ramones and the only living member to hold both a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a placement in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Marky Ramone is indeed the real deal.
To warm up the audience tonight on an already rather warm summer’s night in the city is Thames based band The Dicks. With a name such as that, you already know that you are in for something special. Just how special is something that needs to be witnessed in person to truly appreciate; at first the three piece band before you on stage look fairly normal and even a little bit comfortable as it is noted that lead vocalist/guitarist Simon D is currently barefooted. As the band begin to play, a wall of sound morphs into a solid Rock n Roll beat that sashays about the stage, eyeing up the audience with its cunning charms before blindsiding them all. ‘Get in the Van’ with its balls out punk rocker undertones gives way to the ‘Blues Are Dead’ which has a R&B breakdown played so exquisitely by Simon D that it would rival some of the greatest blues guitarists currently on the circuit.
But as solid as their musical dexterity is, and it is indeed solid with a capital S, there is an elephant in the room that must be addressed. Or should that be there is a man encased in purple that needs to be addressed. Let’s just put it straight out there; there is a Gus in the room. Gus, according to Simon D is “the very fundamental essence of the universe” and “love personified”. Encased in a spandex purple dress and hooded purple mask, Gus gyrates and shimmies across the stage as if conjuring the very gods of Rock n Roll to rise up and consume us all. As the set progresses, so does the removal of Gus’s clothes; at first just the mask, revealing a long haired man that oddly resembles a young Lemmy Kilmister, until finally towards the end of the set Gus fully disrobes to reveal nothing more than pale green leopard print speedos with a ‘G’ drawn on the front of them.
Moving through their set one thing is abundantly clear, this ain’t no gimmick band; this is three musicians who collectively create some tantalizing hybrids of songs. Josh, beanie pulled down low over his long hair thumps away on his ‘Pornhub’ bestickered bass, providing the backbone to the songs, while a shirtless Regan on drums keeps the all-important rhythm upon which each song grows and thrives. But it is Simon D that is the stand out talent in this trio. Moving effortlessly from rock to punk to some serious Hetfield style metal guitar shredding – hell there was even a bit of reggae in there – the audience are in awe of this guitar virtuoso before them. It seems there is no position that he cannot play guitar from either, whether it be lying on the floor while having his legs adjusted by an enthusiastically thrusting Gus or playing the guitar behind his head as he walks about the stage, nothing can stop the music from expelling itself from his fingers. Finishing on a very HLAH styled song by the name of ‘Dicks and Pussy’ the trio and of course the otherworldly Gus take the set out in style to rapturous applause. See these guys live at any cost!
After a short wait vocalist Iñaki Azaceta bursts onto the stage, all long limbs and a persona bigger than the venue itself; he began the chant of ‘Hey, Ho, Let’s Go’ with a fist pump to the air, the excited crowd quickly joining in. As bassist Alejandro Viejo – with a very Ramones style haircut – and guitarist Auŕelien Budynek took up position, from stage left entered the man himself Mr Marky Ramone. Approaching the front of the stage he raised his hand acknowledging the audience and echoing Iñaki he too began to chant ‘Hey, Ho Let’s Go’, after a few moments of the crowd shouting it back to him he smiled and stated how it ‘made him happy to hear that’. Marching straight to the back of the stage, Ramone quickly settled himself behind the kit. And that’s where, from that moment on an epic collection of Ramones songs were thrust forth at the audience almost faster than they could absorb them!
‘Rockaway Beach’, ‘Teenage Lobotomy’ and ‘Psycho Therapy’ quickly whipped the front section of the audience into a frenzied mosh pit, shirts soon becoming soaked and then eventually removed as the rather male dominated crowd decided to show Marky Ramone himself just how much they appreciate The Ramones legacy of music. There is no real banter between songs, with neither the band or Ramone himself saying anything except for bassist Viejo counting in the majority of the songs with a “1, 2, 3 4!” Yet this lack of conversation doesn’t detract from the show, even though it would have been nice to have had maybe a few words here and there from the man behind the kit himself. Luckily due to the speed of which each song follows the next there is no chance that the crowd will become bored or lose attention. Vocalist Iñaki is so animated that he provides a great focal point, at one stage placing his leg on the speaker and singing ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’ to a female fan to the left of the stage. French guitarist Budynek also holds his own as he steps out from behind the mic stand periodically to lean out over the audience, encouraging them to keep up the feverish energy that they have built.
While Marky Ramone (real name Mark Bell) certainly has one hell of a musical background – as the drummer for bands such as Dust, Estus and Richard Hell and the Voidoids (yes he was the drummer on the iconic album Blank Generation) – tonight is all about The Ramones. Wave after wave of Ramones tracks rain down on the audience, with the usual classics such as ‘Sheena Is A Punk Rocker’ and the ‘Let’s Dance’ raising the roof just that little bit more. Barely breaking a sweat, Marky Ramone never misses a beat as he methodically works away behind the kit, that Ramones haircut framing his face as he consistently chews gum while he plays (must be a Brooklyn thing!)
The show only slows down when the first encore rolls around, the entire band taking a much needed break for a few moments before returning to stage and delivering a further seven songs. In true legendary style – something that can only be achieved when you have a back catalogue this big – the band return for a second encore which includes some ‘punked up’ versions of the CCR 1970 classic ‘Have You Ever Seen The Rain’ and the 1967 Louis Armstrong song ‘What A Wonderful World’. It wasn’t hard to guess which track would end the night – considering it is not only one of The Ramones arguably biggest songs historically, it is also happens to be the name of this tour – ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ allowing the audience to give it everything they have one last time in celebration of such an iconic band’s music.
And with a simple wave to the audience, just like that Marky Ramone was gone. But the memories of this night will surely live on for the fans for many a week to come yet.
Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg:
The Dicks:
Were you there at the Studio for this punk rock flashback? Or have you seen Marky Ramone perform live at some other time? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Rockaway Beach
- Teenage Lobotomy
- Psycho Therapy
- Do You Wanna Dance
- I Don’t Care
- Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
- Havana Affair
- Commando
- I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
- Beat On The Brat
- 53rd & 3rd
- Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue
- Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
- Rock ‘N’ Roll Highschool
- Oh Oh I Love Her So
- Let’s Dance
- Surfin’ Bird
- Judy Is A Punk
- I Believe In Miracles
- The KKK Took My Baby Away
- Pet Semetary
- Chinese Rock
- I Wanna Be Sedated
- I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You
- Pinhead
- I Just Want To Have Something To Do
- Do You Remember Rock And Roll Radio
- Needles And Pins
- She’s The One
- Cretin Hop
- Spiderman
- R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (Motörhead Cover)
- California Sun
- Have You Ever Seen the Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival Cover)
- What A Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong Cover)
- Blitzkrieg Bop
If you enjoyed this content, please consider donating towards the running of Ambient Light, covering expenses and allowing us to expand the coverage you love by visiting our PressPatron page.