Early Ramones drummer Marky Ramone was in town with his band Blitzkrieg, guest featuring Bad Religion’s Greg Hetson on guitar, former member of hardcore punk band Circle Jerks, as well as vocalist Johnny Fontane.
The band played end-to-end Ramones hits and favourites taken from their most well-known albums, starting with ‘Rockaway Beach’, Bobby Freeman cover ‘Do You Wanna Dance?’ and ‘Sheena Is A Punk Rocker’, squeezing a total of 40 songs into a 90-min show.
They moved onto more classics in the way of ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’, ‘Beat On The Brat’ and ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll High School’. Other than Ramones songs, they also performed covers of ’60s songs featured on the Ramones’ earliest albums, including ‘Let’s Dance’ (Chris Montez), ‘Surfin’ Bird’ (The Trashmen) and ‘Chinese Rocks’ (The Heartbreakers).
Marky’s 1-2-3-4 drum beat and Hetson’s punk guitar riff in songs such as ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’ and ‘I Can’t Make It On Time’ displayed the playing style that was ripped off later by so many influenced punk bands. Marky’s drumming technique showed what it meant to be a drummer in the Ramones: fast, smooth flowing, precision drumming without breaks.
Blitzkrieg finished their main set on two covers, Joe Jones’s ‘California Sun’ and Motorhead’s Ramones tribute, ‘R.A.M.O.N.E.S’. The band then returned for an encore of The Ramones eponymous debut album tracks, ‘Loudmouth’ and ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, on which they ended their show.
26/07/19: Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg @ The Garage, London
Photos © E. Gabriel Edvy/Blackswitch Labs.
© Ayisha Khan.