TOO TOUGH TO DIE: A TRIBUTE TO JOHNNY RAMONE

Until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of Too Tough To Die: A Tribute To Johnny Ramone. A friend of mine at work told me about it, and I searched it out.  It is a DVD of a concert that paid tribute to the guitarist of The Ramones, and raised money for cancer research.  Johnny died from cancer just two days later.

The concert was hosted by Rob Zombie, and featured sets by The Dickies, X and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. After that, there was a band featuring bassist C.J. Ramone, drummer Marky Ramone and guitarist Daniel Rey (not a Ramone, but he did produce some of their records). They did a bunch of songs that Dee Dee Ramone had sung, with C.J. singing. Pete Yorn, Dickey Barrett from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Tim Armstrong from Rancid, Eddie Vedder and Henry Rollins each took the mic for a few tunes.  It was a pretty incredible show.

The film was directed by Mandy Stein, whose father signed The Ramones to their first deal and whose mother was their first manager. She mentions in the liner notes that her first Ramones concert was when she was 3 years old! Her parents couldn't get a babysitter that night, so they took her to CBGB. She filmed the concert so that she could show it to Johnny: they knew he wouldn't be healthy enough to make the show. Mandy Stein says that she hopes that the film would have made Johnny proud.  I don't know too much about the guy, but I'm sure it would.  It is a great film. Congratulations Ms. Stein.

How do you describe the greatness of The Ramones?  I was late to the party - not that I disliked them, but I didn't search out their music other than the few radio songs until the '90s, but I'm glad I did. A lot of people just don't get it though. It's like the blues.  Technically, almost anyone can play it. But everyone playing a blues lick ain't Buddy or Muddy, and just because just about anyone could bash out those few magic chords, doesn't mean they'll be worth listening to, much less earth shaking like The Ramones were. If you don't like The Ramones, do yourself a favor and get their first album and listen to it.  If you don't like it, listen to it again.  You'll probably get it. Sometimes there is a beauty in power and simplicity.

PEARL JAM PART 2: 0625/08 MSG

Our seats were just as good for night two of Pearl Jam's two night stand at Madison Square Garden. This time, instead of being behind the stage, we were in front, but a little farther away: in the 13th row. From a photographer's point of view, it's probably better to be in front, and my lovely wife had a great time taking photos: see above. I was surprised that they played quite a few of the same songs as the night before, but there were enough different songs to have made it worth it.

They opened with "Release," which was great, and other great songs that they added included "World Wide Suicide," "Severed Hand," "State Of Love And Trust," "Garden" and "Rats." "Rats" has always been one of my favorites, and I wish they'd do more funky stuff like that. "Suicide" and "Severed Hand," both from their latest album, are classic. The backup singers were once again on hand, as was CJ Ramone. One notable other guest was Ace Frehley, who joined them for Kiss' "Black Diamond." That was pretty cool: the backup singers joined for that one, Eddie Vedder actually left the stage, Mike McCready actually sang the first line (as Paul Stanley does on the original), and Matt Cameron sang lead from behind the drums (as Peter Criss did back in the day).

It's funny: back in the '90s, Pearl Jam was seen as the anti-KISS. Their look wasn't typically rock star, and they seemed against flashiness. But, watching the band jam with a member of KISS and a member of The Ramones in the same night, you realize they were equally influenced by both bands. I wonder what Gene Simmons would think? He used to bitch about Pearl Jam all the time.

I could write about how mind-blowingly great Pearl Jam were all day, but I think you kind of get it. This is a band you should see if you get the chance. And, hopefully, you'll get lots of chances. I wonder when we'll hear from them next. I know Stone Gossard's other band, Brad, have a new album coming out. I also hear that Stone is working on his second solo album. Matt has a new jazz group called Harrybu McCage, they played Bonnaroo, and they just released their debut. But, hopefully the guys will get back together for a new album in the next few months. I can't wait to hear what they'll come up with next.

PEARL JAM PART 1: 06/24/08 MSG

I'm a bit behind on my concert reporting: the last two nights I went to see Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden. Both shows ended at about 11:30 pm ET and I got home closer to 1 am.


Both shows were incredible: at the first show, we had tickets behind the stage, but they were in the 4th row, so it was actually pretty great. My lovely wife took some pretty cool pictures. The picture on the left is of course Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, and the other one is Mike McCready playing a face melting solo during "Evenflow" -- all behind his head, Hendrix-style. No disrespect to drummer Matt Cameron or keyboardist Boom Gaspar - we didn't have a great sight line to them from our seats .


They opened with a pretty rare song: "Hard To Imagine." Right there you knew it was going to be a pretty special show, it usually is when they open with something so unusual. Four songs in, they did something really unusual: they added three backing singers. One of them, Fonzi Thornton, was a guy who I knew of: he sings backup for Aretha Franklin, and has worked with tons of other people, like Luther Vandross, Chic, Debbie Harry and Mick Jagger to name just a few. I'm dying to know how Pearl Jam met up with these guys. Actually two guys and a girl. Anyway, they did a song I'd never heard before, "All Night," which was pretty cool. Later on, they returned for "Who You Are" and "W.M.A."


Another cool guest was C.J. Ramone, who joined for a cover of The Ramones' "I Believe In Miracles." But the show wasn't about guests, and Pearl Jam rocked for about 2 1/2 hours: other highlights were "Down" (a b-side), "Unemployable," "Whipping," "Present Tense," "Do The Evolution," The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me," "Spin The Black Circle," Eddie's solo performance of "No More," Victoria Williams' "Crazy Mary," "Present Tense," Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower," and the closer, "Indifference." But the show was like one long highlight. Eddie was in great spirits, and so was the rest of the band.


MSG was totally sold out, and the rafters literally shook several times during the concert. I do think Pearl Jam are well on their way to Grateful Dead/Springsteen type status: where they can tour whenever they want, whether or not they have an album, and sell out multiple nights. And not have to rely on any hits. There is no song that they "have to" play every night. Which is pretty extrodinary.


A few years ago, Eddie Vedder seemed frustrated by being in such a big band. He seemed to resent the songs from Ten, and just didn't seem to be enjoying himself. I think he's grown up a bit, and seen almost all of his early '90s peers struggling to keep their audiences. Pearl Jam still play by their own rules thanks to the loyalty of the fans, and he seems to appreciate it now.

So, to summarize, great show. But the following night was even better. I'll write about that one, and post more of Maria's pictures, tomorrow.