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| Dan |
I know PDog and maybe a few others are Ramones fans so I thought I would post this here too.
Friday was a nice Ramones movie event at Hollywood Forever Cemetary. They show films against a huge mausoleum wall drive in style with GA seating on the grass, picnic style so you can bring your own food and drinks. They were showing the new documentary "Too Tough To Die" followed by the never before seen complete set from the US Festival in 1982. Admission was $10 to benefit prostate cancer research. It drew at least a thousand people.
It was advertised as starting at 6:00. I had no idea what the set up was like so I got there early. Unfortunately the movie didn't start until almost 9 since it was being shown outdoors. There was a display from Arturo Vega's private collection and various Ramones memorabilia like Dee Dee's handwritten lyrics, a tour itinerary and a reciept for Johnny's first guitar. Lifelong tour manager Monte Melnick was signing his book. There were at least a dozen different T Shirts for only $10 each, so I bought 2.
I wandered the cemetary a bit, looked at Johnny's statue and visited Dee Dee's grave for the first time. It was decked out with various offerings. I will bring something next time, this time it would have felt weird with all the people around.
Also saw Fay Wray's grave where I was confronted by a huge goose who said something threatening and started moving toward me in a menacing manner before security told me to stay on the pavement.
Marky showed up early to sign autographs and give photo ops to the fans, wig freshly polished and carrying a purse. Someone told me he saw Dee Dee's widow Barbara there with her hair dyed blonde. I didn't see her but there was a small seated VIP section in the front. Apparently there were some other celebrities there but other than Marky, Steve Jones and Henry Rollins, who all spoke prior to the film, I didn't recognize anybody.
"Too Tough To Die" was a documentary with plenty of live footage from the Ramones 30th Anniversary tribute concert at the Avalon in Hollywood just prior to Johnny's death. It was done by Mandy Stein, Seymour Stein's daughter. There is just a little background and general Ramones footage but most of that was already covered in End Of The Century. It also had footage of Johnny's funeral. Nicely done but also just a little depressing. It will be on the Starz network and apparently Mandy was filming for bonus footage for the DVD.
The live footage was really good. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dickies, X, Eddie Vedder, Mighty Mighty Bosstones and CJ/Marky/Daniel Rey with guests doing various Ramones songs. The whole thing was MC'd by Rob Zombie. Hopefully more live stuff will end up on the DVD. The funny thing was all the current movie star friends Johnny had when he told me and Ken All Night Rocker back in 1996 that the last good movie he saw was "Raiders Of The Lost Ark."
Next up was the whole reason I attended. The Ramones at the first US Festival in 1982. I have about 500 Ramones boots and never even knew that footage existed. It's a rather obscure time period for them nowadays, It was a shorter than usual set in broad daylight, the band wearing leather jackets in 100+ degree heat. It was the usual fast paced barrage of songs about the time they really started to speed them up including some forgotten gems like "All Quiet On The Eastern Front" and "This Business Is Killing Me," which are still unrepresented on any Ramones live album. They should have been playing before crowds like that more regularly and as a headliner.
The sound system was great. It was loud and did a much better job of simulating the live concert experience than anything I have seen in a theatre before. Hopefully this footage will turn up on the 4 hour "It's Alive" DVD they were flyering. There is not enough Ramones live footage released.
I had a great time and it was a lot more than many real concerts I have attended. Also I was really sick and should have stayed home but only death would have kept me out of that cemetary!
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| pdog |
Thx Dan... I ask a friend of mine all the time about The Ramones since he got to meet them and play with them... They are my 2nd favorite band ever... Our buddy Riffy has some good stories and interviewed Joey. To this day, I still enjoy listening to my ramones albums, and at certain times I feel the same excitement singing along, that I did all those long years ago.
Long live, long haired punk rockers!!! |
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| GimmeExile |
Great report, Dan!
I was considering going to this event; your report made me feel like I was there. |
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