As soon as I heard about the concert I knew I had to be there. Not just because The Jabbers were going to play, or because the Murder Junkies were going to play, or because they were playing on GG's 10th death anniversary. I had to be there to share it with all you fine people who were unable to attend. The whole weekend was such an experience that it is going to take this whole article to describe what a great time I had.
I spent all Thursday the 26th searching for some way to get up to Littleton, which you can see is way the fuck up there. No one I knew from the city was going, so I was left to my own devices. Bus schedules abounded, but I was left with only one viable option. The Dartmouth Coach company runs to Littleton only one a day. My bus would leave South Station at 6pm and arrive in Littleton 10pm. It was the only way I could get up there, so I took it.
The bus ride was nice. It drive straight through the mountain region. A beautiful ride that was probably the least obnoxious bus ride I have ever been on. Though the bus was sold to capacity somehow I ended up not sharing my seat. Sweet. The Proletariat, Negative FX, and The Adicts kept me company too. Their soothing swinging sound provided a comfortable soundtrack. I had actually expected to run into at least 1 or 2 punk rockers taking the bus trip up like I was. I guess most are not as dedicated/stupid as I am.
Just before 10 o'clock the bus drops me off as the gas station just off of Route 93. Everyone I pass knows what I'm there for. This place is literally an "American Pie" town. I don't think they even have indoor plumbing here. No, it wasn't that back woods. It was definitely a small town though. Check out some of the pictures I took. It won some kind of American Main Street award n' shit...wow.
I was early to bed, and found a nice little patch of grass next to the old out-of-use train tracks. I only brought one blanket thinking that it was going to warm like it had been the week before. Fuck was I wrong. It was freezing...and I fuckin' froze. I'd love to say, "Oh yeah it wasn't too bad", but it was. It sucked. But I digress.
The morning finally came and I found a nice little restaurant in town to eat breakfast. These little town might be boring, but you can't find homemade bread like that here in Boston. Eggs and pancakes filled up my belly. All the while I keep getting stares from everyone in the joint, which for 6am was pretty packed. It was kind of cool actually. I'm so use to being in the city where people just got too much stuff to do to pay any attention to my mowhawk. Here it is a once a year occurrence. The waitress was nice, but seemed very distant. Probably from the past 10 years of rowdy GG fans that disrupt, trash, and disrespect her little town every June 28th. Poor people. I actually felt bad...for like one second. I finished my eggs, left like a 30% tip, and headed out to the graveyard.
If you've ever been there you know that the graveyard is huge. I'd never been there, and didn't have anyone to show me where the grave was. I must have wandered around that fuckin' graveyard for an hour. Finally I ask someone who would know where it was...a cop. He was nice enough, and directed me to the right one. The funny thing is, I didn't know was that there is a different name and a different inscription on the other side. So when your in the graveyard you don't see a "GG Allin" grave, you see a "Gunther" grave. But there he was. GG Allin...For My Mission Ends in Termination. Vicinity of Death. "Live Fast Die" The headstone was actually really cool looking. His portrait was made out of like special carved glass or something. I could tell that the headstone had been through lots of abuse. There was a big burn mark from, I guess, some kid a few weeks before that set his pants on fire there. I kind of paid my respects. The guy was a shit eater, a fuckin' skumbag, and not nice guy. But he was, in my opinion, a musical genius and a musician that didn't set any limits for himself. I'm just kind of happy he left us before he became homogenized and washed up.
At the grave, just as I was leaving, some kids showed up. Turns out they were from Quebec City and drove all night to come to Littleton and see the show. We ended up hanging out for the rest of the day. We were the only ones in town, so we just hung out in front of the Opera House and shot the shit. Soon after some kids from New Jersey showed up and the 8 of us went back to this cool train bridge to hang out. They were all drinking Milwaukee's best and whiskey. I on the other hand got really fucked up on some water. The Canadians were really cool. They didn't have any of that bullshit attitude that I'm so used to seeing in Boston. We all drank and were merry. It was a cool time and we talked about GG and other punk rock bands. One of the Canadians put on some GG on a shitty little boom box. We all killed like 2 hours, then decided around noon to head back to the grave for the pre-show gathering at the grave site.
All of us walking down Main Street must have been quite a site. Occasionally one of the Quebeccer's would yell a GG song title really loud at passing cars. "GYPSY MOTHERFUCKER!!!!" Imagine this with a thick French accent. Funny shit.
At the grave a small crowd had gathered. Eventually Jonee Earthquake showed up, and welcomed me. Merle, Dino, Jeff Clayton, and the guitar player (?) show up for their photo-op. What probably bothered me the most about this was that it seemed to be more of a publicity thing than a memorial thing. They posed here and there. Jeff on the left, Merle on the right. It was kind of bullshit. I know that pictures are important, but he was your brother for fuck sake. Have some kind of fuckin' respect. Even just one minute of mourning...instead Merle again take this opportunity to live off the legacy of his brother.
Jane, Jonee Earthquake's girlfriend, came to pick me up. I was needed at the Opera House for "security." I use that term loosely, because she was required by the town of Littleton to hire 3 Littleton police officers as real security. All of the bands set up and the kids started to trickle in. I guess it cost Jonee and Jane allot of money to rent this place. Not like the usual $200 either. More like $800 or $900 I think. They were both a little worried about making the money back. Once the Rydells started to play though, it was obvious that there was going to be lots of kids there.
I don't like the Rydells music. Actually I do, I just don't like the way that their music is presented as their own. When it actuality they are all Ramones songs. They have different lyrics (kind of) but there is no real difference, same music style, same lyric and chord structure. I would like them allot more if they would just admit they were a Ramones cover band. The kids in the hall really like them though, and I guess as long as the crowd really liked them that's all that matters.
Half way through The Jonee Earthquake Band's set the place started to fill out nicely. The door was up to about 115 people. Of course the JEQ were awesome, even though the acoustics in the Opera House were horrible. Really echoey (< - - - is that a word?). You get my drift right? The kids really love JEQ and were moving and shaking their grove thangs. What I love about JEQ is that they have such non-traditional songs while still adhering to the traditional punk rock formula. Great stuff.
Merle Allin is not a nice guy. Actually he's kind of a whiney rock star type, no joke. I guess there was someone at the show that he didn't like. He comes up to me ("security") and tells me "That muther fucker better not come in here or my band won't play. We'll pack up our shit and get the fuck out of here!" He points to some guy, then rushes back inside. I didn't really see who he was pointing at, and don't really care. As long as he paid, and isn't breaking anything, he's ok in my book. Well Merle is not havin' it. He's acting like this guy stole $300 of of his table and fucked his girlfriend. "Get this fuckin' guy out of here!" he says and points to this little foreign guy. "I'll pack our shit up and fuckin' leave if he's not out of here!" I ask nicely for the reason why and I get the most dog shit answer I could have ever imagined..."He ripped us off!" I actually laugh out loud. Merle is pissed now and goes back to his table to talk shit about me to his yes-men cronies. "Listen pal," I say to the little foreign guy, "if he leaves we're going to have allot of refunds to hand out, so I'm sorry you gotta go." I felt bad because I knew Merle was probably just picking on this guy, but it wasn't my show and I didn't want Jonee to loose his shirt. The little foreign man leaves.
The Jabbers were awesome and had Wimpy (The Queers, Tunnel Rats, The Drunken Cholo's) on singing duties. These guys are old. I guess they always got the shaft from GG. Jonee told me that GG actually cut a couple of their songs out of the Jabbers session, including one sung by Rob. They played a bunch of old Queers songs like "This Place Sucks" and "Wimpy Drives Through Harlem." A couple of old GG songs too, but not as many as I expected. I think they are trying to separate themselves from their past GG history and forge ahead as a great band with or without him. Their new songs are better than I would have guessed, and I'd be really surprised if their album, that is coming out soon, is anything less than amazing.
The Murder Junkies on the other hand were less than spectacular. The only thing that saved them was Jeff Clayton. This guy if fuckin' great and I'm a huge Antiseen fan. Like the Jabbers, the MJ's are trying to establish themselves as a band that doesn't need GG. Unlike the Jabbers however, the new Murder Junkies songs don't do the job. The only reason they were watchable was Jeff's southern fried growl. I could tell that everyone in the hall, which was now at about 250, were waiting for some true GG songs. The MJ's only obliged a couple of times. The rest of the set was filled with mediocre "new" MJ songs that fell way short of expectations. Songs like "Feed My Sleaze" are easily forgettable, and forgotten. Oh yeah and Dino Sexx, the naked drummer, played a drum solo for like 15 minutes after the rest of the band left the stage. It was really annoying because it wasn't even good.
The show also had a younger band on after the MJ's but my ride was leaving, so I didn't get to see their whole set. I left Littleton satisfied, and sun burnt. The weekend was a success for me and Jonee especially who I guess covered all of his expenses. I can't wait until 2013 for the next anniversary.
P
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