Gig Review
November 4, 2000 - Lee's Palace, Toronto, Ontario
I like "PUNKBANDS" for one simple reason.
______FORGOTTEN REBELS___________CONCERT: BARRYMORE'S
Somnie Presents: TheNobodysHero's "Fast Food2000Tour"
"Starting at the Lee's Palace on November 4th, the Rebels are going to be recording their shows to compile the 1st ever
LIVE REBELS CD!!
I'm sure they will strive to capture that raw laid back punk energy straight onto a piece of plastic
- "Breaking bottles just to hear a smash on the track. Just to be part of the set."
TheBand
Mickey(Gerlecki)DeSadest:Vocals
Dave(Damien) McGhire aka DaveEngland:Drums
JeffreyDeeCampbell:Guitar
ShawnMaher:Bass
Met up with Q>O>E and other"YoungPunk"friends. I rolled a joint because I figured this would help me handle the excessive amount of Alcoholic Consumption which this certain group of mates usually does. The good thing about this crowd is that no one does drugs. They just like to drink.I don't drink, and I'm not about to use dope alone. In other wordsl; I never got around to blowing my brains out.:P
TheCrabwebsopened - made up of one bass player/ lead singer (Paul). I suggested
he try using a live D.J. instead of a boom box. He said he'd think about it. His sister had jumped up on stage to join him on "SexDrugsandRock'n'Roll".Though her stage antics have a tendency to be a little too ambivalent, I adore her spunk, looks, and vocal output. Sufficed to say, if anyone is searching for a talented bass player, s/he needs to join the Crabwebs . Look forward to running into them again.
Second band was <CJSLEEZE>from Toronto. C.J. is a bleach-blonde bimbo who wears underwear - this we know. She - and her incompetent rhythm section - was exactly the kind of show I don't tolerate. I left the scene of the crime and went outside for a breath of fresh air only to find out later that she had removed some layers (although I can't see how). It was later related to me that she was...
"...abrasive-anorexic and needed to be worked on."
Nicole fromScratchingPostleaves her blended in the dust at her feet in terms of
<<Lyrical Content>>;<<vocal talent>>;<<stagewear>>
Jeffrey Dee Campbell surmized<CJSLEEZE>; "it's good for us if the opening act sucks". Then again, just goes to show who the Real Punks are, doesn't it? (No. It's not Nicole)
Derivative but entertaining - trashy glam-punk with the snottiness of the Sex Pistols, the dopey humor of the Ramones, and the big hooks of Gary Glitter and T. Rex.
Jeffrey Dee Campbell is incredible. Beside him, everyone else is old and shabby. Sufficed to say, he's taken good care of himself for the last 12 years. He's got beautiful dark brown eyes and perfect black hair. Damn! Did I mention he plays a guitar? He's got the character for that > Iwant to cum all over your belly ; let me be your guitar,babee.....
Mickey De Sadist was a warped version of Alice Cooper. He wore a glittering gold top hat, red leather jacket and bblack plastic pants. He still has the ability to take to the stage with his own taste of crudecomedy. At one point, he had removed his shirt so that "...the girls could think of him while having sex with their boyfriends and be guaranteed the ultimate orgasm"
This is before he yanked somegirl out of the front row, pulled her up on stage and made her dance with him. She chose not to remain. In all, his showmanshipwas never once deluded. He even had the decency to remove his hat to show off his full head of hair with "..no bald spot yet".
Kudos to them all for maintaining a certain amount of culpability for the crowd. They allowed people to join them on stage; willingly made space for strangers to dance. The most entertaining part of the show was their ability to push people's buttons HARD & with a certain corrupted sense of humour.
To whit, certain tunes exceeded others and I found myself moshing with some strangers beside the sound booth. It is unfortunate that they could not keep the attention of the crowd enough - some left before the end. The Encore was as the ancient, well versed & not-yet-tired MickeyDeSadest.
As for the crowd, it varied from the more sofisticate - those who recall the <<Real Daze>> - to the firing youngpunkmoshers. You can tell the difference between those who came out of respectand those who came for fashion. For a band that has been able to survive for over twenty years - with a six year hiatus - I don't blame it.
***The show was a little too loud for nothing. This stems from the fact that my ears hurt even when standing beside the sound booth. Low-grade sound quality undermines musicianship. ""Bad Bad Bad!""
Rock and Ruin!
-Somnie
-A Little Back Ground Info-
____________________FORGOTTEN REBELS________________________
- Active decade: 80s
- Genre - ROCK
- The Forgotten Rebels are based out of Hamilton. They were formed in 1977. Their original line-up ... changed so much over the years that it is hard to remember who is who and which one's doing what....: I needed to do some investigative (ie. I got on the bus) reporting
- to make sure I had the names right.
The group got its start with a 1978 demo entitled BurningtheFlag, which was followed with an independent EP, TomorrowBelongstoUs
The original lineup - Mickey DeSadist, Tony Madelina (guitar), Angela Madelina (drums), and Carl "Chris Suicide" Johnson (bass) - was short-lived. A new drummer, Pete "Treason" Latimer, joined the band between recordings.
For their 1980 debut album, InLoveWiththeSystem , the new line-up consisted of DeSadist, Alan "Al McCombo" Smolak (guitar), Chris "Pogo Au Go Go" Houston (bass), and Larry Electrician (drums). This was to be their hardest punk album ever. Following its release, Houston left to form Sex Machine. Actually, the entire band left - except DeSadist...
...Mike "Taster" Mirabella (guitar), John Welton (bass), and Robert Allan (drums) were on the glammed-up ThisAin'tHollywood... (1983). This album contained covers such as:
"Save the Last Dance for Me"
"Eve of Destruction"
and Gary Glitter's "Hello Hello (I'm Back Again),"
It also contained this signature song: "Surfin' on Heroin."
In 1985, Mike "Spike" Lumen (bass) and Dave McGhire (Drums) replaced John Welton and Robert Allan. Then, they recorded ThePrideandtheDisgrace
Surfin'onHeroin(1988) - a collection of previously released songs - had Mike Szykowny temporarily replacing Lumen.
Lumen came back in 1989, previous to their release of ForgottenRebels (Untitled), featuring McGhire, Jeffrey Dee Campbell, and an inexplicable new spelling for DeSadest's last name...due mostly to a typo on the Album Cover (Desadest).
A long hiatus ensued, but the Rebels regrouped in 1994 with a new lineup -- DeSadest, Campbell, McGhire, and Chaz Butcher (bass) - and, of course, CriminalZero - the album that would mark the beginning of their six year hiatus.
In 1997, TomorrowBelongstoUs (compilation) and ExecutiveOutcomes (1990 remake) were released.
Butcher left, so Steve Mahon (Teenage Head) filled in, and helped break their Hiatus with an album appropriately titled: Nobody'sHeros
Steve is back with Teenage Head. Shawn Maher - or T.T. for short - is their new Bass Player.
PS>
"In a day when political correctness has a
strangle hold on the masses
the Rebels will always stand out
as a group willing to say
FUCK YOU ..
(and your twelve year old hot little sister)"