Went to Irving Plaza to check out the legendary Buzzcocks last night. I’m not a big fan but I understand and appreciate the importance of the band to music and I thought this might be my best and last opportunity to see them.
The concert was sold out, so I had to scalp a ticket which ended up only costing me $40, a couple bucks less than if I’d bought them through the monopolistic Ticketmaster. How a ticket can go from $29 to over $42 thanks to things like “convenience charges” is beyond me.
LA's Dollyrots Opening for the Buzzcocks
The opening band was a girl fronted LA band on (guess who?) Joan Jett’s Blackheart Record’s label, called The Dollyrots. When it comes to chicks and punk, Joan Jett has it on lock down it seems. The Dollyrots had a really good crowd response for an opening band and dudes and girls really dug them it seemed. They even performed a little Joan Jett ditty called “Bad Reputation” and their other songs were pretty cool. Lead singer/bass Kelly Ogden, is a natural entertainer and they are supposedly coming out with their third CD later this summer, so you should check em out.
Buzzcocks Opening Set
When the Buzzcocks finally hit the stage at 10:20pm the sold out crowd was ready for them. I took some flipcam video but the sound was awfully distorted for some reason, so I’m not going to put it up. Besides, some bouncer felon, I mean dude, made me stop recording after the second song. I guess he’s afraid that I, of all the hundreds of people there recording shitty video and audio, would actually bootleg the old guys and put it up on You Tube and help them sell music.
Dude is just doing his job (and he was actually polite in his thuggish way) I realize but maybe someone needs to tell the BC it is 2010, not 1980 and pirated video is your friend… that is if the damn sound isn’t distorted.
Buzzcocks Rock
Old or not, the Buzzcocks still can rock and I was impressed with their energy, sound and the enthusiasm of the fans was pretty intense, with a small but decent little pit opening up about 1/2 way through the show.
I had to leave the gig early because I had an “urgent” business phone call from the West Coast. On the way out saw Jake and Meggers from the Casualties checking out the band. They were way in the back, staying very low key, I guess satisfied to be on the other side of the stage.When I told them this was them in 20 years, they laughed that in a way indicated they had no such plans.
I wonder if the Buzzcocks ever thought they’d be doing this at their age? or the Stones? or the Damned? Or GBH? I’m glad to see it. Maybe there is hope for us all if we can finally appreciate people as they get older and supposedly wiser, as they do in other cultures.
When I left the building, the street in front of Irving Plaza was taped off with Police Tape and all the smokers were hustled back inside while police helicopters circled up above. I found out later on the news there was another bomb scare, this time in nearby Union Square and that it was probably nothing, but that the police just wanted to be safe.
I guess they have no choice, but damn, the resources, the hassle of closing all those streets? I have to fly today and will submit myself to the silly stripsearches and indignities that go along with it. I swear sometimes I think the “terrorists” have already won.
But at least the Buzzcocks kept rocking the whole time, with the crowd oblivious to the drama going on outside. Maybe that is the way it should be. Ignorance is almost always bliss and I could not agree more. If only I could selectively erase parts of my brain, I might even make it to the Buzzcocks’ age.