Blogpost: Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg

Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg

Manning Bar

Sydney, Australia

November 23, 2017

Tonight heralded the return of Marky Ramone to Australian shores, whose tenure handling skin duties for the Ramones lasted for a total of 15 year, from May 1978 until February 1983, and August 1987 until August 1996, has also played in other notable bands, Dust, Estus, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids.

Marky has made it his mission to keep The Ramones’ spirit alive, and as tonight’s demographic and turnout exemplifies, quite successfully  with audiences being a melange of older and younger punters yet with an average age where they were certainly not around when the Ramones  were together.

For his current shows, Marky is digging all the way into the Ramones catalogue to deliver an absolute treat for every Ramones fan with an extensive set list comprised of 38 Ramones songs.

And yes, one could make a case that enacting a rendition of Ramones songs with Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg with only him being the sole survivor actual band means reverting to very safe territory and indulging in nostalgia, however, the band’s performance is tight and close enough to the original to make it entertaining and stand on its own legs.

Ramones are an integral cornerstone of punk rock and gateway band and tonight was testament to their songs being timeless classics.

The band managed to rev up the crowd with a tight and at times maniacally fast set with Marky being the solid backbone and driver of the operation, adding fills along with other welcome ornaments that were not part of the original songs, which contributed to the songs rather than diluting their DNA.

A fun show with an onslaught of sound from start to finish reaffirming the Ramones' legacy with a competent tribute band that is not pretending to be more than it is and one that comes very close to the original.

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Photos by KAVV