I entered the familiar stairway to Fouf’s 2nd floor, when something strange happened. The walls shook, the lights flickered and by the time I made my way up the stairs, I was at GBGBs 40 years ago.
Big Eyes from New York took the stage and played some energetic NYC rock that fit the evening. Fronted by Kate Eldridge, the standoffish crowd eventually came closer to the stage as she drew them in with her charisma. I loved the guitar riffs and I can’t help but think it would have been better if I actually heard her voice, through no fault of her own. It’s hard being the second opening band with little to no sound check.
What do you do when you are part of a legendary band, one that influenced the sound of many of the bands we have come to love, yet your creative juices are still alive and you keep creating songs under the moniker of CJ Ramone. You start us off with a classic Ramones song “Let’s Dance”, mix in your latest release American Beauty and sprinkle in classic Ramones throughout the set. You then finish strong with a tight set of songs, many which begin with 1-2-3-4.
Such was the evening, the fortunate few experienced tonight. A voyage back to a time where a handful of chords could produce a sound that would move a generation and inspire many other generations yet to come.
We felt the collective energy of a room all experiencing the same time travel experience. While many today chose to spend their evening with a forced celebration of motherhood (we should love our moms every day!), we saw the mother of modern music.
Classics like “Rockaway Beach”, “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker”, “Commando”, “53rd & 3rd”, “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “I Wanna Be Sedated” and my favorite “The KKK Took My Baby Away”, released smiles on our faces as these classics came alive in front of our eyes.
CJ, playing the Fender Bass with a solitary Flogging Molly sticker can still kick it at age 51. The rest of the band consisted of Josh Blackway & Nate Sander on guitars/backing vocals as well as Chris Eller on drums.
CJ and the boys ended the set with the Motorhead cover “R.A.M.O.N.E.S.”. CJ said it was the last song and the roadies started unplugging the amps when a sign from above (well…the mezzanine) of two fingers was a sign to leave things alone, the night was not over yet.
The encore consisted of two songs, “Commando” and “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker”, which had everyone dancing and still lost in time.
The evening ended, we were back in Montreal, May 14, 2017, not sure how it all happened, but happy we experienced it together.
Setlist (Courtesy of Luc Paradis of The Last Rockers)
Interestingly, the setlist does not match well with what was really played!
Let’s Dance
Let’s Go
Yeah Yeah Yeah
You’ll Never Make Me Believe
Girfriend in a Graveyard
Understand Me?
Steady as She Goes
Rockaway Beach
One More Chance
Baby, I Love You
Three Angels
Swallow My Pride
Run Around
Moral to the Story
The KKK Took My Baby Away
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
Glad to See You Go
Outsider
Do You Wanna Dance?
My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down
Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
California Sun
53rd & 3rd
I Wanna Be Sedated
Blitzkrieg Pop
R.A.M.O.N.E.S.
Encore
Commando
Sheena Is a Punk Rocker
Review & Photos– Randal Wark is a Professional Speaker and Business coach with a passion for live music. You can follow him on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
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