The Germs/Murphy’s Law/L.E.S. Stitches - Blender Theatre, New York, NY - 8.8.08
Posted by Jes Tones on 08.14.2008
Seminal L.A. punk rock band The Germs make a movie, replace a legendary singer, and go on tour...
While most of the world was fretting over the opening day of the Olympics in Beijing, those of us who really don’t give a shit were getting our asses kicked at a relatively historic punk show in New York City. For those of you who think of germs primarily as a reason to wash your hands ten times a day, The Germs are generally regarded as having put out the first punk record from L.A. (in 1977). The band was fronted by charismatic singer Darby Crash, who committed suicide via a heroin overdose just three years later at the age of 22--all according to his now notorious 5-year plan for achieving immortality (form a band before they can actually play, cultivate a following, release one album, commit suicide).
The Germs only released one full-length album, 1979’s GI, but in 1993 the remaining Germs put out a compilation album entitled (MIA) - The Complete Anthology. (MIA) was not filmmaker Rodger Grossman’s first encounter with these microorganisms, but it did apparently spark an idea to create a film chronicling the tragically notorious life of Darby Crash and, after 15 years, Grossman completed this biopic. What We Do Is Secret was released in NYC the night of this show and is now playing in independent theatres around the country.
My feelings about this show overall are pretty mixed. I’m not even going to bother with the Lower East Side (L.E.S.) Stitches because after one half-ass punk song by them I went downstairs to the bar out of boredom. Then came New York hardcore legends, Murphy’s Law, who I had yet to see live and was therefore über excited about. But, as the adage goes, “if anything can go wrong, it will.”
Jimmy Gestapo, the lead singer and only remaining original member of Murphy’s Law and co-owner (with Agnostic Front guitarist Vinnie Stigma) of New York Hardcore Tattoos, came onstage with a bang and a bottle of Jaeger and we were ready to go…but from then on, all that was really delivered was requests for blow, Jaeger down our throats (ok, this was actually the good part), and a lot of meaningless chit chat and banter and very little actual punk rock. I mean, these guys are NYC legends but they just didn’t seem nearly as interested in rocking out as they did in getting mindfully fucked up. Which, of course, meant my “I only like punk rock on weekends” date and I, strategically placed in the front row, proceeded to get mindfully fucked up as well, so this wasn’t a total loss.
Finally, with a nice Jaeger and Budweiser (these were tossed into the crowd as well) buzz, we awaited The Germs--reunited. You may ask, “Um, aren’t there only three left?” Well, yes. And here’s where it gets interesting. Turns out as part of the process of making this sweet little biopic, Darby Crash’s counterpart in the film, actor Shane West (apparently a doctor on E.R., although I don’t watch that stuff), became a little germ himself! Who knew Mr. E.R. had a little punk rock upbringing himself and even had his own punk band, Jonny Was. It all sounds a bit accidental, but there you have it--Shane West (now nicknamed “Shane Wreck”), who was born less than two years before Darby Crash died, is the new lead singer for The Germs…and not without controversy.
I knew ahead of time that prominent punk figures Fat Mike and Jello Biafra, as well as many Germs fans, had been critical of the bands’ decision to replace Crash with a Hollywood actor, and this was clearly the consensus that night. While the crowd was mostly accepting of West’s performance, there were a couple of times when he got a little too close to the front lines and I thought he was going to be dragged off the stage in not the friendliest of manners. And I have to admit I was a little disappointed, although not surprised, by his retreat to the safety of the midriff of the stage for most of the show after this.
Overall it was just a surreal experience to be directly in front of a stage which held the three remaining original Germs: Pat Smear (now also playing with the Foo Fighters and formerly with Nirvana) on guitar, Lorna Doom on bass and Don Bolles on drums (ok, so Bolles was not the original, original Germ drummer--that was, believe it or not, Belinda Carlisle as “Dottie Danger”--but she never even performed with them live and was replaced in 1978 by Bolles). They may have come before my time, but I respect my elders. And I have to say, if these three think “Wreck” on vocals is a suitable replacement for the legendary Crash, who am I (or you) to argue?
What We Do Is Secret is getting some decent reviews and press. I plan to check it out tonight--if you can’t see these guys live while they’re still on tour (which tour currently only consists of a few scattered dates throughout August and only in California) you should at least check out this film or read the 2002 book “Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs”…if nothing else, I think you’ll agree with me that The Germs make a quite a story--which seems to be all that Crash really intended.
The 411: West looked, performed, and sounded pretty damn convincing to me and the foursome seemed to play together with ease and panache, with Doom and Smear wearing a perma-smile for the entire performance. Was it the best punk show I’ve ever been to? No way. Was it just like the original Germs? I doubt it. Was it a damn good time and an experience every proclaimed punk fan should have? Hell yeah. I left the show a stumbling, bruised, sweaty, yet ecstatic and charged mess. I got what I came for.
