Dead Kennedys, Dirty Tactics
Irving Plaza, New York, U.S.A
15/10/10.
First of all let me say that Dead Kennedys was a last moment call, we didn’t know about their live performance, and having to pick between roaming again in the streets of NYC or watch DK live at their ground…well it wasn’t a hard choice to make…
Irving Plaza is a relatively normal to small place for concerts but the vibes where positive. It looked like the place had host a huge amount of concerts and events-it had what DK needed for an exploding atmosphere. I looked over it on the net afterwards. It looks like this place has been active for more than one hundred years, full of events and concerts…you get the picture…
Dirty Tactics was the opening act of the night, with a youthful punk-ish touch, giving a pleasant start. Crowd seemed to respond at some of their tracks with moshing and chasing each other all around the main-ground floor, giving the impression that DK would be very nice to watch.
After a roughly 45 minute jam from Dirty Tactics, the Rock ‘n’ Roll cavalry took over. Lead singer Skip, guitarist East Bay Ray, Bassist Klaus Flouride and drummer D.H. Peligro made the crowd go crazy! Skip was constantly giving 100% of his energy by jumping in the crowd and giving the mic to fans to sing along with his psychotic way of performing, which was great, especially if you liked Jello Biafra’s way! Some nice antifascist guidance from D.H. Peligro led us to Nazi Punks which was an old time favorite for many elders like myself and happy to watch it after Napalm Death in Greece-live from DK…in New York city.
Songs like Forward to Death, Buzzbomb, Jock-O-Rama, MTV, Area 51,Moon over Marin,Viva Las Vegas where all executed nicely but the ones that made everyone frantic were of course Police Truck, Kill the Poor and California Uber Alles.
Holiday in Cambodia was performed very close to the end of the one hour concert, and literally made Irving Plaza shaky as ever, with fearless girls and boys moshing, stage diving and circle pits all over the place that made a beautiful live performance turn into a unique and memorable night for all new and old school fans of DK.
Louis Konstantinou.