Another Saturday night and another wild Seattle punk show. This time it was the legendary Dead Milkmen at the infamous Crocodile Cafe.
Front man Rodney Anonymous burst onto the stage, announcing that this was the anti-Coachella Tour, then with a giant leap into the air, the first song rang forth. From that point on it was non-stop high energy fun. Rodney was all over the stage, never in one spot more than one or two seconds. Even during the several occasions he played the keyboard he was non-stop action. He constantly thrust his mic into the crowd for sing-alongs, and said crowd was only too happy to oblige.
Between leaps and bounces about the stage, Rodney often joked with the audience without standing still. He pranced back and forth, making comments like asking the audience to make sounds like an unbaptized baby in hell, or claiming he wouldn’t ask anyone how they were doing because if they weren’t doing great they wouldn’t be here tonight. “Low grade fever is as low as anyone should be night.” Then there were the constant jabs at the Coachella Festival and barbs toward Bono.
About two-thirds into the show the bass player blew out his amp and there was about five minutes or so where they had to switch to another and this gave Rodney ample opportunity to tell more stories. He went on and on about being drug free but wanting to design his own drug that would be a cross between LSD and Viagra so he’d feel like fucking a rainbow colored unicorn. Ironically, he made sophomoric jokes funny.
When it came time for their most memorable hit, “Punk Rock Girl,” everybody sang along word for word. The same went for “Bitchin’ Camaro.” I’m still stiff and sore from being smashed into the stage so many times.
Lead vocals were mostly performed by Rodney, but occasionally Joe Jack Talcum (guitar player extraordinaire) picked up on the lead vocals such as on “Punk Rock Girl.” He’s also the one who appeared in the video for that song when it was in regular MTV rotation in the late eighties.
The other members (Dean Clean on drums and Dandrew Stevens on bass) mostly played the straight guys to Rodney’s antics, but their routine made this band as much a comedy act as a rock band.
After leaving the stage, they returned for two encores. When it was all over Rodney announced, “We kept you all up way past your bedtime. Now it’s time for us to go to bed. Goodnight!” And thus ended another wild night of punk rock. I saw Dead Milkmen twice before, once in ’88 and again in ’89. They were just as fun this time around.
The opener was an all female trio from Vancouver, BC calling themselves Lie’. They played gritty and outright dirty hard core punk. Both singers had solid pipes and could belt out their songs in true Ari Up fashion. I felt like I’d been on a joy ride down a dirt road in the back of a pick-up. I had a wild time but felt like I needed a good shower when it was over.
All photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
