|
|
| December 24, 2001. Review of The Independents
for the Dutch magazine Heaven
by Bram van Schaik |
The Independents
Back From The Grave
Independents Records
Interview by Bram Van Schaik for
Heaven Magazine
(alleen via internet) Onafhankelijk dankzij Joey Ramone The Independents,
afkomstig uit de swamps van Florence, South-Carolina, waren waarschijnlijk
een van de vele leuke, maar uiteindelijk regionale horrorpunkskabandjes
gebleven, als niet ene Joey Ramone hun pad had gekruist. De dit
voorjaar overleden zanger van The Ramones was via zijn bassist C.J.
in contact gekomen met diens maatje Evil Presly, voorman van The
Independents. Presly, want hij is gezegend met een stemgeluid dat
desgewenst zo kan klinken als dat van The Pelvis, Evil omdat hij
dat nu eenmaal is. Dát gegeven moet Joey, erkend liefhebber van
klassieke rock 'n' roll-helden, hebben aangesproken, zeker in combinatie
met hun gedeelde passie voor horror en morbide humor. Kort en goed,
Joey Ramone wordt eerst fan en vervolgens manager van The Independents
en is met producer Daniel Rey (Ramones, Misfits, Ronnie Spector)
verantwoordelijk voor de productie van het album Back From The Grave.
Een tamelijk beladen titel, blijkt al spoedig, want als het album
op het punt staat te verschijnen wordt Joeys gezondheidstoestand
almaar slechter. Hij overlijdt op 15 april in New York. ,,Ik ben
in korte tijd zowel mijn pleegvader als mijn beste vriend kwijtgeraakt
en dat ging me niet in de koude kleren zitten'', laat Evil via e-mail
weten over die tragische periode. Hij is zich terdege bewust dat
hij met Back From The Grave iets bijzonders in handen heeft: een
van de laatste projecten van een punkrocklegende (van wie nog een
postuum soloalbum op stapel staat). ,,Juist daarom heb ik niet meer
aan promotie gedaan'', zegt hij over BFTG dat vooralsnog alleen
via internet (www.angelfire.com/bands/theindependents) bij de band
zelf verkrijgbaar is. Die integere opstelling jegens wijlen de manager
- "Joey heeft ons naar een veel hoger plan getild" - brengt met
zich mee dat het bijzonder leuke album - ook nog eens puik gemasterd
door Howie Weinberg (onder anderen Nirvana, Metallica en Smashing
Pumpkins) - voorlopig niet breed onder de aandacht wordt gebracht.
Jammer, want achttien nummers lang wordt de luisteraar getrakteerd
op een opwekkende en tegelijk waanzinnige mix waarin de invloeden
van Specials, Misfits, Ramones en natuurlijk Elvis te horen zijn.
Inclusief twee hidden tracks en, altijd fijn voor de Ramones-fans,
een live-versie van de Dee Dee Ramone-compositie Garden Of Serenity
door Joey Ramone & The Independents.
Bram van Schaik |
| April 19, 2001 Live: The
Independents / Misfits Rock NYC for Joey |
|
This was a big night. This was the start of the
25th anniversary tour of The Misfits, this was New York City...this
was the day after a NY punk legend was laid to rest. A lot was
at stake, everyone needed a release - and on this night - the
horror/punk ska band THE INDEPENDENTS were on the bill. There
were 3 bands before the Misfits - The Independents were 2nd. This
was the biggest stage I had ever seen them on and they used every
inch. From the opening note of "Little Blue" through the dark
smoke and white lights to the very end of their short but yet
effective 20 minute set - they rocked the Roseland Ballroom like
they were the headliners.
Skulls were everywhere - on the amps , on the drum risers , on
the banners on the walls and on top of the amps. 80% of the people
in the crowd had makeup and skeleton paraphernalia on while the
other 20% had very little on. The Independents were tight and
held it together through their hits from their latest release,
BACK FROM THE GRAVE. From the crowd pleasing "Insane" to last
year's radio friendly "Death Notice" to the punk classic "Flesheater",
this set was tight and visually powerful as Evil Presley and the
band took over the ballroom and rocked all the wanna be skeletons
6ft under where they came from. For the finale , Evil looked up
and simply said , "This is for you Joey" and broke into an absolute
roaring frenzy with a cover of The Ramones classic, "Blitzkrieg
Bop." An absolute riot broke out as a complete mosh banged up
the entire floor and yours truly who had a beer in hand was forced
to not walk, but run out of the way as the entire floor was celebrating
in this frenzy. I was actually pushed back in the mosh before
getting to the side. The cover of this classic delivered in everyway
and reinforced the impact of the great legend.
After the set , I was on my way backstage when I passed by 2
kids who were saying 'that was great." I screamed at them and
said - "That's right guys - don' t you ever forget Joey !" When
I was backstage with Evil and after we both shared tears over
the fact that this was the first Independents gig without Joey
- we talked about the upcoming tour and the upcoming MISFITS dates
and the FALL tour with THE QUEERS. Things are good - we said -
and Joey will always be here to keep us on our toes.
I stayed to see Jerry Only and Doyle play the first 4 songs -
and sure they rocked it - "Teenagers From Mars" and "Hybrid" rocked
the joint after Jerry paid tribute to Joey and what he meant to
music and what he meant to NY and how he would do anything for
anyone - and how he was excited for this particular show.
Well - Joey was in the room and The Independents made sure he
had a good seat. Don't miss this bill, Chicago on 4/29 and LA
House of Blues on 5/5!!!
- Originally reported by Drew Goldberg
|
December
11, 2000 at The Continental and December
12, 2000 at Manitoba's
Reviews by Sherry Globman |
The Independents performed two kick
ass shows last week in New York City. First they played to a packed
crowd at The Continental Christmas Bash on Monday, December 11th,
2000. The night started off with the local band Charm School performing
a great set as usual. Next up were The Independents to play their
awesome set of horror punk rock and ska songs. They launched into
the set with their usual raw power.. playing songs such as "Bloody
Night", "Love Sucks", "Left for Dead" and their rockin' cover of
Elvis's "Suspicious Minds", just to name a few. The crowd showed
their enthusiasm and excitement for the band by moshing along with
singer Evil Presly when he jumped into the crowd... and singing
along whenever he put the microphone to their mouths. The crowd
was clearly in support of this kick ass rock 'n roll band and had
as good of at time as I did photographing and enjoying it! After
The Independents played there was some Christmas fun as singer Evil
Presly and bass player Travis T got on stage to help Santa and Mrs.
Claus give out some punk rock goodies to the eager crowd. Then it
was time for Joey Ramone to do his long awaited set. Backed by Ronnie
Spector's back up singers as well as Marky Ramone on drums, and
Daniel Rey and Andy Shirnoff, Joey and his band of all-stars played
a rockin' set of classic Ramones songs as well as Christmas songs
like "Merry Christmas, I don't Want to Fight Tonight". Part way
through the set, Willy B, Travis T and Evil Presly of The Independents
joined their friend Joey on stage to complete the set.. but not
before Jerry Only of The Misfits made a surprise appearance to support
the already jam-packed stage of rockers. This amazing group performed
such songs as "I Wanna Be Sedated", "Beat on the Brat" and "Blitzkrieg
Bop" which no doubt kept the wall to wall crowd jumping with excitement
till Joey said his good-bye's at the end of the awesome set. Finishing
off this night of rock 'n roll holiday cheer were The Bullys and
Suicide King who kept the crowd rockin' till all hours of the night.
The next night, Tuesday, December 12, The Independents
played at Manitoba's, a local east village dive bar owned by none
other than "Handsome" Dick Manitoba of The Dictators. This show
was to celebrate Evil's birthday and a celebration it certainly
was! Not only did the crowd come out to help ring in Evil's new
year, but so did Joey Ramone and his brother Micky Leigh. The Independents
played a jammin, extra long set for the crowd and kept them riled
up for Evil's birthday till almost 2am. Evil taunted the crowd as
usual with his rockin', in-your-face performance while the guys,
Willy B on guitar, Travis T on bass, Blackie Levay on keyboard and
guitar and newcomer Sparky on drums, played an awesome set. When
Joey and Micky took to the stage, it became an amazing free-for-all
of Ramones songs and classic rock 'n roll songs.. whatever they
could play they did and they did it great! What a treat not only
for Evil's birthday but for the crowd as well who not only got to
see a great performance by The Independents but a surprise set of
Ramones songs with Joey himself. I doubt Evil will ever forget this
birthday celebration.. I know I won't! |
Check
out this review of last Monday's Christmas Show at The Continental
in Rolling Stone Magazine. Get the whole review at
rollingstone.com. |
|
Rolling Stone Daily
Wednesday, December 13, 2000
. . . JOEY RAMONE was joined by guests MARKY RAMONE, JERRY ONLY
of the MISFITS and the INDEPENDENTS (the New York punk band he
manages) Monday night at his annual Christmas Spectacular party
at NYC's Continental Club. Ramone's hour-long set included three
rock & roll Christmas songs, "It's a Wonderful World" and ten
RAMONES nuggets, including "Beat on the Brat," which he dedicated
to GEORGE W. BUSH . . .
|
| |
| Click here
to check out a review of an Independents show back on August 10
at The Hustler in Florida with The Cryptkeeper Five and Green Goblyn
Project. |
| |
| Check
out the
MTV
Online website for a few past news stories and reviews of Joey
Ramone and The Independents. |
| Review of The Independents
tour: |
| Independents rock Savannah! In the last two weeks
The Independents have played twice. I booked them for a show at
Felicias Soundlab a few weeks back and they played on October 7th
at the Velvet Elvis. The Independents are a ska/punk band from Florence
South Carolina. They are on Rancid's label Hellcat Records . The
Independents are very cool because they are like
The Misfits but the difference is that they are predominantly
ska. They wear dark clothing and have very long hair. If you didn't
know better you'd think they were a metal band! They start their
set off with a big burst of flame at the beginning of the first
song. When the first beat comes in, all the kids start skankin'
in the pit. It puts a smile on my face just thinkin' about it! The
singer (Evil Presly) is always getting in people's faces with the
microphone and is moving from one end of the club to the other.
They did about 3 encores and played Ramones, Misfits and Danzig
covers. The band ended their set with "Mother", a crowd favorite
and sing-along. If any one wants to catch them again, I'll be booking
them, The Unpersons , Roswell , Confusion Zero and The F**k Ups
at Felicias on November 30th. Be there! |
The
Independents
Monday 20th March
Meow Mix "Chick Bar", NYC
Review by Mick Richardson |
A chilly
winter night in New York City and a contingent
of punks are just trying to keep rock n' roll music alive.
The Meow Mix is a small, grubby bar in Manhattan's Lower East Side,
sleazy to the max, the perfect setting for a night of horror punk
with The Independents.
Joe's
proteges are in the middle of a short run of shows in NYC and
New Jersey, and after a Friday night gig at The Continental, should
be all revved up and ready to go for this one. They are.
This
was my first exposure to The Independents, and having heard them
described as "ska", I must admit to approaching it with
a bit of trepidation. If, like me, you are not a big fan of the
ska genre, don't let that stop you seeking out The Independents.
They rock, they roll, they fucking wail, their music is tinged
with ska sometimes.
U.S
punk'n'roll of the nastiest kind, two belting guitars, block-pounding
rhythm section and er, yeah, Evil Presly. I was expecting a be-quiffed,
goth-looking lip-curler with a name like that. In reality, Mr
Presly is something that the cat would rather claw its own eyes
out than drag in. Ripped leather, ripped denim, ripped throat,
more hair than Robert Plant, and this geezer is in your face.
Physically.
The
Independents launch straight into it with a will that only an
honest rock n' roll band can. I regret not being familiar with
their songs, because it seems that everyone in this bar except
me knows every word of every song, as they ride through a great
knees-up of a set, full of memorable tunes.
If Evil
Presly enjoys being on stage, he doesn't show it, as he spends
the entire set in the audience, most of the time with his nose
pressed into the face of anyone stupid enough not to run away.
I quickly suss out how long is microphone lead is, and beat a
tactical withdrawal to a safe haven just out of his evil reach.
As I mentioned earlier, I'm the only one not singing along and
I get the impression that if the mic gets shoved in my gob, a
nervous chant of "la-la-la" will not impress anyone.
It seems
like The Independents have made good friends in NYC and this shows
with the gleeful audience participation, so refreshing compared
to the majority of live shows, where we are merely spectators
to the event. This is The Rocky Horror Show without the discomfort
of skimpy knickers.
After
their set, I have the pleasure of chatting and drinking with guitarist
and keyboard-player Blackie, who tells me they are still struggling
to replace all their equipment that was nicked last year. You
will probably recall from a previous Newsletter, the story of
their van, containing all the band's gear, going missing. Apparently
the insurance company have not paid out, so the band have soldiered
on, relying on friend and rivals to loan their equipment at each
venue. On a happier note, Blackie informs me that The Independents
are hoping to sign to a European record label
imminently, which could well mean a European tour, including UK
dates. Bidding my new amigo adios, Blackie asks me to convey
greetings to Veronica and all her readers. The Independents -
I can see why Joey likes them.
|
| |
| Click here
for a review of Joey Ramones Holiday Bash
on December 9, 1997 at The Continental in NYC on 'NBCI.com'.
|
| |
| Click here
for a review of Joey Ramones Bash, July 4,
1997 at Coney Island High, NYC on the 'In Music We Trust' web zine.
|
|
