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punk roundup: CBGB Fest, Greg Ginn, Rollins, Off!, Dead Kennedys, Menzingers, Vibrators, Wreckless Eric & more

Cheetah Chrome w/ RFTT at Maxwell’s in 2011 (more by Greg Cristman)
Cheetah Chrome

The CBGB Festival kicks off on Thursday (7/5) and continues through Sunday (7/8). We’ve mentioned a bunch of the festival’s shows like the free Central Park show with Guided by Voices, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Cloud Nothings, and the War on Drugs, the Webster Hall show with Agnostic Front, Madball, and Murphy’s Law (who also play a Rocks Off Cruise), Fishbone at Brooklyn Bowl, the Webster Hall show with Cro-Mags and Sick of it All, and many others. However, if you’re looking for others artists that helped define punk and/or make CBGB the legendary venue it is, there are plenty of options for that too.

On Thursday (7/5), The Bowery Electric is hosting a huge show with Tommy Ramone (who drummed on and co-produced the first three Ramones albums), Cheetah Chrome (of Dead Boys/Rocket from the Tombs), The Waldos (ft. Walter Lure of Johnny Thunders’ Heartbreakers), Bear 54 (ft. Ernie Brooks of The Modern Lovers), Andy Shernoff (of The Dictators), Richard Lloyd (of Television), The Miamis, The Sic Fucks, and many more. Tickets for that show are available.

That same day (7/5), David Johansen (of New York Dolls) will be playing Sullivan Hall with Daddy Long Legs, Liza Colby & The Sound Machine, Andy & the Rattles, and a late night set by Strawberry Jam. Tickets for that show are available.

Also on Thursday (7/5), you can catch Glen Matlock (of The Sex Pistols) at, wait for it… singer-songwrter mainstay The Living Room with California, Jaymay, Lou-is, and Aurical.

Check the CBGB Festival site for more.

Hilly Kristal entering CBGB on its final night (more)
Hilly Kristal

The CBGB Festival isn’t the only place to catch CBGB legends though. Like they’ve done in the past, Bowery Electric (a venue very close to where CBGB was) will host Johnny Thunders Birthday Bash, a celebration of the late musician, on July 15, when he would have turned 60 (he passed away in 1991). That show features Walter Lure, Alison Gordy, Andy Shernoff, and many more. Tickets are on sale.

Patti Smith will be touring with Neil Young later this year, which hits NYC for two shows (MSG on 11/27 and Barclays Center on 12/3). Patti also plays a sold out show at the Met, on September 28 (a tribute to Andy Warhol).

Blondie will be touring with Devo later this year. Unfortunately, that tour does not come to NYC.

But enough about NYC punks — California’s late 70s/early 80s hardcore scene is getting some pretty solid representation in NYC this summer too. The current version of Dead Kennedys (who no longer count frontman Jello Biafra as a member) will be playing a show at Santos Party House on July 31 with Cerebral Ballzy. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Cali punks Agent Orange will be heading out on an east coast tour with The Queers, which comes to NYC for a Rocks Off Cruise on August 18. Tickets for that show are available. All dates on this tour are listed below.

Greg Ginn at Issue Project Room in 2010 (more by Lori Bally)
Greg Ginn

Black Flag founder/guitarist and SST Records founder Greg Ginn will be in NYC for two shows (early and late) with his new project Greg Ginn and the Royal We at The Iridium on July 29, and two more shows at the venue the next night (7/30) with the Les Paul Trio. Tickets for all four Iridium shows are on sale now.

Long-running Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins is heading out on a spoken word tour which hits the capitals of all 50 states. That means the NY show is in Albany and not too close to NYC, but you might have better luck checking out the Trenton, NJ show. The Trenton show is at the Jersey State Museum Auditorium and unfortunately not City Gardens, which is now closed, but during its existence had seen tons of great tours come through including multiple Henry Rollins appearances. A City Gardens documentary is in the works and due in 2013. The other tri-state area date on Henry’s tour is Hartford, CT’s Webster Theater.

Meanwhile, Keith Morris, who was a Black Flag frontman before Rollins joined, will be in NYC with his band OFF!, when their tour with Refused comes to Williamsburg Park on July 18. Tickets for that show are still available.

While we’re on the topic of punk shows in Williamsburg Park, as mentioned, Riot Fest Brooklyn goes down at the outdoor venue on September 8 with Descendents, Hot Water Music, Gogol Bordello, The Bronx, Screaming Females, The Menzingers, and Larry and His Flask. Tickets for Riot Fest Brooklyn are still available.

Speaking of The Menzingers, they have a new live acoustic video for “Ava House” off their 2012 LP, On the Impossible Past, which you can check out below. You can catch them on their tour with The Bouncing Souls, which hits NYC for a show at Brooklyn Bowl on August 5. Tickets for that show are still available.

In other punk news, as mentioned, H2O, 7 Seconds, and Tournament play House of Vans on July 12. 7 Seconds frontman Kevin Seconds is working on a new album which is due out this year. You can check out the album’s closing track, “Oh, Rhonda,” at the bottom of this post. The entire 2012 House of Vans schedule was also just announced, Turbonegro included. UPDATE: you can also now RSVP for the 7 Seconds show.

Street Dogs will be in NYC for a show at Highline Ballroom on September 15 with Koffin Kats and special guests. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

As mentioned, the Fat Wreck/Rocks Off CMJ showcase happens on October 19 at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Lagwagon, Dead To Me, Flatliners, and Useless ID. Tickets for that show are still available. That same lineup also plays a Rocks Off Cruise the next day (10/20). Tickets for the boat show are available. And Lagwagon are also one of the bands currently announced for this year’s Fun Fun Fun Fest.

As mentioned, Leftover Crack plays Warsaw on Sunday (7/8) with Crackbox and more TBA. That show appears to now be sold out (though we are waiting on confirmation of that). UPDATE: this is CANCELLED.

Another anarcho-punk option for Williamsburg this weekend is NYHC band Reagan Youth who are playing The Grand Victory (245 Grand St.) on Friday (7/6) with Dust Angel (ft. Reagan Youth guitarist Paul Cripple), Geek Skull, Lords of Death, and Empty Vessel.

As mentioned, crossover thrashers D.R.I. and Mucky Pup are teaming up for a tour which hits NYC on December 8 at The Studio at Webster Hall with support from No Redeeming Social Value, Undivided, and Blackout Shoppers. TIckets for that show are still available.

There’s also a number of punk shows at Acheron this week.

Before we wrap this up, a bit more about classic UK punk making its way to NYC this summer/early fall. In addition to Sex Pistol Glen Matlock, who’s here this week for CBGB Fest, The Vibrators will be in NYC for a show at The Bowery Electric on September 29. Tickets for that are on sale now.

Wreckless Eric, who veers a bit more on the new wave/power pop side of punk, will play Bowery Electric on September 7 as part of a duo with his wife Amy Rigby. They also play September 13 at The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, his song “(I’d Go) The Whole Wide World” probably does. It’s seen some revived popularity in recent years due to Will Ferrell singing it in Stranger than Fiction. Tickets for both NYC area shows are on sale now.

Did we miss anything good?

Videos and lists of tour dates below…


DEAD BOYS – LIVE AT CBGB 1977

Kevin Seconds – “Oh, Rhonda”

The Queers/Agent Orange — 2012 Tour Dates
Aug 9, 2012 Baltimore, MD SONAR
Aug 10, 2012 Pittsburgh, PA The Ironworks
Aug 11, 2012 Cleveland, OH The Grog Shop
Aug 12, 2012 Buffalo, NY Mohawk Place
Aug 14, 2012 Burlington, VT Metronome
Aug 15, 2012 Pittsfield, MA Chameleons
Aug 16, 2012 Dover, NH Dover Brickhouse*
Aug 17, 2012 Boston, MA Rock On Concert Cruise
Aug 18, 2012 New York, NY Rock’s Off Concert Cruise


The Menzingers – “Ava House” Live / Acoustic

The Menzingers — 2012 Tour Dates
all dates w/ Bouncing Souls & Luther unless otherwise noted
07.07.12 – Silverado, CA- Oak Canyon Ranch Orange County
07.08.12 – Mesa, AZ – Nile Theatre
07.11.12 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues
07.12.12 – Los Angeles, CA – Mayan
07.13.12 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
07.14.12 – SanLuis Obispo, CA – Slo Brew
07.17.12 – San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
07.18.12 – San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
07.20.12 – Sparks, NV – The Alley
07.21.12 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
07.22.12 – Seattle, WA – Chop Suey
07.23.12 – Vancouver, BC – Venue Nightclub
07.25.12 – Salt Lake City, UT – In The Venue
07.26.12 – Denver,CO – Summit Music Hall
07.27.12 – Omaha, NE – Sokol Underground
07.28.12 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
07.29.12 – Chicago, IL – Metro
07.31.12 – Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
08.01.12 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
08.02.12 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre
08.03.12 – Allentown, PA – Crocodile Rock
08.04.12 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
08.05.12 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl
09.08.12 – Brooklyn, NY – Williamsburg Park ^
^ – w/ Descendents, Gogol Bordello, Hot Water Music, The Bronx, Screaming Females, Larry and His Flask


The Ramones Pinhead Live at CBGB 1977