LOS ANGELES -- X, Black Flag and other stalwart bands from the
early Los Angeles punk scene are reuniting here for the Punk Rock Hall
of Fame Awards on Saturday.
Hosted by Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin and punk-lounge singer Hal
Negro, the event, which is already sold out, will be held at Track 16
art gallery in Santa Monica, Calif. Scheduled to perform are X, Black
Flag (with original vocalist Keith Morris), the Circle Jerks, the
Adolescents, the Crowd, the Flesheaters, T.S.O.L., the Urinals, Human
Hands and Rik L. Rik. Devo also may make an appearance.
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"It's going to be a trip down memory lane, but with a keep-on-going-down-the-lane [vibe]." -- John Roecker, event organizer
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According to event organizer John Roecker, each band will be presented
with a Punk Rock Hall of Fame Award resembling a platinum-record award
certification.
"This is my way of saying thank you to everyone who contributed to the
exhibit," said Roecker, who is a collector of punk memorabilia. "And it
is the end of the century. It's also the closing of the chapter."
The awards show, which Roecker called a "tongue-in-cheek ceremony," marks
the closing of "Forming: the Early Days of L.A. Punk 1976-1982" -- a
mixed-media exhibit that opened at Track 16 in April. About half the items
in the gallery show -- which features such mementos of the era as fliers,
photos, buttons and lyric sheets -- were taken from Roecker's personal
collection.
Although there are no more tickets available, Saturday's event will be captured on videotape for a possible future release that may also include a tour of the gallery that was given by X singer and exhibit co-curator Exene Cervenka. The tour, which was filmed last weekend, parodies former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy's famous tour of the White House, Roecker said.
In addition to creating a reunion for the punk vets, the ceremony will
keep an eye toward the future. A number of latter-day Southern California
musicians influenced by the first wave of local punk rockers will be on
hand to present awards and to play along with the bands. L7 frontwoman
Donita Sparks, for example, will fill in on guitar for Billy Zoom during
X's set.
Additionally, members of neo-punk bands Pennywise and Rancid will be
presenters, with Pennywise frontman Jim Lindberg honoring X. "I'm just
a huge X fan and always have been, and it's a real honor for me to be up
there and giving an award to [them]," said Lindberg, who claims he's
seen more X shows than anyone in the world. X are expected to play such
songs as "Fourth of July" (RealAudio excerpt).
Because Go-Go's singer Belinda Carlisle is in France, Wiedlin will
perform with Alice Bag (born Alice Armendariz) of the Bags, whose former
bandmates, Rob Ritter and Craig Lee, are both deceased. Drummer Josh
Freese, currently of Guns n' Roses, will hit the skins for the Weirdos,
who will include original members John and Dix Denney (vocals and guitar,
respectively) and bassist Cliff Roman.
The Circle Jerks' performance will feature Morris, guitarist Greg Hetson
and bassist Mike Watt.
T.S.O.L.'s set will mark the band's first gig in more than 10 years and
will serve as a warm-up for its upcoming summer tour.
In addition to the musicians' awards, KROQ-FM DJ Rodney Bingenheimer will receive a lifetime achievement award for his pivotal support of the scene. "Without Rodney, we wouldn't be there," said Roecker, who recalled a story about Bad Religion's visit to KROQ in 1980 to give Bingenheimer a tape. Reportedly, the DJ aired it before the bandmembers were back in their car.
Bingenheimer also will present the vanguard award for continual support of the punk-rock scene to Epitaph -- the punk-oriented record label started by former Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz.
"What we basically want to do is say that [punk] is not a dead medium," Roecker said. "It's going to be a trip down memory lane but with a keep-on-going-down-the-lane [vibe]."
Performance artist awards will go to Johanna Went and comedian Paul Reubens (a.k.a. Pee Wee Herman). Reubens opened as a performance artist for such bands as X and the Go-Go's, while his "Pee Wee's Playhouse" once was a regular act at the Roxy Theatre.
Roecker hopes the ceremony will carry on as an annual event. "It'd be nice," he said. "You have to start somewhere."
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