Billed as a night of spoken word, rare footage and a live Ramones set with their former sticksman himself sitting on the drum stool, it soon becomes apparent that this is merely going to be another example of an ex-punk flogging a dead horse.
The clips of footage which begin the show are initially promising, the sight of hundreds of fans going apeshit and running after the band’s beat-up van offering hilarious proof of the explosive impact they had by returning to the primal energy of rock’n’roll and simply making it fun again.
But the prospect of getting a real insight into the myth of ‘the bruddas’ quickly diminishes once Marky steps onto the small stage and starts spilling out his life story in a droning Brooklyn drawl. He comes across as a less beat-up Jake La Motta, and seems about as authentic as the people who buy Ramones t-shirts for exorbitant prices in Urban Outfitters despite not owning any of their records.
Obviously there wasn’t much point expecting a sociological investigation into the band’s impact – but most of the time Marky seemed more concerned with bearing out old grudges rather than talking about the group’s music or its impact. At one stage he embarks on a lengthy diss of late bassist Dee Dee before sighing, “Well anyway, back to The Ramones”, while legendary leader Joey barely gets a mention. (Dee Dee, incidentally, gets one of the biggest cheers of the night when the footage is shown of him accepting a Hall of Fame award with the words “I’d just like to thank myself, praise myself, and give myself a big pat on the back”).
The night is partially redeemed when Marky at last shuts his trap and gets behind the drums to bash out a Ramones set with two former members of the UK Subs. Though nothing a superior covers band could not pull off, it’s pretty much impossible not to get excited when the likes of ‘Beat On The Brat’, ‘Rock’n’Roll High School’ and ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ are blasted out at volume. Definitely a case where the music should have been left to do all the talking.