Behind the Blog: Jello Biafra @ The Pyramid

First off I want to mention that I will have a few more off-topic blog assignments coming up in the next few weeks, so I'll try to even it out with as many regular posts about music as possible. Don't want all you internet people to lose interest, now do I?

On to the good stuff. Last night punk rock legend Jello Biafra, best known as the lead singer in the Dead Kennedys, was in town with his new band The Guantanamo School of Medicine. I saw part of their set at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans on Halloween last year, but had to leave early to see (not bragging) George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars. Had to be done.

Those not familiar with Jello may be surprised at the amount of talking he does during his shows. Their songs are punctuated with long speeches about all sorts of topics, mostly political. He has always combined his political views with his sarcastic sense of humour to educate the audience. Sometimes it's just random goofiness, but usually there is a message behind what he says. He gets into stuff that just confuses me, and I'm not here to write about politics (at least not this time) so I'll just stick to the band.

His new band is much heavier than the Dead Kennedys, but similar enough that people who come for that are satisfied. They also do a few DK covers to keep the crowd happy. Jello hasn't changed much over the years, aside from a few extra pounds and a little less hair. His trademark nasally near-lisp hasn't changed at all, and his stage antics are wild. Watching him on stage, you would never guess that he is now 52.

The show last night at The Pyramid Cabaret was a 90 minute frenzy. The crowd was pretty nuts, although small, and the mosh pit rarely slowed down. Jello made it clear right from the start that this would be a no bullshit night, calling out two guys standing right up front. "Oh, by the way, if you two are here to fight, get the fuck out of this room right now. There will be no fuckin' fighting tonight." And he meant it. When a scuffle broke out during the second encore, Jello stopped the song to make sure it was broken up. His roadies were busy trying to keep people from rolling onto the stage and accidentally unplugging anything. All in all, it was a sweaty good time.

The band has one album out, The Audacity of Hype, which is a modest 9 songs long. They had a new EP coming out in spring.

I found a few good quality videos from the first time I saw Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, so here they are.

Three Strikes