March 30, 1974: The Ramones, the pride of Forest Hills, Queens, play their first public concert together at Performance Studio, a small space on East 20th Street* managed by future member Tommy Erdelyi (later Tommy Ramone). For their debut set, there were just three of them, and Dee Dee Ramone sang lead
How did it go? Johnny Ramone: “We were awful. We didn’t have the image down yet. Our friends didn’t even want to talk to us anymore after that.”
The jumbled mess of a set did not please an audience comprised of mostly friends, who paid $2 for the privilege of seeing a visible nervous Dee Dee Ramone accidentally crush his bass underfoot.
It would take a few months for the band to get their musical footage, in time for their debut at CBGB’s on August 16th.
It’s spring – I’m in a new city – new job – and new “status.” So far, as rough as it has been, things are coming together. I’ve met some new people and like the job. There are some differences between PDX and NYC – well, ok, a lot of them – but the small things I tend to miss but also are thankful for such as places that deliver. Not many do in PDX and this forces me to either cook more, make an effort to get food, or whine and starve. I rarely do the latter but that’s not to say I haven’t before then moving to option 1 or 2.
Jen and I are living together as roommates which sounds stranger than it is – it’s quite comfortable and we’re adjusting to not being “together.” Some days it’s hard and other days it’s ok. We still talk about areas in our 5 1/2 year relationship where we could have been better to each other, could have approached each other differently, and could have avoided an argument… We’re both learning what “not” to do for the future. It also helps us realize what we can do to make our friendship stronger since we both don’t want to not be in each other’s lives.
This past weekend was great weather and I spent most of Saturday outside – first at a farmer’s market, then walking around my yards pulling dandelions (UGH), and then later at a BBQ near my house where I met several people who live in the area – most were married with kids and most were straight… give or take a few.
I notice a very strong butch/femme dynamic here – more so than I had seen in NYC – I wonder how much of it is a reaction to the past several years of us being bombarded with pink and blue syndrome and family values… like as much as we may try to rebel and say we won’t adhere to gender roles we do… I would flush that out more but I won’t.
Final note: If I keep dropping my iPhone – it’s gonna break. It already has a few hairline cracks and scratches on the glass… if this happens – I may cry for about 5 min and then get another one… because I’m a jerk.
- BoingBoing caught wind of it and it sky rocketed today… but there’s one video that did not make it because it wasn’t completed – however it is probably the funniest thing I’ve seen in a LONG TIME by my friend Emily:
