Let's face the facts: tribute bands are viewed by most musicians and critics as being slightly less heinous than dealing heroin to 8 year olds. The prejudicial chuckles and snide asides reserved for tribute bands almost always follow the same themes; no creativity, sellout, obsessive fanaticism, etc. There was even a movie chronicling the lives of tribute bands that was quite condescending and downright mean spirited. Furthermore, the Ramones are often mislabeled as three chord wonders, with little in the way of musical talent. After spending considerable time dissecting, learning, and performing their songs, I can assure you that anyone claiming as such is a clueless fucking moron.
We were all well aware of the stereotypes, as well as the inherent contradiction in forming a punk rock tribute band when the decision was made to forge ahead with this project. We also knew that we'd better be as musically and visually accurate as humanly possible, as Ramones fans seem to know more about them than fans of other bands with far higher profiles. Compounding all of this was the fact that we were doing all of this in Seattle, a city crawling with jaded hipsters and old school punks. So sucking was simply out of the question.
We got our first gig (and first press) after showing up in costume at the Fun House to check out a Ramones cover band. Our first appearance was unpublicized, save for word of mouth. After seven months of frantic phone calls, Kinkos runs, technical malfunctions, and painful arms, I feel we've accomplished quite a bit. We've shared stages with friends and idols. We've won over a wide variety of new fans of all stripes. We've played all over the region to rabid crowds large and small. We headlined a New Years Eve show that was nothing short of un-fucking-real! Most importantly, we've grown as musicians and grown closer as friends.
Unfortunately, we lost another Ramone this year (R.I.P. Johnny.) On the bright side, we gained an amazing Ramones documentary, "End Of The Century." Their music is reaching new audiences every day in commercials, during sporting events, and on the radio (FINALLY!!!) Considering the Ramones never had a hit single or album (yet managed to completely alter the musical landscape as we know it) I'm in awe as to how having a repertoire of 25 songs, we still feel like we need to learn at least ten more. That doesn't count the personal favorites people ask us if we know.
Our goal in starting this band was to have fun keeping some of our favorite music alive, while paying our respects to quite possibly the most criminally underrated band ever. I think we're succeeding. Thank all of you for your support, at the shows and on this site. It is you that makes it all worthwhile.
See you soon....
Rich Evans