Superman may be dead, but the punk spirit is quite alive! Friday night was intense. I was really proud of the art… the paintings, prints, photos, and installation that Dennis and I put together, but my greatest excitement was for the live show with Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, Billy Idol of Generation X, Clem Burke of Blondie, and Leigh Gorman of Bow Wow Wow. The band is a supergroup of people who helped to shape the sounds of Punk and New Wave. Considering that these bands were all very important to me growing up, to have their members playing in our parking lot was surreal. I guess I was not the only one excited to see the band (and maybe the art), because about 2,000 people showed up, including music lovers like Flea, Moby, Gary Numan, Travis Barker, Steve Stevens, Linda Ramone, Fred Armisen, David Arquette, and others. We were also joined by the stickler fire marshall who was regulating the gallery and stage area capacity, meaning that many of our lovely guests were denied entry… Still, people watched the band perched on top of cars and walls and were dancing in the streets. I couldn’t have had a better time. Dennis Morris’s daughter Pearl warmed up the crowd with three of her own songs, and she sings beautifully! The main event was blistering energy with the band Ritchie Love (named in tribute to Sid’s real name: John Simon Ritchie) ripping through “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, “Somethin’ Else”, “Silly Thing”, “C’mon Everybody”, “Dancing With Myself”, “No Fun”, “My Way”, and “Waiting For The Man”. The band seemed to have a blast, and if the whole experience wasn’t seared in my brain thoroughly enough, Clem Burke signed me his drum sticks as a memento. Fortunately, Jon Furlong of Obey Clothing was there to capture all the action in photos… enjoy! Oh, and if you didn’t get to see the art, it is up until Jan. 11. The remaining Sid letterpress box sets will go for sale on OBEYGIANT.com Dec. 19, so if you are in LA and want to be sure to get a set, come by Subliminal Projects between now and then. Thanks for the support!
-Shepard