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Rating: August 31, 2015, a punk hardcore legend, Jello Biafra, arrives in Milan with the Guantanamo School of Medicine and performs in a concert that can only be described in one way: insane!
The Legend, a small but nice club, is packed and there are about 300 people attending what, for me, was the concert of 2015.
He appears on stage wearing a jacket, a top hat, and a walking cane, thanks the audience for coming, thanks the support band, the Italian Ashpipe, and then criticizes the audience (and here, unfortunately, he hits me too) for not attending the "local band" show, then immediately kicks off with "Brown Lipstick Parade" and from the first song, it's clear that it's going to be an overwhelming concert!
Jello is an exceptional performer, a true showman: he involves the audience, mimics various skits to each song, doesn't stop for a second, dives three times into the frenzied crowd, and upon popular request, returns to the stage for two encores, all while maintaining a voice at an outstandingly high level.
The accompanying band (Ralph Spight on guitar, Kimo Ball on guitar, Andrew Weiss on bass, and Paul Della Pelle on drums) plays well and does an excellent job of leaving most of the spotlight to Jello (only Ralph jumps onto the barriers a couple of times). On the other hand, how else could it be? Jello is truly an amazing singer, has an incredible charisma, it almost seems like the years have not passed for him and, considering what kind of concert he delivered at the age of 57, I can only imagine what he was capable of during his early days with the Dead Kennedys.
There's no need to list the concert's set, Jello fires off various songs from his albums with the Guantanamo School Of Medicine interspersed with classics from the Dead Kennedys (California Uber Alles, Nazi Punk Fuck Off, Holiday in Cambodia, Chemical Warfare, Kill The Poor). Of course, there are the political speeches, never trivial or boring and always intelligent, against racists, fascists, austerity policies, and anti-immigrant policies.
The concert, which lasted more than an hour and a half, ends with the anthem Shock-U-Py, during which he approaches me, bends down, hands me the microphone, and I get to sing a line of the song ("We Won't take it anymore!" for the record) alongside him!
Excuse me for this last personal digression, but damn, I sang with Jello Biafra!!!
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