DEAD MILKMEN @ TROUBADOUR

My first intro to the Dead Milkmen was while researching the Vietnam War in middle school and stumbling on "Beach Party Vietnam," a jaunty tune from their 1986 album Eat Your Paisley! Between my then un-diagnosed ADD and too many viewings of Beach Blanket Bingo, my takeaway as a dumb 14 year old was that the Vietnam War was full of punk rockers saving bikini clad Gidget-types from buzz-saws run by the biker gang The Viet-Congs. In a very abstract, really vague, definitely wrong kind of way...I wasn't totally off base.

Frankie Avalon just needs a good ole Punk Rock Girl to eat pizza with. 

While most of their albums came out in the late 80's and early 90's, the Milkmen are still going strong, as evident by their incredible performance last night at my favorite venue the Troubadour.

At this point you may be wondering how a blonde haired, floral print wearing, J. Crew-loving girl like me is going to fit in with a room full of aging punkers, without resorting to "this is my rock and roll outfit, look at the leather, down with the man." Well kids, I decided to wear...whatever the hell I wanted, which happened to be exactly what Kanye was wearing the last time anyone caught him smiling in public.

Look, he's doing it! He's smiling! ...And it's gone. 

If I want to wear a chambray shirt and J. Crew jeans (pre-ripped!), I will. I'm never going to be a crusty biker babe who chews on scrap metal and doesn't bathe, and if I tried to be, you could see right through it to my cashmere sweater soul. It's always far better to be yourself than to throw on a costume. Though maybe leave the cashmere at home when venturing out to places where things have a tendency to spill...

Back to important matters - the show. It was great. Really, really great. Regrettably we missed the opener, Fartbarf, because we were way too into our dinner of pork tamales and wine, so I'll share a clip with you here to make up for it (starring my favorite one-time carpool passenger, Miss October 2011, Amanda Cerny):


We walked in the door just as Rodney & Co. were sliding into "Nutrition" - and they didn't stop playing until ten songs later, which doesn't even really count as a stop since it was basically an elongated intro to "Stuart." Of course, what really got people going was possibly their biggest song, Punk Rock Girl.


I don't think Joe got a word in edgewise; the crowd was singing every word at the top of their lungs. Speaking of, the crowd was kind of amazing. Everyone was happy to be there, and while there were more than a couple mean mugs wandering around, I heard more "excuse me's" and "thank you's" than anything else. It was just one big pit of happy fans enjoying a nice Sunday mosh.

I didn't take any pictures since I was, you know, listening to this amazing band, but I will leave you with this sample of the night, taken during "If You Love Somebody, Set Them On Fire." Yes, this is absolutely the worst quality I could manage, plus it's vertical. #NoRagrets.