Beers And Bones Festival

Now in its third edition, Palermo's "Beers and Bones Festival" has become a not-to-be-missed event for punk-rock devotees (and beyond). Over two nights, July 23rd and 24th, eight bands took the stage at the Bier Garten, including internationally renowned guests such as Marky Ramone and the Queers.

On the scorching evening of the 23rd, it was up to Palermo's own Urania to open the show. This writer had the pleasure of co-founding the band, active for seven years playing energetic instrumental surf music inspired by historic artists such as Dick Dale and the Lively Ones. Urania played some of the classics from their repertoire and a vampish (and much appreciated) cover of "Secret Agent Man". To close, there was of course "Uranoid", their original take on the Black Sabbath classic "Paranoid".

Next up on stage was Margaret Doll Rod, member of the Demolition Doll Rods, here appearing as a one-woman-band. Margaret does everything herself: she sings, plays guitar, bass drum, and on some songs even harmonica. Her songs are marked by very raw, garage-rooted sounds, accompanied by guitar poses that show off a knockout physique: the impression is that Margaret wins over the crowd more through her poses than her music, but it hardly matters, since the show is guaranteed either way.

The Veneto duo Mojomatics is a very pleasant surprise: with a look that winks at the '50s, and an original mix of vintage sounds and punk-rock, the two play energetic songs with flawless execution.

Finally, the first night closed with a long set by Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti, particularly well received by the younger crowd. As usual, the three "guys" appeared before the audience wearing their skull masks (which they would soon shed due to the heat). Among many others, there was no shortage of tracks from their latest album, including the rousing "Mio fratellino ha scoperto il rock'n'roll".

The second leg of the festival leaned more heavily into punk-rock, in the spirit of: Marky Ramone and his heirs.

The evening started heating up with Duff, a Calabrian band delivering a cutting hardcore sound indebted to bands like Pennywise and NOFX, but with a distinctly "made in Italy" flavor.

Next came the much-anticipated return of a historic Palermo band, Semprefreski, reunited especially for the occasion. Paolo Ciaccio (vocals), Bizio Rizzo (guitar, and also the festival's organizer) and bandmates set the Bier Garten crowd ablaze with their explosive punk-hardcore, alternating a few milestones from their back catalogue with a handful of covers, including a blistering version of the Ramones' "The KKK Took My Baby Away" (which turned out far better than the one we'd hear later).

The performance that followed was the one everyone had been waiting for, featuring the festival's "big name": Marky Ramone. For those who don't know, Marky truly is a figure who made rock history: he was first the drummer for Richard Hell's Voidoids, and then, from '78 onward, the drummer for the Ramones. Today he's the only member to have survived the calamities that struck the band, which took Joey, Dee Dee and Johnny in the span of just five years.

Arriving in Palermo during his international tour, the drummer took the stage backed by two members of the Queers and Argentine singer Sebastian, frontman of Expulsados. The band ran through a broad Ramones set (the full setlist is listed alongside), including staples like "Sheena is a Punk-Rocker", "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Beat On The Brat", "Rockaway Beach", "Pet Sematary" and many other milestones. Marky proved to still be a powerhouse drummer, showing no sign of his fifty-one years as he tore through the frantic rhythms of one of the bands that changed the course of rock history. Joe Queer's guitar work rose to the occasion, though some songs seemed to lose a bit of their historical weight. The one sour note was a singer who suffers too much under the burden of imitating Joey Ramone, coming across as a rather pale copy (though, really, how could it be otherwise?). Still, there was no shortage of energy, and the crowd wasn't too fussy about faithfulness to the originals, even if at times things felt a bit underwhelming for anyone not throwing themselves into the "pogo": the low point came with a version of "The KKK Took My Baby Away" in which the singer couldn't find the right key until the very end; the highlight, on the other hand, was "I Just Want To Have Something To Do", a song from "Road To Ruin" (1978) that, hearing it again, sounds like it was written yesterday: with its explosive finale driven by Marky Ramone's drum barrages, it was one of the most electrifying moments of the night.

The honor of closing the night, and the festival, fell to the American Queers, a cult band active for more than fifteen years now, purveyors of a sparkling punk-pop that owes an enormous debt to the Ramones (and, as one more tribute, they wouldn't miss the chance to cover the band again). Joe Queer and co. ran through a broad set including some tracks from the excellent "Don't Back Down" (1996).

With the hope that the fourth edition of the festival will live up to the goals partly achieved with this third one, the date is already set for next year.

photographs by Ignazio Torres

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