Category Archives: Archive

The Dictators’ Kentucky Tour, May 10-11, 2002
 
Another year, another Dictators-related road trip, this time to the land of the Kentucky Derby, Muhammad Ali, mint juleps, Fort Knox and the Louisville Slugger.
 
As soon as Salvi arrived at Midway early Friday, we hit the road toward the glorious bluegrass of Kentucky, by way of Cincy, home of our future RTB friend, Dawnowar. Passing Riverfront Stadium (we shoulda caught a few innings), and it’s still-under-construction replacement, crossing the Ohio, into sleepy Newport, Kentucky, home of the Southgate House, site of the Dictators’ first-ever Kentucky gig.
 
The Southgate House is on my shortlist of cool rock venues. A huge mansion near the river, a bar & restaurant upstairs, and in the basement, a ballroom/concert hall that had served as the birthplace of the Thompson Submachine Gun (see Al Capone). Tables and chairs surrounded a dance floor, great sound, good sightlines and cold, cheap beer.
 
Cincinnati band Thee Shams opened with a tough set. The Dictators took the stage, clawing through a 19-song, 76-minute set — heavy on “D.F.F.D.” — with HDM proclaiming, “We can’t curse tomorrow night, so we’re gonna curse a lot tonight.” (He did). At one point a tipsy, short-shorts-wearing Kentucky woman hip-checked our table, sending my old film Kodak flying, never to take another picture. But like a bat broken delivering a game-winning hit, it died happy. The Dictators’ set flew by in a blur, it wasn’t until we later listened to Sal’s tape that we realized just how fierce that set was. The weekend was off to a kickazz start.

Continue reading →

April 12 marked the anniversary of 1997′s star-studded Tom Clark Benefit at Brownie’s in NYC. The DFFD Blog asked Dictators fan Adam Gerstein for his memories of the show.

So I get an email from Sal, who I have not heard from lately, asking me to remember the night that the Dictators played at the Tom Clark Benefit at Brownie’s in 1997. How can I forget that night — it was the night I rediscovered the band who probably has been my favorite band of the last 15 years … and that is saying a lot, as I go to a lot of live shows. Below is a review I did after the show for the Babel list (Patti Smith list) in 1997:
 
“Lenny Kaye was the first band that I saw last night. I used to see the Lenny Kaye Connection all over NYC and they were always fun. However, I always appreciated Lenny more of a backing musician with Patti rather than on his own due to the limited range of his voice. He put on an animated set and the interplay between J.D., Tony, and Lenny was great.  

Jim Carroll surprised the hell out of me. I have seen him stumble on many stages since the seventies, but last night he looked fit (hard to imagine) and healthy. Then again he never played with a band as good as the guys last night. In addition to playing with J.D., Lenny, and Tony, he also played with Adam Roth, who added tasty slide leads. ”Catholic Boy” and “People Who Died” were the standouts last night and Carroll definitely impressed the crowd.

Continue reading →

As we documented in the last post, the Summer of 1991 had our heroes on the road again. This revamped juggernaut wiped out Chicago on this date in 1991. The boys played the Avalon with the Lunachicks and Spinout in support. Here are some memories of the gig from our Senior Midwest correspondent, Robbie Q:

The Avalon was formerly known as The Quiet Knight, a truly legendary folk/rock/blues/comedy club. It was located on the second floor of a building at Belmont & Sheffield, just a bit south of Wrigley Field.
 
Many future stars played there in the ’60s & ’70s. Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Bob Marley, Bonnie Raitt, Warren Zevon, the Kinkster, even Jimmy Buffett played there before they were stars. But by the time punk hit, the place was declining, as was the neighborhood, and it finally closed, reopening as “Tut’s,” becoming a cornerstone of the Chicago punk scene, then finally becoming the Avalon. I don’t believe it stayed open as the Avalon very long, either. Too bad, it was a cool and historic room. The building is still there. Last time I went by, several years ago, the second floor was now occupied by a beauty/barber college. I wonder how many future cosmetologists knew the real history of the place?

Continue reading →