Category Archives: Live Review

The summer of 1991 once again found the band with time on its hands. Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom had been dropped by the geniuses at MCA, the Del-Lords had broken up, and our heroes were left with the choice of scattering into the wind (again) or putting the band back together. To quote Manitoba, “We could stay home for the summer and lose money, or go on the road and lose money.” So, in best DIY, 3-to-a-room-at-the-Motel-6 fashion, the road was the choice. The Dictators played 20-plus dates over the course of the summer, the most since the “Bloodbrothers” tour in 1978.

I saw the first three shows from 1991. The 4/27 Palladium show was fun and exciting, but overall a shaky affair. Andy sat this one out, and RTB and Scott both did great jobs carrying the backing vocals. They obviously had worked their tails off rehearsing, but guitar cues were missed left and right, and it took until encores for things to really jell. The Uptown Horns were special guests on a surprise version of “Looking for a Love.”

The first weekend on the road, 5/31 in Providence and 6/1 at the Channel in Boston, were much improved shows, but it still felt like they were playing it safe. The set lists were identical to those from the 1981 shows, and they still seemed tentative. They were still short-arming their throws.

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On August 5, 1977, the Dictators opened for Bob Seger at the Merriwether Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. To hear band members talk about it, the 1977 opening slots were nothing but horrible experiences. No one was ever there to see them, and they were basically just a 30-minute cock-block. Not to explode a myth, but this show stands as evidence to the contrary. Sure, the sound quality is horrible, but the band is totally smoking, obviously having a fine old time for themselves, and the show is enjoyably flavored by the disgruntled comments of the startled patrons who were being pinned to the back wall by the extremely loud Dictators. It’s lots of fun, and one of my favorite bootleg shows.

The set list:

1.        Science Gone Too Far
2.        The Next Big Thing
3.        Young, Fast, and Scientific
4.        Disease
5.        Two Tub Man

— Salvi C.

Homer has Moe’s. Arnold Ziffle had Hooterville. Peter Griffin has the Drunken Clam. Every boy, girl, woman, man and child needs a home, some place where they can let it all hang out, be themselves, and find themselves.

The Dictators had CBGBs. Love it or lump it, that hallowed dump was theirs. Between benefits, farewell shows, Joey’s birthdays, BBC broadcasts, DVD recordings and more farewell shows, they must have played there 75 times over the years. The very first time took place on this day in 1976, when they set the Monday attendance record at the club.

The show got off with a literal bang, as they blew the electricity in the middle of the first song! Manitoba said it all with “It’s just a simple fact of life — no place in the world can supply enough power for us!”

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