Ani Kyd, DOA, Jello & The Melvins played the Croatian Cultural Centre November 3, 2005, and there was a surprising lack of general mayhem. Oh, there was much marijuana smoke in the air, so the fact that there was no beer for sale didn’t seem to put much of a damper on the punks in the crowd who were in need of getting fucked up.

Here we are in an all ages venue, and the average age is still pretty high. This isn’t at all like the handful of all-ages shows I’ve been to in the past couple years, where the place was loaded with 12-15 year old kids.

This is the second time now that I’ve been the guest of Nardwuar to see Jello play with the Melvins, and I have to say I really appreciate the favour. First off, this is Jello Biafra; the crazy bastard who fronted the Dead Kennedys, and who rails against the evils of dominion and corporation. He’s too liberal for the Republicans, and too conservative for many Democrats, and he’s likely managed to piss everyone off at one time or another.

Nardwuar had an interview with Jello earlier in the day, and drove the man to the venue. Every so often I’m struck by just how much Nardwuar does, and why people here look at him with such awe. A little glimpse at how everyone else treats him; here he is dropping off the guy who used to sing for that amazing band in the 80s…

It’s so amazing to see the fans react to Nardwuar; from the girls throwing their arms around him and demanding pictures to the big metal heads who leave it at a “Great Work!” and a quick handshake. I’ve never had a big eye for celebrity, and I freely admit that I can’t recognize famous people; I can’t recognize people who play in local bands any better than I can identify the million dollar actors. I guess I’m just not a Fan. I’ll tend to recognize people that I have talked WITH, as they’re much more important than anyone who has only talked TO me…

I don’t think that Ani Kyd had the benefit of a sound check before playing, as it took a couple songs for them to really shake out, and it didn’t appear to be anything that they were doing onstage that was to blame. Her stuff reminds me a lot of Thor style metal, and that’s not highest on my list; the audience that was there for the 7:30 start was really into it, though.

D.O.A were up second, and they didn’t pull off the best show I’ve seen out of the band in the past couple years. It was good, but it wasn’t as good as the last last time I saw them at this venue with SNFU… different audience, perhaps. Rampage and Joey have an amazing amount of energy on stage, and I find it a bit surprising that they can even move after a show…

Jello & The Melvins were amazing. The Melvins played their metal stylings for the first half hour or so, and then they pull on stocking caps to hide their faces (and hair) and become another band entirely with Jello on vocals. Wow. Another pioneer that’s still alive and kicking, and still writing new songs rather than touring as nothing but a nostalgia act. Exceptional set, with a Lard tune and a couple Dead Kennedys songs in to round out the song list. How did they choose to end the evening? With a performance of a classic punk song from the Dead Kennedys catalog? No; they closed with a modern punk classic from the late, great, punkest man in recent history; Wesley Willis’ ROCK AND ROLL MCDONALDS!

Rock over London, Rock on Vancouver.