Pix by Ali Williams
Proving that punk is not dead (well, not quite yet), Dead Kennedys came out swinging for their sold-out show at The Tivoli Theatre, Brisbane as part of their Give Me Dystopia or Give Me Death tour.
Lead singer Skip Greer shot into bona fide punk mode the minute he thrust himself onto the stage, impressively keeping it at that pace for the entire set. Like a hyperactive kid who skipped their Ritalin dose, he ran rings around the other band members, Klaus Fluroide (bass), East Bay Ray (guitar) and Steve Wilson (drums). A large part of Greer’s stage presence is his engagement and interaction with the crowd, both in between songs and during, giving him time to catch his breath and a chance to gee the crowd up. The crowd lapped it up and matched his energy, as fans kicked off in top gear just as Dead Kennedys had.
The punters were crowd-surfing right from their first number Police Truck, reminding us all who were in the media pit that music journalism is indeed a contact sport and that no one goes harder than a Gen Xer who’s Too Drunk To (give a) F@ck (boom tish). The crowd launched into a mosh pit of pure fury as they began to play Kill the Poor. In true form, Greer reminded us of the band’s notorious reputation for satirical criticisms of politics and world economics and led into their next song MP3 Get Off The Web stating that music fans had killed the music industry and the income of artists through the use of streaming platforms.
Dead Kennedys audio was in fine form, giving a top-shelf performance and sounding incredible. They earned themselves new-found appreciation and respect from the crowd when they launched into a flawless cover of Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off before rolling into Holiday in Cambodia. Not only was it completely random, the fact it was totally out of context deemed it probably the most punk rock feature of the night, alongside their final encore, which was a mash-up of Chemical Warfare and Sweet Home Alabama.
They definitely did not disappoint as Greer moved down into the crowd after the show and for the best part of 30 minutes, allowed gracious fans to meet him, take pics, and have a chat, to which they took the opportunity to express their genuine appreciation to him and the band. Big ups DK’s 🤘 thanks for the memories!
