RICHIE RAMONE'S AND CJ RAMONE'S SPECIAL SHOW AT THE EL
TEATRO DE FLORES IN BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA ON FEBRUARY 4, 2017
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Richie Ramone and CJ Ramone played for the first full show together! That happened at El Teatro De Flores in Buenos Aires, Argentina on February 4, 2017.
Same stage CJ Ramone and Richie Ramone had shared shortly once before, when gentlemen performed at live at the 60th Anniversary Mosrite Guitar Party at the Hard Rock Cafe in Memphis, TN, USA on July 14, 2012. Read more of it here.
But NOW at the El Teatro De Flores they played full show on February 4, 2017. I spoke of this with Richie in Melbourne in October, 2016, and this was secret until December 19. That day, February 4, was exact 30th anniversary day of first Ramones concert ever in Argentina which happened in Wednesday 4th of February in 1987 at Estadio Obras. Ramones kept performing at this venue until 1995.
- That was Richie Ramone's and Dee Dee Ramone's only appearance with the Ramones in Argentina. By the time the band came for a second time in Argentina in April of 1991, Marky Ramone had re-joined and CJ Ramone had replaced Dee Dee. It was one of Richie's last concerts with the Ramones, as part of the Animal Boy tour and right before the release of Halfway To Sanity album. Richie did save the band back in the day and is re-gaining his name in the Ramones history by doing great new music, told in January Mariano Asch who was behind of this special concert.
As we know, Richie is only Ramones member alive of those who played in first Argentinean show.
- Since Richie was the drummer then he was the main person in this very special celebration. He performed together on stage for the very first time in an open-public concert with CJ Ramone on the bass. El Teatro Flores was the venue chosen for this one-off event, only one night not to be repeated, Asch underscored.
They performed exact same set list than what was the Ramones set list in most of shows in Animal Boy tour in 1987. Together with Richie and CJ were playing guitarist Mariano Martinez (Attaque 77) and singer Seba Expulsado of Expulsados.
- Attaque 77 is the main punk band in Argentina, who opened for the Ramones in 1994 and 1996. Martinez was also in charge of two historical nights to honour Joey Ramone in 2001 at legendary local venue Cemento. Sebastian is first and most associated to the Ramones in Argentina, he looks and sings like Joey Ramone, and he has sung on Marky Ramone's band touring all over the world. His band Expulsados has opened for CJ, Marky and Richie on their various concerts in Argentina, explained Mariano Asch.
REPORT WRITTEN BY SAPO RAMONE
Just because of the crazy idea of a local producer and Ramones fan to say "why not?" or "what if" and regarding the 30th anniversary of the first time ever that Ramones played on Argentina soil in 1987 we find this unique proposal worldwide, where else than in the crazy country where the Ramones could savor an idea of how was that of the fame in the way that what the Beatles lived? (And yes, all the crazy stories you've heard about Argentina and the Ramones are true, we love them our way .... intense).
Ok, so we had one producer (Mariano Asch) with an idea, one excuse (the 30 years of the band's first visit) and lots of people loving the band despite the years (including guys under 21 who love them and could not see them live.).
From mixing all those things came to join in a show to Richie Ramone
with CJ Ramone to do exactly the same set list of that first show of
1987, to complete the formation they called the guitarist Mariano
Martinez of the Argentinian band Attaque 77 and singer Sebastian
Expulsado from the band Expulsado, both direct references of the effect
of Ramones and its influence in Argentina. The date was the same as
that first time. February 4, the chosen place was El Teatro De Flores
in Buenos Aires, that has capacity for almost 2000 people.Tickets were sold-out a week before the show and having fans coming from countries like Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay and Peru where, as in the whole world, Ramones has hardcore fans and they knew that it was going to be something historical and they came to Argentina to be there as well as fans from all over Argentina (in my case I live in Rosario, 300kms from Buenos Aires).
On Wednesday (February 1, 2017) Richie Ramone arrived to Argentina and began to attend the Argentine press, the next day came CJ Ramone and also began the rehearsals.
Being sold-out the show, the production decided to do a "meet and greet" in a record store of Buenos Aires to contain the frustration of those who could not get tickets (lots of people) and decompress the anxiety of the public in general, they attend around 300 people in two hours. 300 people who get their autographs on their stuff and photos with two Ramone together.
On Saturday, the day of the show, even the heavy rain or the heat (it's summer in Argentina in February) couldn't stop people's anxiety. The doors opened at 7 pm and the place filled up quickly, nobody wanted to miss anything that would happen, beyond the correct of the performances of the opening act bands people went to something else, there were merch according to the event, T-shirts, CD's, drumsticks and signed posters, special edition stickers made by the artist Gonzalo Facio (alternative cover of the CJ's album Reconquista and cover of the tribute Todos Somos Ramones to mention some of his works).
Later the crowd started to sing songs as in the stadiums of soccer, about Ramones in this case, as traditionally happens in the rock shows in Argentina. Then they put the original versions of all the songs that the Ramones made cover ever and after seeing a video that showed images from the first show of Ramones in Argentina in 1987 and then the producer of the event, Mariano Asch (who by the way this year heads from Argentina a tour to NYC with a visit to the most emblematic places in the history of the band and featuring luxury presences such as Roberta Bayley, John Holmstrong, Monte Melnick and Danny Fields to tell their version of the story + trip to Joey Ramone B-day bash 2017) with Richie and CJ in the mythical stadium of Obras Sanitarias club (where Ramones did the most of their shows in their visits to tell their memories of what lived there), after that the lights went out, the music began to play the INTRO and crowd started singing and then shouting "HEY HO!!! LET'S GO!!!" Until the band entered the stage and CJ shout 1-2-3-4!!!!
And unleashed the ecstasy of all souls in the place, it is difficult to comment on the show because something so emotional has no place for a negative comment, it was a party where we all enjoyed, the audience sang to the musical parts of the songs and the musicians were very happy, I can't remember the last time I saw CJ so happy and moved up in stage, he seemed to be about 20 years younger, Richie did his homework without physical problems, in his shows Richie is not 100% drummer, he alternates as singer and in this case he had to do the drumming all the show.
I loved the thrill of the first 4 songs..., it was a fist in the face with the crowd singing all the time. And when in Teenage Lobotomy CJ threw his Yankees baseball cap to the crowd and began to be the CJ Ramone of the 90's.
Thanks to the set list was the same as the 87, it gave us the pleasure to listen songs from the last part of the Animal Boy tour live (Freak Of Nature, Crummy Stuff, Love Kills, Animal Boy, Somebody Put Something In My Drink and Bonzo Goes To Bitburg), and the classics until that date, we also had our Pinhead and the Gabba Gabba Hey sign and the two encores, when the 1987 list was finish with We're A Happy Family, began to sound in the speakers The Good, The Bad And The Ugly as a intro and the band returned for a third encore to extend a little more the happiness of the people in there, was a historical show and lived with much passion and excitement, for many people it was a return to the 90's and for others was the closest to living what the Ramones were in Argentina, people left the place singing along the avenue under the rain HAPPY .... Love is intact and stainless.
Thanks for writing this report Sapo Ramone.
SET LIST:Intro (Connecticut Halftime, what Ramones used as a intro in their 1987) 1) Durango 95
2) Teenage Lobotomy
3) Psycho Therapy
4) Blitzkrieg Bop
5) Do You Remember Rock And Roll Radio?
6) Freak Of Nature
7) Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
8) Rock And Roll High School
9) I Wanna Be Sedated
10) The KKK Took My Baby Away
11) Crummy Stuff
12) Loudmouth
13) Love Kills
14) Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
15) Glad To See You Go
16) I Don't Care
17) Too Tough To Die
18) Mama's Boy
19) Animal Boy
20) Wart Hog
21) Surfin' Bird
22) Cretin Hop
23) I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You
24) Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World
25) Pinhead
ENCORE 1:
26) Chinese Rock
27) Somebody Put Something In My Drink
28) Bonzo Goes To Bitburg
ENCORE 2:
29) Do You Wanna Dance?
30) California Sun
31) We're A Happy Family
ENCORE 3:
(Intro The Good, The Bad And The Ugly) 32) I Wanna Live
33) Pet Sematary
34) Rockaway Beach
Outro (Life's A Gas, version from Joey Ramone's solo album ....Ya Know?).
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