Jay Reatard died earlier this week and many of you don't know who he is. Who he was was one of North America best young punk rockers. And by punk, this is what I mean:
If you are unfamiliar with the incident or the widely circulated YouTube video that came out afterward, the story goes something like this: Reatard (real name Jay Lindsey) hit the stage at Toronto's Silver Dollar at about 11 p.m. He and his band were in the middle of their fourth song when one audience member sauntered on stage and managed to disconnect Reatard's microphone. Reatard swung the concert goer around by the shirt and landed a punch square in the young man's face. Then he promptly packed up his things and walked out of the venue.
Apparently Jay didn't fuck around. I recall someone mentioning that he looked a bit like Carrot Top and I suddenly expected that person to end up with a fist or boot in the face. Sadly I was disappointed.
If you haven't heard Jay's music you should. I recently read he was on the cusp of greatness. Bullshit. He was great. The fact that the rest of the world didn't know it yet changes nothing.
2 comments:
Sadly, I never got to see Jay. I think the last time he was here I begged off with a case of 'Well, I'll catch him the next time.'
Looking at this show it reminds me what punk rock, specifically the American Hardcore variety used to be like. Black Flag played aggressively, and Husker Du was ShortFastLoud. and also didn't waste time with stage chatter.
The comments thread, like all YouTube comments thread is interesting, with some people saying that he was a prima donna and they were just there to have a good time. It just me think of two little quotes. One was Pearl Jam at a show in Chicago this year - 'We take requests. We don't take orders', and Chrissy Hynde's advice to girl rockers "Rock is Eff you, not Eff me".
On the plus side, I did get to see one of Elliott Smith's last shows, and I'll admit there was no hint that night that what going to happen would happen.
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