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Buzzcocks at the Pyramid Cabaret, Winnipeg

Buzzcocks Winnipeg

Buzzcocks at the Pyramid Cabaret, Winnipeg, May 26 2010. Ailsa Dyson photo

Review and photos–Buzzcocks at the Pyramid Cabaret, Winnipeg, May 26 2010

– review by Eugene Osudar/photos by Ailsa Dyson

where have all the young
punks gone?
they’ve grown older
just like me
just like honey
Jesus and Mary Chain

remember when
They and Their
Feedback were
The Cool?

i’m 46
going on 36,
26? or am i
at heart
Sixteen Again?

(the year after i saw
Elvis Costello and The
Attractions at The Playhouse,
my first concert, in 78,
the one that changed me,
forever)

i’m 46 and
feeling my age,
especially
when
young Tara
and her blonde on
blonde
on blonde
Beauty
says, everybody’s
so Old in here.

“yeah, they’re my age.”

ooops.

we laugh.

we’re older

grayer
rounder
saggier
faces wrinkled
crinkled

oh, we are saltier
there’s so much
vinegar
in the room

no matter how much
we fight it
brawl it

we’re older

and we’re
nostalgic for
when
we were
cutting edge
on the edge
living
in the edge
of razor blades

Personality Crisis
Stretch,
marks

(leather and
mohawks,
remember when
That was
The Cool?)

piercing through
skin on skin
on skin

never mind your
same,old
boring tattoos
same,old,boring
pierced nipples
and tongues
and clits and buzz(ed)
cocks

lips, brows, noses,
yaaaaaaaaaawn.

we are punk.

some are bitter
some are richer
some are wealthier
beyond the $ and non,
sense, of materialism,
we’re living
the edge of
every moment
every Now
every when and why
every ecstatic How
and with this knowledge
and with this wisdom
we are alive

today

Now,

The Buzzcocks
sold out The Pyramid
in
fractions,of,seconds
it; was! fast/
and
i tend to exaggerate

one of the hottest tickets
in the Winnipeg
alt music scene
hotter than The Hold Steady
last year
hotter than No Means No
both times.

the excitement
was palpable

anticipation
hope
knowledge

that we
older punks
DIY’ers
were ready to celebrate
the late 70s
early 80s
when we were all so young
when really
we were just
so many desperate,
rebelling
clowns.

Disco!
Metal!

but remember
when

Motorhead
was The Cool?

every age has them.
every era
every decade now
every year now
every moment
now

trends and fashions
non,sense
consumerism
and if you yell and rant
about BP
look in the mirror,

our plastic lives
we are the oil monsters
all of us!

none of us,

Take
Responsibility

in this insanity
absurd tragedy.

cell,phones.
SUVs.
52 inch TeeVees.

did you know
the Soviets
had 5 major
gas and oil leaks
and they used
nuclear weapons
to stop
the leaks.

did you know that?

we’re insane.
this world.
this consumerism.
this madness to be
The Cool.

Blackberry
in the dead of night…

toys
for
little boys
and little girls

will we ever
grow up
and Take Responsibility?

slave labour in Asia
to produce Our
Comforts and Cool…

we take
No
Responsibility.

“i can sell you anything!
from a thin safety pin
to a…”
Joe Jackson knew it
he wrote it.

we’re just clowns.

will we find the Buddha?
the peace
the joy
the wisdom?

to be disconnected
and unattached
from technology
from the hard sell
and soft sell
the subtle sell
the sell sell sell
and reconnect
with the poetry

of life
love
and wisdom.

DIY.

here i am,
ranting
raving
on my IMAC!
so cool!
so plastic.
so much oil!
and slave labor
in Asia
to make this computer
this keyboard…

29 songs
one hour
thirty minutes

of celebration
nostalgia

and to be honest,
there were 10 songs
i could have done
without

still,
in that hour
in that
\essential/
60 minutes

there can be no denying
the power
of
the riffs

What Do I Get?

Ever Fallen In Love

only the Buzzcocks
could have made these
songs happen

then. now. when. wow.

power
fury
passion

they look so
Old. but they rock.

Tara loved it.
she gushed.
last night, as The Bokononists
rocked harder and faster
(with fury and power)
than i have ever seen
them
and That is writing something
because they always rock
hard.

so the blonde on blonde
beauty loved what
the oldsters
Loved
(on Wednesday)
and moved to

Boredom Intro
Fast Cars
No Reply
You Tear Me Up
Get On Your Own
Love Battery
16
I Don’t Mind
Fiction Romance
Autonomy
I Need
Pulse/beat
Boredom Intro
Real World
Ever Fallen In Love
Operators Manual
Nostalgia
Just Lust
Sixteen Again
Walking Distance
Love Is Lies
Nothing Left
ESP
Late For The Trash

Harmony In My Head
Promises
Love You More
What Do I Get
Orgasm Addict

all 5 songs in the encore
were Immensely
Hugely
powerful and passionate
and ferocious and furious
and in,spiring
lifting and yes,
over,whelming

whirlwind
Pete Townsend
windmilling
guitar

you can see the tribute
to Pete
and The Who
in the early clips

it’s there.

and so it began
early in the evening

The Pete T
Guitar
Windmills

and the melodies
are always
going to come from rock n roll
from their champions
in Britain
The Beatles
and Stones
The Kinks!
The Who
Small Faces.

back to the source

History Lesson parts
one and two and three
(The Minutemen)

Little Richard
Elvis
Jerry Lee
Buddy Holly

and The Blues
the only real music.

there’s zippety doo-dah
and then
there’s The Blues
(from alcoholic Townes Van Z)

it’s just that
The Sex Pistols
changed it

the channel
the tuning
the station
the reception

like The Ramones
changed it

the boredom of the music
in the 70s

yes, anger
can be
power
(Clash)

and yes,

The Buzzcocks
were there
ground zero.

they made it.
happen.
in that boring
moment,

they made us
alive again.

they are The Makers
The Creators of music
history.

Punk.
Rock.
DIY.

Thank you.

Buzzcocks
Pyramid.
May 26.

More Buzzcocks Winnipeg photos:

About Eugene Osudar

“born, august 16, 1963. i’m 45, and yes, i’m getting too old for this. bring out the rocking chair. my first concert, november 1978, elvis costello and the attractions. i was 15. their blisteringly brilliant 65 minute set only served somebody to affirm my new direction in the musical parallel universes, new wave punk alternative, oh sanctity oh celebration (!Freedom!) college radio! i’m old, i’m used up and i’m free. i see 50something Full sets of music every month and dance most of them. and when i dance, i mean to say, I Dance and Celebrate, 2/3/4 hours a night. The Gaslight Anthem. The Boss. The Weber Brothers. The Wind Ups. i’ll dance with Los Campesinos. i’ll move to The Long Winters. The Replacements. Husker Du. The Pogues. oh elvis costello, oh Clash! i could go/go/go Gogol Bordello forever. L(eonard) Cohen. come, Dance With Me (Old 97s) wherever you may be, sincerely, eugene
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