It had been more than two decades since the Dead Kennedys hadn't set foot on Portuguese soil (since 2002, to be exact) and decided to return on St. John's Day to offer a sweaty, sarcastic recital of the anthems that helped shape punk worldwide.
ALBERT FISH
To open the hostilities, we had the historic Albert FishInês Bass, with a career spanning thirty years and no desire to slow down. Inês Bass's energy as a vocalist infected LAV, pulling the audience in with her humor and presence. Songs like "Save the Planet", "Shut Your Mouth" or "Wake Up" helped warm up the audience for what was to follow. To finish, "Sindelar" ignited the first moshes of the night, with that punk urgency that makes heads shake.
DEAD KENNEDYS
The Dead Kennedys need no introduction, but they do need to be experienced. And what was experienced there was a real punk mass. With several generations of believers side by side, in continuous pogo, sweating to the sound of songs that remain, unfortunately, all too current.
Skip Greer, lead singer since 2008, doesn't try to imitate Jello Biafra, but honors his spirit with charisma and theatricality. Between sarcasm about the audience's English and provocations in an incendiary stand-up tone, he managed to keep the stage lively. His bandmates: East Bay Ray on acid guitar, Klaus Flouride on skeletal bass and Steve Wilson on drums, showed that the machine is still roaring.
There was also a moment of tribute to the late D.H. Peligro (historical drummer, who died in 2022), which brought an emotional pause in a sea of sarcasm. But then came more sparks.
"Police Truck", "Kill the Poor", "Holiday in Cambodia", "Too Drunk to Fuck", "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" and "California Uber Alles" - all of them accompanied by sweat, laughter and crowdsurfing.
And as if that wasn't enough, there were still two encores - including "Viva Las Vegas" and "Sweet Home Alabama".
Dead Kennedys Setlist
Venue: Lisbon Live, Lisbon
Set:
- Forward to Death
- Winnebago Warrior
- Police Truck
- Buzzbomb
- Jock-O-Rama
- Kill the Poor
- MP3 Get Off the Web
- Too Drunk to Fuck
- Moon Over Marin
- Nazi Punks Fuck Off
- California Über Alles
Encore:
- Bleed for Me
- Viva Las Vegas
- Holiday in Cambodia
Encore:
- Chemical Warfare
It's not every day that you see a band that has been, is and will continue to be a poke in the eye for the status quo.
At LAV, the Dead Kennedys proved that age doesn't kill the spirit. It just tweaks it with acidity and distortion. And that was clear between the mosh and the laughter:
Punk isn't dead, but that's a good thing, because it's still corrosive and necessary.
Artists: Dead Kennedys
English 
Portuguese