Gun Club's Triumphant Reunion

Last night in Los Angeles, at the premier and kick-off of the third annual Don't Knock the Rock Film Festival, attendees were treated to an amazing Gun Club reunion of sorts... of course, since Jeffrey Lee Pierce passed away ten years ago, its not ever really the Gun Club, but the essential members - Kid Congo, Terry Graham and Ward Dotson were all there...Kid and Ward playing Gun Club songs together for the first time ever (obviously). Vocals were masterfully handled by Thalia Zedek, of Boston's Come. Mumps co-founder and musical mastermind Kristian Hoffman sang a couple songs for the encore, opening his bit with a "pretentious" in his own words - reading injecting Jeffrey's name into a literary passage in a way that I know Jeff would have approved of.

Congratulations to director Kurt Voss on his labor of love and congratulations and thanks to Festival Founder, ace filmmaker herself, Allison Anders for making this all possible.... including my own 15 minutes (quite literally) of fame... there's a slide show of vintage punk photos from me, Dawn Wirth and Jenny Lens. I was thrilled to see another LA photograher, Debbie Schow in the audience last night. Although I didn't get a chance to speak with her... it was good to see her and see her shooting.

Can I just say, everyone looks (to me) exactly the same as they did 30 years ago.

As we roll into a long holiday weekend, here is the best idea for your leisure time activities:

Don't Knock the Rock Film Festival. If you're in Los Angeles, this is the place to be. Movies about bands, and bands playing unique gigs. The Redd Kross reunion is sold out... but you can still see an encore screening of the Gun Club documentary, "Ghost on the Highway" and see an encore live performance of the Gun Club with two different guest vocalists....Dante from Starlite Desperation, and Leon from The Guilty Hearts.

FINALLY, if you have a dollar just burning a hole in your pocket (and you know you do!)

Divert the money you might spend at Starbucks to my old friend, old skool punk rocker, Derf Scratch. He was in a nasty car accident a month ago, and now has not only recovery and rehabilitation of broken bones... but mounting medical bills. There's a myspace page set up with all the info and a clickable link to make a donation.

Here's a photo of mine that's in the Gun Club documentary....Bags bassist, Gun Club bassist and current Damned bassist, Patricia Morrison.