Punk Turns 30

Chip Kinman, on guitar, performing alongside his brother Tony Kinman (bass) in The Dils at the People's Temple in San Francisco. Back then, and to this day, The Dils represent to me everything punk rock should be: political, fierce, fast and stripped down to the bare essentials. The Dils were a 3-piece band yet made a lot of loud noise - noise that made a point. The Dils always got their audiences revved up, cheering along with their punk rock anthems "Class War" and "I Hate the Rich." Of course, these photos show that San Francisco will always be San Francisco, and there's the obligatory dancing hippie chick on stage with the band... it really didn't matter what band. What makes Chip Kinman a punk rock guitar hero... other than The Dils being the perfect punk rock band... he's faster than a speeding bullet, he can leap tall buildings in a single bound and all without missing a single power chord. I have seen Chip's latest music project, ...

The Avengers were one of many great bands that sprung from the San Francisco art/punk/rock scene. I truly think that Penelope Houston could have become a huge superstar along the lines of Billy Idol, except she seemed to stay true to her punk roots, and always seemed to follow her own whims and path. She was a committed, riveting live performer, and in the 70s/80s, the original Avengers were a white-hot tight unit. Bass player Jimmy Wilsey went on to join Chris Isaak's band. Today, Penelope still performs as The Avengers, and has made some solo records too. Earlier this year, there was a "Fab Mab" reunion that featured the Avengers, Mutants, Flipper and Dead Kennedys as they exist today. It was a sold-out success story, and I'm glad that Dirk Dirksen was around to see that. The Dils represented to me everything that punk should be - right along the lines of the Clash, with their political awareness and socialist world view. More than any punk band pl...