Radio Birdman

Radio Birdman
Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
August 31, 2006

When this show was announced back in June, the little girl screams of Music Geeks echoed across this great land. Radio Birdman have NEVER toured the U.S. in their 32 years of band history, but here were 10 Stateside shows in 12 days. Man, Radio Birdman: Intensities In 10 Cities! For the newbies: Click HERE for a Radio Birdman primer.

Trivia: I saw Ted Nugent on the Intensities In 10 Cities Tour (Humble Pie opened).

As Timo and I approached the GAMH the Old School Music Geek atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife. That feeling was reinforced when we ran into Dema and then Capt. Fireball before we'd even picked up our tickets at Will Call.

Over the years, I haven't met many people who know about Radio Birdman, but when I have met these kindred spirits I swear I've become friends with every one of them. To quote that old song by The Fluid: "I wanna be with my kind, but we're so hard to find.."

The vast majority of the people in the crowd looked like they had "record store" or "college radio" on their resumes. It was definately the type of show that brought folks from out of the woodwork. At one point, the singer of The Flamin' Groovies walked past me. Shake some action!

The GAMH holds 600 and it was funny when Rob Younger said the band wasn't used to playing places "this big". HA! You gotta respect humble legends. Earlier in the day the venue issued this bulletin:

Aug 31, 2006 11:27AM
Subject: Radio Birdman tonight - almost sold out...

Hey friends, Any of you planning on coming to see Australian punk rock legends Radio Birdman plus awesome openers Black Furies & The Sermon tonight at GAMH - get your tickets now! It is close to selling out.

Like I said, the Old School Music Geek atmosphere was thick in the air.. and the Aussies delivered, mate! They threw shrimp on the barbee and scorched that mofo!

While watching Birdman onstage I got the same feeling of inspiration I get everytime I see Iggy Pop onstage. These guys showed that you CAN grow "old" but keep an edge and an attitude. You don't have to play the fucking Game like the normal people. Age IS only a number. Hope I die before I get old.

Birdman sounded so great... and it made me think "Damn! If they're this good now how great were they 30 years ago?!"


Australian T.V. - 1978 (Part 1)


Australian T.V. - 1978 (Part 2)
Unfortunately, due to a promise I'd made to the Dept. of Homeland Security, I had to bail out of the show before the encores. However, I was still completely gobsmacked that I'd finally seen Radio Birdman. They washed away the sticky film left on my psyche after seeing that crap old band Venom earlier in the week. Sometimes Metal doesn't rule.. Thank dog.

You wanna know something else? The new Radio Birdman album (their 1st new album in, like, 25 years) is great too! Don't believe me? Click HERE for someone else's Birdman rant.

Motorhead shirts seen = 2. MC5 shirts seen = 2. If you bought one of every Radio Birdman merch item you would have paid $151. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. Random Music Geek Observation: Radio Birdman has the same merch company as Cheap Trick (Chaser).

P.S. If you ask for one CD this Halloween, Umlaut says it should be THIS one.

"Kids are gonna eject, 'cos now it's time to punch out!"