Two kings of crunk and punk rock
By Brian Offenther |
April 26, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IT'S rare that a single night of music in Shanghai can have two major music acts as singular as Marky Ramone and Lil Jon (whose real name is Jonathan Smith).
Ramone can be considered "the king of punk rock drumming." He added equal parts city slink and urban thud to Richard Hell & The Voidoid's seminal album "Blank Generation" and then brought a torrent of high-hats as the Ramones' longest-running drummer. For the latter he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is what he hangs his leather-clad legacy on.
Ramone played Saturday night with his band Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg as part of the Shanghai Midi Festival at Century Park.
Lil Jon is a hip-hop personality who was arguably the most influential producer in hip-hop over the last 10 years. He's amassed a Grammy and multiple platinum plaques. Beyond his work behind the boards, his outsized persona became a staple in the media, from endorsements, TV appearances and an uniquely gaudy influence on fashion. Few people are recognized as universally from one growly exclaimed syllable like "the king of crunk."
He played at Cuivre, an upscale nightclub on the Bund.
As singular as both these guys are, I wouldn't expect their shows to be similar. And they certainly weren't.
Marky Ramone walked on to the stage after an unspecified delay, thanked the crowd and then brought it to the festival crowd nonstop for his entire set. His band, lead by singer Michale Graves formerly of the Misfits, was high energy and solid. They barreled through the greatest hits of the Ramones and one from the Misfits nonstop until the finish of "Blitzkrieg Bop."
Singer Graves jumped around maniacally while singing, doing air splits and climbing down from the stage to get closer to the crowd. Although his voice was a bit under-served by Joey Ramone's original vocals, a few minor tweaks in arrangements allowed him to stretch out his hard rock howl.
After the last cymbal was crashed, Marky Ramone walked to the front of the stage to gave a thank you and then walked off triumphant.
Lil Jon walked on to the DJ platform with a lack or urgency indicative of the entire night. He did soon throw out encouragements to the crowd that left the audience enraptured, but during his three hour set, these became less and less frequent.
Yes, you read that right: a three-hour DJ set. However, what should have felt like a generous running time actually felt like a poor substitute for a sub-par performance.
Until the very end, when he walked to the front of the stage to splash the audience that had remained there - that is, not at the bar - with champagne, he remained tied to his DJ set up. Lil Jon looked up from his laptop only to give an occasional half-hearted effort to raise the roof.
Last Saturday, it was clear that only one king reigned supreme in Shanghai.
Ramone can be considered "the king of punk rock drumming." He added equal parts city slink and urban thud to Richard Hell & The Voidoid's seminal album "Blank Generation" and then brought a torrent of high-hats as the Ramones' longest-running drummer. For the latter he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is what he hangs his leather-clad legacy on.
Ramone played Saturday night with his band Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg as part of the Shanghai Midi Festival at Century Park.
Lil Jon is a hip-hop personality who was arguably the most influential producer in hip-hop over the last 10 years. He's amassed a Grammy and multiple platinum plaques. Beyond his work behind the boards, his outsized persona became a staple in the media, from endorsements, TV appearances and an uniquely gaudy influence on fashion. Few people are recognized as universally from one growly exclaimed syllable like "the king of crunk."
He played at Cuivre, an upscale nightclub on the Bund.
As singular as both these guys are, I wouldn't expect their shows to be similar. And they certainly weren't.
Marky Ramone walked on to the stage after an unspecified delay, thanked the crowd and then brought it to the festival crowd nonstop for his entire set. His band, lead by singer Michale Graves formerly of the Misfits, was high energy and solid. They barreled through the greatest hits of the Ramones and one from the Misfits nonstop until the finish of "Blitzkrieg Bop."
Singer Graves jumped around maniacally while singing, doing air splits and climbing down from the stage to get closer to the crowd. Although his voice was a bit under-served by Joey Ramone's original vocals, a few minor tweaks in arrangements allowed him to stretch out his hard rock howl.
After the last cymbal was crashed, Marky Ramone walked to the front of the stage to gave a thank you and then walked off triumphant.
Lil Jon walked on to the DJ platform with a lack or urgency indicative of the entire night. He did soon throw out encouragements to the crowd that left the audience enraptured, but during his three hour set, these became less and less frequent.
Yes, you read that right: a three-hour DJ set. However, what should have felt like a generous running time actually felt like a poor substitute for a sub-par performance.
Until the very end, when he walked to the front of the stage to splash the audience that had remained there - that is, not at the bar - with champagne, he remained tied to his DJ set up. Lil Jon looked up from his laptop only to give an occasional half-hearted effort to raise the roof.
Last Saturday, it was clear that only one king reigned supreme in Shanghai.
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