Do you ever wonder what it’d be like to hear a live set of one of punk’s most influential groups mere days before it met a tragic end? I wonder about this literally all the time. In fact, I was thinking about it mere seconds ago, when, by total coincidence, I found out about Rhino Handmade’s plans to release a live album documenting the final show by L.A. punk legends The Germs on June 22. Funny how that works!
Live at the Starwood: December 3, 1980 documents The Germs — featuring Darby Crash, Pat Smear, Lorna Doom, and Don Bolles — playing at, surprise surprise, The Starwood in Los Angeles on December 3, 1980. What does that mean to you? Well, it’s significant for two reasons. First, you can hear The Germs’ final performance. Second, it documents the last performance of The Germs proper, because frontman Darby Crash killed himself via a heroin overdose four days later. Heavy stuff there.
Live at the Starwood: December 3, 1980 tracklist:
01. Circle One
02. Manimal
03. Caught In My Eye
04. Lion’s Share
05. No God
06. Our Way
07. Strange Notes
08. What We Do Is Secret
09. Richie Dagger’s Crime
10. Land Of Treason
11. My Tunnel
12. Media Blitz
13. Communist Eyes
14. The Other Newest One
15. Let’s Pretend
16. Forming
17. Lexicon Devil
18. Shut Down (Annihilation Man)
19. Public Image
20. American Leather
21. We Must Bleed
22. Richie Dagger’s Crime (Reprise)
• The Germs: http://www.myspace.com/germsreturn
• Rhino: http://www.rhino.com
