The Plasmatics were a train wreck; you watched primarily because you could not believe what you were seeing on stage. Supposed former porn actress Wendy O. Williams was the front person for this punk rock band, with very little or no apparent musical ability, that I had seen at The Ritz once or twice and that had a guitarist in a fairy princess outfit spitting beer on folks in the front of the stage who would be hoisted up to the ceiling at the end of the show. A highlight of The Ritz concert was Williams taking out a chainsaw and using it on a small television that was, I think, sitting on top of a ladder. The Bonds show was bigger with the larger venue showcasing a car sitting onstage to be the object of Wendy’s chainsaw fixation. I was standing opposite the stage near the bar before Plasmatics hit the stage when walking toward me was one Joey Ramone who was in the company of a young lady. At the time, I believe I knew of a Ramones concert happening on Long Island earlier that evening and I decided at that moment to talk to Joey as if we had already met. We had a nice conversation; Ramone was feeling no pain, and I am sure he had no idea that we had never encountered before. The conversation went on long enough that at some point I saw a look of realization on the face of his lady friend that it was time to move on; she grabbed Joey Ramone by the wrist and pulled him away where they disappeared into the crowd.

New Hope for the Wretched

Rock on!

GQ