Onstage in a red — though not raspberry — beret, a bearded John Travolta introduced the inaugural performance from punk all-stars Cretin Family for the Ramones 50th Anniversary Tribute by resurrecting the geriatric cemetery joke: people were literally
dying to get in. There was no rim shot from Blink-182-Cretin drummer Travis Barker, but the raucous performance by the Cretins, rounded out by Rancid guitarist (and the event’s musical director) Tim Armstrong; Green Day singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong; and Ramones bassist CJ Ramone, could have raised the dead.
In this legendary internment oasis in the middle of a gritty Hollywood neighborhood, the departed “audience members” include classic cinema stars Rudolph Valentino and Jayne Mansfield, along with classic punk rock star Dee Dee Ramone, who rests not far from the imposing 8-foot guitar statue/cenotaph honoring his musical brother, guitarist Johnny Ramone.
The onstage vocal guests were as diverse as those below ground, and the confused curiosity about Travolta’s participation and the post-concert screening of his amiable autobiographical film, Propeller One-Way Night Coach, faded as the nascent band kicked off their set with “Rockaway Beach,” marking, as Billie Joe noted, the first time he’d ever performed with hard-hitting superstar drummer and multi-hyphenate celeb Barker.
From “Cretin Hop” into “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment,” West Coast punk honored their East Coast legends and forefathers, the revered and influential Ramones tied only with Motorhead in the cool and ubiquitous T-shirt category. The Ramones’ appeal and fame crosses genders and ages, as onstage vocal guests — and an audience that included toddlers on shoulders — proved. Fred Armisen, who has his own Ramones covers band, delivered 1980s lyrically detailed and poignant Joey Ramone tune “Danny Says” as the first guest star of the 20-song set.
If the Ramones have been covered and honored by everyone from U2 to Rob Zombie to Sonic Youth, their own covers are likewise diverse, leaning into old American gems including the sped-up wonder of Bobby Freeman’s 1958 “Do You Wanna Dance.” The Cretins were doing a cover of a cover. It’s easy to imagine the late classic Ramones lineup of Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny, and Tommy appreciating the evening’s aural tributes in their own decidedly Noo Yawk manner, but it was especially hard to resist L.A.’s the Linda Lindas, whose vocals and youthfully energetic goofiness shone on the Riveras’ surf-rock hit “California Sun.”
Following her onstage stint and hanging with her mom, Linda Lindas guitarist-singer Lucia de la Garza, 19, tells Rolling Stone, “We grew up listening to the Ramones in the car and at home. We learned, ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’ [which they performed with the Cretin Family] at the very beginning, I must have been 11 or 12.” Her band has toured with Green Day and Rancid, but she’s “pretty sure” they were initially invited to participate in this anniversary show by Johnny Ramone’s widow, Linda, who they’d met at their 2024 album release show. “This is just such an honor,” de la Garza said. “And we really wanted the chance to meet CJ and Travis.”
Linda Ramone is a key player in the band’s history and songs, and keeper of the Ramones flame through this annual official event that benefits Ellison Medical Institute for cancer research. (Johnny died of prostate cancer in 2005 at the age of 55.) Resplendent in lavender sequin cape and dashing cavalier hat, Linda was the belle and impetus of the hotly anticipated and sold-out Official Ramones 50th Anniversary Tribute. A busy and behemoth backstage found folks like Motley Crue occasional guitarist John 5 lining up at the In-N-Out Burger truck, with Starcrawler singer Arrow De Wilde, Foo Fighters/Nirvana/Germs guitarist Pat Smear, and other local musicians mingling in the large parking lot, surrounded by graves and massive mausoleums.
Across decades of banddom,the leather-clad Ramones radiated on sunny songs including another cover favorite, “Surfin’ Bird,” done ably by the Cretins. The “Family” band even had a guest “pinhead” with a “Gabba Gabba Hey” sign onstage, the character known to Ramones fans from Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. It might have been an “if you know you know” moment. But most in the thousands-strong crowd knew, and appreciated.
The strident and staccato “Rock and Roll Radio” was a standout, but it was all phone cameras aloft when Billy Idol took the stage, performing a song perfect for his patented snarl, “Beat on the Brat.” He and the Cretins also did a good version of one of his own older songs with Generation X, “Ready Steady Go.” Idol contextualized the tune and his own debt to NYC’s own, telling the crowd, “it’s like the Roundhouse in London in 1976. We all sped up our music after we heard the Ramones. It was fucking great.”
There’s no replicating the classic Ramones vibe, playing, or energy, but if Barker was almost too beefy and hard-hitting a player, and the guest stars breaking up the flow of a classic, frantic Ramones concert, the spirit, joy, and songs were undeniable.
While a large portion of the crowd filed out after the Cretin Family debut, Hollywood Forever is renowned for its outdoor film series, and many people were spread across the lawn — and grave-adjacent — for a post-concert movie. It was certainly a classic — the Brian De Palma-directed, Stephen King-created Carrie — but why not King’s film Pet Sematary (which features two Ramones cuts, including the title track), or the most iconic film associated with the band, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School?
Still, as Travolta pointed out as he introduced his own film post-concert, five cast members from Carrie were on hand (he played high schooler Billy Nolan in the film), including Nancy Allen and P.J. Soles, the latter portraying spirited super-fan Riff Randell in Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. But they declined to join Travolta onstage despite his urgings.
It’s been 50 years since the Ramones’ self-titled debut launched, 14 iconic songs wrought in less than 30 minutes. All four original members have been gone since 2014, but the legacy lives large across generations: “Blitzkrieg Bop” was redone into a song for kids; “Beat on the Brat” escaped any woke policing despite its (humorous) imprecation to violence, and one can only imagine (hope) that “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” would likewise be granted immunity. The Cretin Family band may live onstage — and who knows if the tribute be a one-time event — but the Ramones’ own cretin family of fans clearly live everywhere for all-time.
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