[ATTENDED: February 18, 2024] The Dead Milkmen
I don’t know exactly when I first heard The Dead Milkmen. It was obviously in college, probably when I was working on the radio station. I think it was Instant Club Hit, which hated on all kinds of other bands that I liked. By the time they released Beelzebubba, I was a die-hard fan.
And yet in 35 years I’d never seen them live. True they were broken up for a chunk of that time, but still…
So, I’ve tried to see them a few times over the last few years and things always fell through. But this time I was determined to go. And what a great show it was. I admit that I haven’t listened all that much to their newer records. Although their latest album, Quaker City Quiet Pills is really good.
I thought they’d play a bunch of new stuff and a few oldies, but holy cow it was like a greatest hits night for me (although I like a lot of their songs, so I guess that would be true for any old songs, but they played songs I really like).
Opening with “Dean’s Dream,” a classic from their debut, it featured Joe Jack Talcum singing and Rodney Anonymous hiding out behind the curtain.
I had deliberately placed myself to the side of the stage as I assumed there would be a massive pit for this show. And I was 100% wrong. There was no pit. Maybe some pushing, but mostly it was just everyone wanting to sing along. But this meant that I never saw bassist Dan Stevens or drummer Dean Clean.
Oh and Kurt Vile (and his brothers) was standing right in front of me.
One of the fantastic new songs is “Grandpa’s Not a Racist (He Just Voted for One)” and that got Rodney out on the stage doing his thing. Despite not being the young bratty punk any more, he still has a ton of charisma and knows how to get a crowd going. And his young bratty voice hasn’t changed all that much. (more…)

