50 years after their debut album, the Ramones were celebrated on Sunday evening at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery – as part of the annual Johnny Ramone Tribute, which has been held for years at the very spot where Johnny Ramone is also buried. Since all four original members are now deceased, a newly assembled supergroup took on the job this time: Cretin Family, consisting of Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day), Travis Barker (blink-182), Tim Armstrong (Rancid), and former Ramones bassist C.J. Ramone. The band name is, by the way, a reference to the Ramones songs "Cretin Hop" and "We're a Happy Family".
The evening was hosted by Linda Ramone, widow of Johnny Ramone, and John Travolta, who has been friends with Linda for some time and didn't want to miss out on the event. After a DJ set by Shepard Fairey – yes, the artist – things got underway. Cretin Family played a set of about 19-20 songs in roughly 45 to 50 minutes, including "Durango 95", "Rockaway Beach" (Tim and Billie on lead vocals), "Cretin Hop" (Billie lead), and "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" (Tim lead). As it goes with punk: fast, uncompromising, over before you realize it.
In between, there were guest appearances: Fred Armisen took over the vocals for "Danny Says" – not too surprising, as the man has his own Ramones tribute band featuring members of Sleater-Kinney. Billy Idol joined in for several Ramones classics and even threw in a track from his old band Generation X, "Ready Steady Go", from their 1978 debut, commenting that all songs for the evening had been sped up to Ramones tempo – "except for the Pistols". The young local heroes The Linda Lindas also joined in for a few songs and stood on stage for the grand finale "Blitzkrieg Bop" alongside Idol and the band – five decades of punk history all in one spot.
Of course, the other big hits were also played – "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker", "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?", "Beat on the Brat", and "Havana Affair" made the cemetery grass shake. In addition to the concert, there was also a double film screening outdoors as part of the evening: the 50th-anniversary version of "Carrie" and Travolta's own directorial debut "Propeller One-Way Night Coach". The proceeds of the evening went to cancer research by Dr. David Agus at the Ellison Institute.
