Photos By: Phil Reed

The Galaxy in Santa Ana was alive with punk rock teenagers and adults who were eager to see if CJ Ramone could compare to his namesake and former band, The Ramones.

Although the Galaxy wasn’t packed, the crowd was pumped, and seemed excited to watch the show. Darling Nikki opened for Ramone, and came out with great energy, as they usually do. Although the music wasn’t necessarily appropriate for the concert that night, a few drunk dancers got into the music, and sang along to “I wanna be with you” and “I don’t wanna boyfriend.” The bubble gum vocals always mesh nicely with the rock music.

Next up were the Yeastie Boys, who are a punk rock cover band dressed like clowns. They came out in every color wig and began throwing things at the audience, such as blow up guitars and shreds of paper. The band didn’t really seem interested in playing music, but enjoyed mingling with the crowd and dancing around throwing things. Groupie clown girls were also on the stage to dance and keep beach balls from hitting the musicians. They sang a song called “We are clowns.” Although there was a crazy circle pit, I’m not sure anyone in that pit heard the music, because they would probably leave.

CJ Ramone came out strong with “Blitzkrieg Bop,” which is probably the most identifiable of the Ramones. Although his voice is not reminiscent of Joey Ramone, he still came out and sounded good. The music was easily recognizable, with such songs as “Judy is a Punk” and my favorite “Pet Cemetery.” CJ was dressed in a Yankee hat and baggy jeans. The musicianship was fantastic, which can partially be attributed to Daniel Rey, who also has a history with the Ramones. Rey also sang a couple songs, and his deep voice worked really well with the ballads. Tempo was on point, and the set had a great flow. Although the music did not sound as iconic as the legendary Ramones, the concert was really entertaining, and it was fun to sing along to “Beat on the brat” and “Sheena is a punk rocker.” I’ve always been a fan of the Ramones, and so it was a nostalgic and super fun to remember all the iconic jams.