I just saw The Germs at Mercury Lounge.  Amazing.  Obviously Darby wasn’t there.  Shane West has taken over the role of lead singer in real life. I’ve been a huge Germs fan since I discovered them when I was a teenager.  No one was more skeptical about last years biopic, “What We Do Is Secret“ than I was.  THANK GOD, they got it right.  If you haven’t seen the film, check it out on DVD.  The film’s co-writer and director, Rodger Grossman devoted his life to getting the movie made for years and it paid off in a big way.  They were only going to make ONE movie about The Germs and he made it great.  I can only hope the upcoming movie about The Runways (who were good friends with The Germs) is good too.  Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett makes total sense.  Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie… I don’t know yet. Still, it’s one thing for a guy to play a character in a movie and quite another to be the real frontman for the most notorious LA punk band.  Truth is, after seeing The Germs twice now there’s no doubt in my mind that Shane West is more than capable of handling the task.  It was a ballsy move but it’s obvious what made Pat, Lorna and Don, the surviving original members so confident it would work - Shane West is that good. Look, I was not even two years-old when Darby passed away and I’m sure it’s nothing like it once was.  I have no way of comparing it but I don’t think you should even try. It’s been 30 years.  What are you gonna do?  NOT see The Germs?  Unless you’ve somehow invented fuckin’ time travel, you should go.  You will not be bummed out. Check out my MobileMe gallery for more photos from the show. The Germs MySpace Page (with tour dates)

I just saw The Germs at Mercury Lounge.  Amazing.  Obviously Darby wasn’t there.  Shane West has taken over the role of lead singer in real life.

I’ve been a huge Germs fan since I discovered them when I was a teenager.  No one was more skeptical about last years biopic, “What We Do Is Secret“ than I was.  THANK GOD, they got it right.  If you haven’t seen the film, check it out on DVD.  The film’s co-writer and director, Rodger Grossman devoted his life to getting the movie made for years and it paid off in a big way.  They were only going to make ONE movie about The Germs and he made it great.  I can only hope the upcoming movie about The Runways (who were good friends with The Germs) is good too.  Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett makes total sense.  Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie… I don’t know yet.

Still, it’s one thing for a guy to play a character in a movie and quite another to be the real frontman for the most notorious LA punk band.  Truth is, after seeing The Germs twice now there’s no doubt in my mind that Shane West is more than capable of handling the task.  It was a ballsy move but it’s obvious what made Pat, Lorna and Don, the surviving original members so confident it would work - Shane West is that good.

Look, I was not even two years-old when Darby passed away and I’m sure it’s nothing like it once was.  I have no way of comparing it but I don’t think you should even try. It’s been 30 years.  What are you gonna do?  NOT see The Germs?  Unless you’ve somehow invented fuckin’ time travel, you should go.  You will not be bummed out.

Check out my MobileMe gallery for more photos from the show.

The Germs MySpace Page (with tour dates)

the germs
shane west
pat smear
lorna doom
don bolles
what we do is secret
rodger grossman
the runways