Fri.. July 27

The Grateful Dead have tribute bands. Phish has tribute bands. KISS has more tribute bands that there are grains of sand on all the beaches of the earth. Why not a Ramones tribute band? Boston has one, a damn good one called the Ramoniacs, four guys know the music down pat and play they play Harpers Ferry Friday July 27 with Unnatural Axe, Barrence Whitfield and the Saveages and Lizzie Borden in a benefit for Mr. Butch's family. (See detail below. The Ramoniacs scrapped their July 21 show at O'Brien's to do this gig.)

Look, I confess to profound ambivalence about tribute groups - especially when the real groups still exist. But I miss the Ramones a lot. I knew 'em all to varying degrees, wrote features and reviews about them, was saddened by the deaths of Dee Dee, Joey and Johnny. And so, I'm glad there's a Ramoniacs, I'm glad I can go out and shout along with "1-2-3-4/Cretins wanna hop some more" and "We're a happy family" again. And I like their attitude. I spoke with singer Bobby Ramoniac about why they do what they do, recently.
 "I saw them 35-plus times," he said. When they went down in 1996, "I missed hearing those songs at 100-plus decibels through Marshall amps. The band was a way to recapture that. We try to do it true to form. We try to bring what we enjoyed and remembered to the stage for a new generation. I consider it like we're on a mission from God. It's a labor of love. We know if you were born in 1980 you didn't see Ramones, and their live show was so much different, the whole energy." Bobby says he missed Tommy Ramone's duo Uncle Monk when they were in town recently, because he went to see one of the Ramones favorite bands, Iggy & the Stooges. Turned out to be a good call: Iggy invited audience members up on stage to sing along on "No Fun," and Bobby was in the right place at the right time. Ig shoved a mic in his face, threw his arm around him - and a photographer was there to capture it. As to the Ramoniacs you can join Bobby, guitarist Danny Ramoniac, bassist Andy Ramoniac and drummer Tommy Ramoniac. The show is in a benefit for the family of the late Mr. Butch, maybe Boston's most famous street person and certainly a character Kenmore Square and Allston residents got to know over a quarter-century.  (I've got an obit on Mr. Butch in the current Boston Phoenix, www.thephoenix.com if you're so inclined, and you should be.)

 158 Brighton Ave., Allston, 617-254-9743 www.harpersferryboston.com