NEW
YORK (JOEY RAMONE BIRTHDAY BASH) - THE JOEY RAMONE BIRTHDAY BASH will
mark its 5th year with an all-star blowout event to be held May 19th at
NYC's Irving Plaza. The legendary lead singer of "Hall of Fame" punk
rock band The Ramones passed from Lymphatic cancer in 2001. THE
BIRTHDAY BASH honors Joey's contributions as front man of the
internationally acclaimed band, The Ramones and as a solo artist. For
decades, Joey hosted a blowout birthday party every year. Since his
passing, his mother,
Charlotte Lesher and brother, Mickey Leigh have
continued the tradition of a BIRTHDAY BASH, celebrating the life of
Joey, the spirit of the Ramones and "keeping us, and Ramones fans,
occupied and positive on what would otherwise be a sad, somber day,"
says Mickey Leigh.
That it has sold out well before the line-up
is even announced, for a second consecutive year, clearly indicates
that the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash has turned the corner from its more
casual stages in previous years, and is snowballing into one of the
most anticipated annual Rock 'n' Roll events in NYC. That the event is
even bigger now at its five-year mark has also attracted growing
interest from sponsors, the number of which is now eight, up from the 0
it had only a few years ago.
The show has featured performances
by Cheap Trick, Alkaline Trio, Blondie, the remaining Ramones, Little
Steven Van Zandt, Green Day, Joe Strummer, DJ's Vin Scelsa, and Matt
Pinfield, actress PJ Soles, and film directors Jim Jarmusch and Allan
Arkush. Now a NYC fixture, the JOEY RAMONE BIRTHDAY BASH draws Joey
fans from all over the world.
The line up for this year's
landmark show includes "
Bad Girl" Ronnie Spector, The Bouncing Souls,
The Saints, and
Friends of Joey performances by Marky Ramone, Andy
Shernoff (Dictators), Ivan Julian (Voidoids), Arno
Hecht (Uptown
Horns), Theo (Lunachicks), Sean Pierce (Toilet Boys), Tish & Snooky
(Sic F*cks), Russell Wolinsky (Sic F*cks),
Sonny Vincent, Joe McGinty,
Al Maddy (Joey's Solo Album) and Mickey Leigh. The BIRTHDAY BASH will
also feature performances by The Waldos, The Lazy Suns, Suffrajett, Mr.
Impatient, The Slashtones and special appearances by the Lucky Devil
Circus Sideshow and MC Matt Pinfield. Rare Joey Ramone and Ramones
videos will be screened throughout the night.
Verizon Wireless
will "Phone Cast" three performances from three BIRTHDAY BASH artists
as part of a V CAST Encore audio-visual stream to mobile phones
anywhere in the world for up to 7 days.
This year the BIRTHDAY
BASH is also proud to present the JOEY RAMONE BIRTHDAY BASH ART
EXTRAVAGANZA, a true punk rock art show opening May 14 at CB's 313
Gallery and running through June 3rd. The art extravaganza features the
work of Joey Ramone, John John Jesse, Shepard Fairey,
James Rizzi, Mark
Mothersbaugh, Liz McGrath, Ray Caesar, Ron English,
Dee Dee Ramone, and
Charlotte Lesher. Net proceeds of both events to benefit the Lymphoma
Research Foundation.
2005 sponsors of the ANNUAL JOEY RAMONE
BIRTHDAY BASH are The Village Voice, Trash and Vaudeville, Tripp NYC,
Masque Sound and Recording, Shure Bros. Microphones, Manic Panic, Love
Nico, NY Waste.
