Cue the Drive-By Truckers’ “The Night GG Allin Came To Town.”
I actually was at the Antenna Club that night in November of 1991, and got walloped with a bottle Allin lobbed off the stage. I also ran sprints to the Piggly-Wiggly parking lot and back whenever Allin, covered in his own feces, blood, and spit, jumped off the stage and chased me and a crew of punk rockers out of the club and down Madison Avenue.
Go here for a scintillating account of the concert, which notes that “Allen [sic]… beat his forehead bloody with a beer bottle and put a microphone up his rectum. The drummer performed naked. Patrons, who paid a $7 cover charge, stormed out of the club onto Madison. A witness who had been at the P&H Cafe nearby said he saw ‘three burst of 15 to 20 people come out the door’ around 10:30 p.m., forcing cars on Madison to brake or swerve to avoid hitting them.”
That experience was enough for one lifetime, which is why I chose to sit out local label Wrecked ‘Em Records‘ recent showcase, which brought the Murder Junkies (the late Allin’s backing band, featuring Merle Allin, GG’s brother, on bass) to the Hi-Tone Cafe last month.
Apparently, the notoriety of GG — a misogynist, sexual deviant, and occasional racist, who, despite his promise to commit suicide onstage, was unceremoniously felled by a heroin overdose in December 1993 — continues to live on: This week, I got an email about a 7-inch tall, poly resin “GG Allin Throbblehead” bobblehead, currently available for $14.95 at Aggronautix.com. They’ve been issued in a limited edition of 2000, so if you dare to order one, do it now. Needless to say, it won’t be on my Christmas list!
