World renowned punk band D.O.A. is back with the brand new DVD “Smash the State.†It will be released September 25th, 2007 on Joe Shithead’s Sudden Death Records.
This long awaited compilation is loaded with a ton of raw footage shot at four shows in the San Francisco/Bay Area and the infamous Canada Day Anarchist Picnic in Vancouver.
The DVD features D.O.A.’s original line up: Joe Shithead Keithley, Chuck Biscuits, Randy Rampage and Dave Gregg at their best. Smash the State includes 21 classic songs, interviews, newscasts, plus footage of the day anarcho punks took over Vancouver’s Stanley Park on July 1st, 1978.
* Guest appearances by: Keith Morris (Circle Jerks), Dirk Dirksen (Mabuhay Gardens/San Francisco punk guru), JB Shayne (legendary Vancouver DJ) and Zippy Pinhead (Los Popularos, The Dils)
Canada’s punk godfather Joe Shithead had this to say: “I really wanted people to see the original version of D.O.A. performing. You know, the completely raw band that went out and took on the world. So I gathered together some of the best footage I could find and came up with Smash the State. Most of the footage is taken from shows in San Francisco and the East Bay. This makes a lot of sense, as San Francisco became D.O.A.’s home away from home in the late seventies and into the eighties.
Our very first show outside of Vancouver was in S.F. I took a train, Biscuits and Rampage took a bus and Brad Kent hitch hiked. When we arrived we had to scramble around to find enough gear to play. But it was great, so from that point on, it just took a phone call like “Hey, can D.O.A. play a show with the Avengers and the Dead Kennedys next week?” Of course we fucking can! So we would hop in any old wrecked vehicle we could find, and headed down to the Bay area to help start a punk rock riot.
The last part of the DVD was our fifth show. It was an anarchist gathering in Vancouver’s Stanley Park on Canada Day in 1978. It was billed as “Anti-Canada Day”. We didn’t have a permit, so the cops tried to stop D.O.A., The Subhumans and Private School from playing that day. Our pal Phil Smith managed to talk a local picnicking church group into lending us their park permit once the picnic was over. This of course infuriated the Vancouver Police, but they could not stop the show. This is documented on Smash the State, there’s even footage of Rampage giving a cop a kiss. Hey, cool shit, but I don’t know if the cop thought so.” – Joe Shithead
For a lot of people all over the world, D.O.A. was either their first exposure to punk rock, or one of their earliest memories of that blistering phenomenon. When you watch Smash the State you’ll understand why D.O.A. has influenced everyone from Green Day to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Henry Rollins to Jello Biafra, Rancid to Nirvana and NOFX to Bad Religion.
* There will be a Smash the State release show Thursday September 27th at The Plaza Club. D.O.A. will perform along with special guests The Jolts.
Plaza Club – 881 Granville Street, Vancouver
www.suddendeath.com