A supergroup made up of members of Green Day, Rancid and blink-182 came together to form a Ramones tribute band called “Cretin Family,” and to perform at the Hollywood Forever cemetery in Los Angeles on August 30th.
Created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Ramones’ self-titled debut record, the band took the stage with the instrumental “Durango 95,” which was a frequent Ramones set opener. From there, they segued into “Rockaway Beach.” Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day played guitar and sang, while blink-182’s Travis Barker played drums and Rancid’s Tim Armstrong played guitar and sang as well. Rounding out the group was late-era Ramones bassist CJ Ramone.
The setlist included “Sheena is a Punk Rocker,” “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment,” “Do You Wanna Dance?” and more. CJ Ramone took lead vocals for the Dee Dee Ramone song “The Crusher” and the Motorhead tribute song, “R.A.M.O.N.E.S.”
And if that weren’t enough, the band was joined by special guest Fred Armisen for “Danny Says,” and The Linda Lindas joined in on “California Sun” and “I Wanna Be Sedated.” And then to cap it all off, Billy Idol came out for a cover of his former band’s “Ready, Steady, Go” before sticking around for the closer, “Blitzkrieg Bop.”
Thankfully fan-shot video provides a record of the performance for all to enjoy. Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!
