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Local 'geriatric' punk band reunites at SF Eagle

SAN FRANCISCO -- The late legendary guitar great, composer and satirist Frank Zappa in the mid-1980s released a live album with the title Does Humor Belong In Music? That question gets answered with an unequivocal "Yes!" from local geriatric punk-rock reprobates the Grannies.

The Grannies "Soviet" (official) by SAUSTEX TV on YouTube

Punk bands built around a gimmick usually focus far more attention on concept than they do songs and execution, but for going on two decades, the cross-dressing rabble rousers behind Bay Area quintet the Grannies has been mixing their love for ridiculous shenanigans with some solid and serious rock and roll. Formed in 1999 when the group first clambered upon a San Francisco stage dressed in thrift-store old lady dresses, masks and wigs, The Grannies deliver a trashy, furious assault that echoes the likes of the New York Dolls, the Dictators and the Dwarves.

Lead guitarist Lois 'Carmen' DeNominator (aka Sluggo Cawley), exhibitionist lead singer Deanamite (aka Dean Scheben) and company have been entertaining the masses with their onstage antics and infectious anthems drawn from such fittingly titled efforts as Taste the Walker, the outtakes/demos collection Incontinence and the band's most recent full-length effort -- 2015's Ballsier -- for Texas-based imprint Saustex Records while playing regular local shows and touring abroad. The following year, the crew released Lords & Ladies, a split live album with the Upper Crust, the notable powdered-wig sporting Boston hard rockers who the Grannies have shared stages with in the U.S. and Europe.

The group went on an extended hiatus in 2018 so Cawley could pursue his more roots-oriented songwriting with the noir-ish country-rock band REQ'D that has released three albums since being founded, including Dressing Wounds By Candlelight a few months ago. However, the Grannies have gotten back together to play their first show in four years at the SF Eagle for this benefit. A gathering to honor the memory of Daniel Blair (a longtime employee at Cawley's San Francisco framing shop), the memorial that also features a performance by avant-garde vocalist Kvndry Sings and DJ sets from Vera Rubin, Derek B, Tom Axe and Don Baird will raise funds to cover cremation costs and to provide financial support for Blair's husband Tomas Hemstad.

Daniel Blair Memorial with the Grannies
Thursday, Aug. 18, 8 p.m. $10
SF Eagle

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