On a cold and wet Saturday afternoon on the last day of the Melbourne Festival, amid all the Occupy Wall Street protests and a visit from The Queen, Jello Biafra, former singer with the Dead Kennedys and Lard, graced this city with his more-than-welcome presence.
Known for being true to to old saying “say what you mean and mean what you say”, Jello AKA Eric Reed Boucher has always spoken his mind and damn the consequences. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dead Kennedys tracks like “Holiday In Cambodia”, “Let’s Lynch The Landlord”, “California Uber Alles” and “MTV Get Off The Air” spoke to a particular demographic that were sick and tired of how the world was becomming divided into the haves and the have nots as far as social class and structure were concerned.
This afternoon featured Jello proving that, at fifty-two years of age, he has lost none of his conviction, anger or fire over the intervening years. He discussed a number of issues in his one hour performance, such as the actions of the police during the Melbourne version of the Occupy Wall Street protests, pointing out how ridiculously heavy handed the police were in their handling of the whole affair, and the dirty tricks they used, such as covering their badges so as not to be identified when beating unarmed protestors (this being one of many oppresive and bullying tactics used by the Queensland government when Joh Bijelkie-Peterson ran the state back in the 1980s.)
Jello then went on to discuss, at length, the state of America at the moment. Corruption, he believes, is the greatest threat not only to America but the world in general. By corruption, Jello discussed the way that the rich in America not only have an insatiable level of greed, but curry favour with government figures and supreme court judges, those who are supposed to be neutral and impartial, to bend laws to their own ends. America displays elements of ancient feudalism at times, where the only interest the working class hold to the powers that be are merely that of glorified slaves.
The way Jello described some of the super rich in America, such as the Coch brothers, and the way that they manipulate the law and those who are supposed to uphold it to their own self serving ends and needs, paints a very dim picture of America. However, what is so forceful in regards to Jello Biafra as an orator is that he is particularly eloquent and articulate in how he discusses what is wrong with his homelamd, rarely resorting to either foul language or cheap shots. This is what set The Dead Kennedys apart from their peers; along with the anger, there was a real intelligence at play with their music. This has not changed one bit in regards to the type of person Jello is.
An immediate question one would ask is: What does one do about all this and how does it affect the world around them? To his eternal credit, Jello offered salient and practial answers, such as using modern technology for positive ends and not being a slave to technology such as mobile phones and social networks such as Facebook. One could tell the crowd definitely was on the same page and appreciated what Jello had to say about the state of the world this afternoon.
After his solo show, there was a panel discussion with local musicians Dave Graney and Steve Kilby. Also on the panel was Helen Marcou from Save Live Australian Music. In discussions amongst themselves and with the audience, a wide number of related topics were raised, such as fighting the concept of branding in schools and how in some countries, electrical appliances such as air conditioners are deliberately not installed properly, thus increasing how much people pay for their services and the increased profits for business – in other words, all of the underhanded ways big business try to gouge the individual for all they can get. Jello and the panel offered some great advice, namely to stand up and say something when one is faced with a situation they know is not right.
The best advice of the afternoon were Jello’s parting words, reminding us to never forget who we are as people and why we were there this afternoon. In other words, to kick against the pricks that try to hold us down.
An excellent afternoon with an articulate and fiercely proud and intelligent man, who gave the assembled audience a great deal of food for thought about the world around them. For that, love and respect always, Mr Biafra.
-Neil Evans.
