Tickets are running low for seminal US punk band’s trip to Bristol

Tickets are running low for seminal US punk band’s trip to Bristol

Posted on: 07 Feb 2023

 

Known for their revolutionary politics and hardcore punk music, rock legends Dead Kennedys are gearing up for their first UK tour since 2019.

 

Dead Kennedys will play Bristol’s SWX on Saturday 6 May 2023.

 

The San Francisco four-piece have always held the UK close to their hearts, having always been more inspired by Britain’s fiery, politically charged music of the Sex Pistols and their contemporaries than the artier approach of New York’s punk rockers.

 

BUY TICKETS HERE

 

 

Possibly the defining hardcore band, Dead Kennedys radical approach to politics in music, seen by many right-wing and Christian observers as one of the most dangerous bands in the US during the 1980s.

 

Dead Kennedys formed in San Francisco in 1978 when frontman Jello Biafra, Drummer Ted (Bruce Slesinger) and bassist Klaus Flouride answered an ad placed by guitarist East Bay Ray. Their music was instantly political with early singles aimed at local politicians and, in 1979, Biafra ran for mayor of San Fransisco.

 

The following year the band released their debut album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, and Ted was replaced with drummer D.H. Peligro – who sadly passed away last year. Ever a cult band, the group’s single ‘Too Drunk to Fuck’ penetrated the UK Top 40, despite being banned from the radio.

 

However, it was Dead Kennedy’s 1985 record Frankenchrist that truly earned them notoriety. The album was paired with an obscene poster and, a year after release, the band and their label were prosecuted under revised California anti-obscenity laws for distributing pornography to minors – charges they eventually beat.

 

The band split up soon after and several legal disputes between members followed, however, the band have toured intermittently since the early 2000s. To this day, Dead Kennedys regularly sell out massive venues all over the world thanks to an undisputed punk legacy and live shows that retain their raucous spirit to this day.

 

 

Dead Kennedys will play Bristol’s SWX on Saturday 6 May 2023. Tickets for this show are priced at £27.50 and can be found HERE.

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Article by:

Stanley Gray

Stan is a born and bred Bristolian, recently graduated from studying English Literature in Sheffield. His passions are music and literature and he spends the majority of his time in venues all over the city, immersing himself in Bristol’s alternative music scene. A lifelong Bristol City fan, Stan’s Saturdays are spent watching his team both home and away.