Live review: The Dead Milkmen live at Hamtramck Labor Day Festival

Hamtramck, MI – 03 Sep 2023

You’ll be glad to know that The Dead Milkmen are still knockin’ ’em dead live.

I’ve been spending 2023 focused on knocking bands off my bucket list. I’ve been doing pretty well at it too. ( I’m not going to lie – The Exploited canceling their US tour hurts.) It came as a pleasant surprise when The Dead Milkmen were added as the Sunday night headliner of the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival. 

*FAQ – What is a Hamtramck? Hamtramck is an independent city of about 28,000 completely surrounded by Detroit. It was once a Polish enclave, but now also has a large Muslim population. (It also contains some of the Detroit area’s best punk venues.) The Hamtramck Labor Day Festival dates all the way back to 1980. It was conceived to boost spirits after the closing of a Dodge factory that cost the city thousands of good paying jobs and tax revenue. 

This was my first time attending the HLDF, and overall it was a lot of fun. I brought my 16 year old daughter along for the ride, as she can’t ever seem to resist some good people watching. There were your typical carnival rides, crooked carnival games, some vendors selling random stuff, and a ton of great smelling food options. Because it was a festival setting, there were no opening acts per say, but there were a couple of other bands worth a mention. 

The Polish Muslims played before The Dead Milkmen on the bigger stage. They were a classic rock cover band that changed the lyrics to talk about local food. It was as weird as it sounds, but people seemed to love it. I was fine with it until Beastie Boys’ “Fight for Your Right to Party” became “Fight For the Right Kielbasa” and Ramones’ “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” became “Sophie is a Polka Rocker”. They went too far!

The pleasant surprise of the night had to be Caveman & Bam Bam. They were not one of the sanctioned acts. Instead, they played a short set from behind the fence that contained the festival proper. The two man band hooked a giant amp up to a car battery and wailed away on some primitive proto punk. Guitarist/vocalist Caveman (I assume, at least) did it in nothing more than a loincloth. I kept expecting the cops to shut them down, but they miraculously made it through their 15 or so minute set. I loved it. 

The Dead Milkmen took the stage promptly at 9 PM. Rather than launching directly into a song, we were treated to an opening monologue from vocalist/keyboardist Rodney Anonymous. Guitarist/vocalist Joe Jack Talcum actually sang opener “Dean’s Dream”. The Philadelphia quartet was at the top of their game regardless of who was handling lead vocals. When Talcum sang, Anonymous would stalk the stage or direct the audience in sing-alongs. 

The setlist was amazing. Classic material made up the majority of the 80 or so minutes. “Serrated Edge”, “Methodist Coloring Book”, “Nutrition”, “The Thing That Only Eats Hippies”, “Tiny Town”, “Right Wing Pigeons”, “If You Love Somebody, Set Them On Fire”, “Punk Rock Girl”, “V.F.W.”, “Stuart”, Surfin’ Cow”, “Beach Party Vietnam”, “Big Lizard”, “Big Time Operator” and “Life is Shit” all came in the first hour or so.

The monologue for “Bitchin’ Camaro” was Anonymous talking about how much he liked Hamtramck, and how much it reminded him of Philly. (I guess I can scratch The City of Brotherly Love off my list of potential vacation spots.) He told a great anecdote about having tolerance for your fellow man. A lot of the humor came at the expense of Tennessee, where the band played the night before. A surreal moment came at 9:30 PM, when the call to prayer from the Islamic center was loud enough to compete with the band. 

The Dead Milkmen have been on a bit of a career revival over the last decade, and they did play some newer songs. “Grandpa’s Not a Racist (He Just Voted for One)”, “Philadelphia Femdom”, and “The King of Sick” all came from 2023’s Quaker City Quiet Pills. “Anthropology Days” and “The Sun Turns Our Patio Into A Lifeless Hell” were on 2014’s Pretty Music For Pretty People. The crowd of punks and curious onlookers alike seemed to enjoy it all. (Even if 1985 got the biggest roars.) 

“Smokin’ Banana Peels” was the highlight of the encore, and they wrapped things up with the somber, previously mentioned “The Sun Turns Our Patio Into A Lifeless Hell”. It seemed like an odd choice, and made me wonder if they ran out of time. Still, the strange ending couldn’t diminish what was otherwise a command performance. Ultimately, I was thrilled to finally see The Dead Milkmen and they did not disappoint. 

Confessions of a merch whore: I would have gladly bought a $20 T-shirt, but they were sold out of my size. There was no vinyl, so I settled for Quaker City Quiet Pills on CD ($10), a button ($1) and a sticker ($1).