It's Joey Ramone B-Day Bash Weekend!
The JRBB Art Exhibition opens on Friday night!
This is a free admission event! For the entire weekend! So tell your friends and let’s make this a huge lovefest for Joey Ramone, Mickey Leigh (who has hosted the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash since the beginning), and everything else about Joey, the Ramones and their amazing fanbase. Which is kind of amazing….
A bunch of artists and cartoonists will be scribbling drawings on huge mural that will be auctioned off to raise money for the Lymphoma Foundation. So feel free to hang out with a bunch of crazy artists who love the Ramones this Friday at the Metropolis Vintage Clothing store.
This will be like a Joey Ramone Appreciation Weekend! It is open to the public with no admission fee. Miss Debra T. (Official Ramones T-shirt model who worked closely with Arturo Vega, the Ramones’ Creative Director), Monte A. Melnick (the Ramones’ Tour Manager, who spent more time with the Ramones than any human being in history!) and I have been co-hosting the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash together for a few years now and have become an “Avengers” type of team… We defend the Ramones against all enemies…
Here’s the Schedule for what is shaping up to be the “Joey Ramone Weekend”:
Friday night: Cartoon Jam Session
This event begins around 7:00 pm and is open to any cartoonist and artist who would like to join us: “Gabba Gabba Hey,” right? It will be featuring a bunch of famous and talented artists: Danny Hellman, Cliff Mott, several very talented School of Visual Arts students, and many more. This night will also be a Sneak Preview of the event, so all of the exhibits won’t be exhibited yet.
Whatever cartoon that we produce will be auctioned off, and all of the proceeds will be donated to the Lymphoma Foundation. So let’s do this! And have fun doing it!
Saturday night: The Opening Night Party
If you want to be at the Big Event for the weekend? Then you won’t want to miss this.
Monte A.Melnick: Hosting a Screening of Rock ‘N Roll High School”
Monte A. Melnick (author of “On The Road With the Ramones”, one of the best books about the band and the Tour Manager of the Ramones (who spent more time with the band than any other human being on Earth) will host a special screening of Rock ‘N’ Roll High School, and will introduce the film and host a Q&A afterwards. Hey, did you ever wonder what it was like to hang out with “The Brudders” 24/7? Well, for better or worse, that was Monte’s life from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Miss Debra T’s Exclusive Backstage Photos of Joey Ramone Birthday Bash
Miss Debra T. will also be on hand to host her exhibition of her photos from backstage at the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash, as well as her photos of punk rockers from over the years. Miss Debra was Arturo Vega’s favorite T-shirt model and appeared in many Ramones-related photo shoots. Any true Ramones fan who has attended a Joey Ramone Birthday Bash knows about Miss Debra: She has been collecting money from the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash events since the beginning.
My advice to anyone who has attended any Joey Ramone Birthday Bash is to take advantage of this opportunity to hang out with Miss Debra on Saturday night. This is the first time she has ever allowed to have her photos displayed publicly, and who knows? This might \be the last time she exhibits her photos. Miss Debra has been an integral figure in the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash every single year, from 2000 to today. So of course a Joey Ramone fan will want to take the opportunity to meet her and buy one of her photos. She will sign on request.
All of these events are open to the public and totally free, you don’t need a ticket to any event we will be hosting at the Metropolis Vintage Clothing store. The Owner, Richard Colligan, is a huge Ramones fan and has hosted many events with me. It is the biggest vintage clothing store in New York City.
Sunday Afternoon:
When Aysha Quinn (a famous video artist with one of the most interesting backstories ever) told me about Joey Ramone’s collaboration with a Native American punk rock band’. I was instantly interested. this is a chapter of Joey Ramone’s post-Ramones career that meant a lot to him.
Hey, I knew the guy up close and personal. There were many times he wasn’t not happy being in the Ramones. But he was s soldier! He stayed with the Ramones, even when he was offered a solo career by famous record producers (like Phil Spector!).
Joey’s collaboration with the Native American band Blackfire highlights his commitment to their political viewpoint. Joey was also supporting his favorite band, The Independents, at the time.
To me, the message Joey delivered throughout his career, was all about supporting new talent. Joey paid for emerging NYC bands from D-Generation to Charm School to The Independents. And this is why he is beloved to this day, and also why Mickey Leigh’s commitment to supporting new talent with the Birthday Bash matters so much…
It’s not so much about seeing a “Big Name” at an event…
It’s always about giving new talent an opportunity to “get their stuff out there.”
So I hope you all visit the upcoming “Celebration of Joey Ramone” event at Metropolis on Joey Ramone Weekend. If this works out? Yeah, will do it every year….
Why not?
Bigger and better in 2025.
And let’s raise 1000K for Lymphoma Research before then!