Bad Religion’s concert plays second-fiddle to headless Lenin

Geoff Carter

Friday, March 26, 1999 | 10:25 a.m.

Lenin's head is gone. And it didn't leave in a pretty way, either; it's been sawed off clean, with paint artfully splattered over the rest of the statue's "body" to make it look as if old Vladmir's head blew up. And while I appreciate the brief but serious philosophical struggle the proprietors of Mandalay Bay's Red Square restaurant likely suffered as the first bomb dropped on Yugoslavia, the proxy Vlad deserves better. A giant paper bag would have served the same purpose.

I mention it only because seeing that grotesquerie far surpassed any controversy that venerable California punk band Bad Religion might have doled out last night at House of Blues. Despite its storied history and incendiary lyrics -- a catalog of blinding sociopolitical statements that includes the hits "21st Century Digital Boy" and "American Jesus" -- there's no possible way Bad Religion could have topped a headless Lenin, even if they do use $10 words such as "visceral" and "surfeit."

Even without his noodle, Lenin spoke of years of Eastern European bloodshed and revolution; vocalist Greg Graffin complained a little bit about getting a farmer's tan in Red Rock Canyon. Will the real rabble-rouser please stand up and nod?

Fortunately, Bad Religion's classic songs still speak volumes about the human condition, even if the band is reduced to absurd "who here tonight is actually from Vegas?" stage banter. Despite looking like my seventh-grade shop teacher (I'm working as fast as I can, Mr. Janko), Graffin's scratchy vocals still served the screeching forthrightness of "Anesthesia," "Punk Rock Song" and "The Biggest Killer In American History" well enough to convince me that he still feels some of the anger that inspired the songs in the first place.

It's not Headless Lenin Rock, but it still gets the blood going, enough to whip up an honest-to-God pit. Sure, the crowd lost its bead on the band at points -- "Sowing The Seeds Of Utopia" went over like warm borscht -- but its whiplash takes on "Generator" and "Infected" were strong enough to keep the energy high.

Still, it would have been inspiring to hear Bad Religion -- the band that spawned the immortal line "Life is the crummiest book I ever read / there isn't a hook, just a lot of cheap shots" -- raise its voice to the tumult, to address the madness that has recently gripped the world and tame it with a well-turned phrase. Apparently, that was former guitarist (and chief songwriter) Brett Gurewitz's job. Without him, the monster has no head, and everything the band does proceeds completely by the numbers.

It would have taken a lot more than farmer's tan to hold Lenin back. Shame the guy never started a band. I'd have moshed to it.