I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Jello Biafra. Even when I find myself vehemently disagreeing with him on some subject or another, I never lose sight of the fact that in four minutes the man gives you more to think about that is in some way pertinent to your life than anything you could learn in four years of college. Then he’d usually drive home his point by knocking you on your ass with some highly charged punk rock. Well, many a moon has passed since I’ve seen or heard Jello grace a stage with a band behind him (a 1985 DK show at the Olympic being the last time, I think), so this disc was of particular note for me. As the title suggests, this is a live show recorded in Seattle during the hoopla surrounding the WTO meeting in December 1999. Jello, backed by a sort of super-group featuring Soundgarden and Nirvana members, barrels through “Let’s Lynch the Landlord,” “Full Metal Jackoff” and two new numbers, as well as one of his patented rants against the World Trade Organization. The nostalgia aspect of hearing the man perform live music again aside, the new songs aren’t too shabby (blowing the more recent Lard crap off the map) and his commentary on the WTO is insightful and should hopefully inspire others to at least look into what he’s talking about. Mandatory listening, to say the least.
–jimmy (Alternative Tentacles)