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Animal Boys Live 1992
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On Christmas Eve 1992, five young guys (Matt,
Gugi,
Chrigu, Rindli,
P.J.), who were part of the music scene in Bienne, formed a Ramones
cover band called the "Animal Boys". By doing so, they hoped to
escape the seasonal, family ritual of turkey and all its trimmings.
They walked onto the stage of the Coupole for the first time and
performed their Ramones
covers. During the concert, the guitarist P.J. suddenly left the
stage and at a later stage, the band. Unfortunately, the headliner
(Bobby Bird), relieved them of their instruments for a reason which
remains unknown to this day. The band did not let this get them
down and thereafter played here, there and everywhere in clubs like
Dälli, Burgdorf, Schopf Utzensdorf, ISC Bern and Creep Club
Solothurn, just to name a few. They also blasted through various
private parties and in doing so, damaged the ears of many punk rock
freaks.
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Chrigu
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Dee Dee Ramone
and Ratt Matt
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On 13 May 1993, the "Animal Boys", as opening band to "Les Sheriff",
played to a full house in the Coupole. For this concert, the second
guitarist, Dürig, was on loan from the "Ventilators". Phippu
of "Garbage Squad" played a sax solo on the song, "I Believe In
Miracles". Due to unforeseen coordination problems, the solo was
a flop, as a videotape proves to this very day.
At the Open-Air Barbarie in Bienne in summer 1993, "Animal
Boys" played in front of an audience of two thousand and generated
a mega pogo party.
They grabbed their golden opportunity to be the opening band of
Dee Dee Ramone
on 21 May 1994. Sad to say, the guitarist Chrigu was unable to be
present at this opportunity due to commitments with his band "I
Madman". At short notice Lex (the Executioner) of "X-Offender" was
engaged and the Rock guru of Bienne, Hotcha, dressed in Mexican
look, played second guitar when the band performed in Bikini Test
in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
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Animal Boys in Germany
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The "Animal Boys" tour of Germany 1995 amounted to one performance
only, when dressed as the Ramones,
they played in the "Asta Kneipe" in Rosenheim on 27 February
1995. This concert resulted in a demo-tape, "Animal Boys Live".
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Stony
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Chrigu moved to Toronto at the end of 1995 to establish a large
family and promote himself as a rock star. Aebi
from "Feebles" then joined the ranks as guitar player. The lineup
remains unchanged since, although for several gigs Rindli,
Gugi
and Aebi
had to be replaced by ex-"Nameless" Bruno,
R.J. and
Stony. The
"Animal Boys" enjoy playing with these guys not only because
they are Ramones professionals
but also because they considerably lower the average age of the
band. Later, also Päscu
the "Feebles" drummer started playing with the group.
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Marky Ramone and Ratt Matt
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The "Animal Boys" experienced a further highlight on 20 February
1997, when they played as opening band for Marky
Ramone in ISC Berne. Not over-impressed at his first meeting
backstage with the "Boys", Marky was forced to grab his video camera
at the soundcheck in order to capture on film, the tough guys from
the rock capital of Switzerland. Finally, smiling from ear to ear,
he said: "Okay, Boys, you guys are fuckin' cool, do it again! Hey
ho let's go!"
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Animal Boys Promo CD
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Since their first concert which was supposed to be their last,
the "Animal Boys" have given over one hundred other shows. The punk rock band
planned to release their first vinyl single in Summer 1997...
Four years later during a memorial concert for Joey
Ramone at the Bikini Test the time was right. The Animal Boys
finally succeeded in recording one of their live gigs. Check out
the MP3 files on the Sounds/MP3
page.
The "Animal Boys" celebrated their 10th anniversary
at the Kreuz in Nidau together with "Obnoxious Deadbeat",
"X-Offender", "Jerry and the final thoughts"
and the "Animal Boys" from Germany. They're also a Ramones
cover band which is extremely cool!
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Animal Boys Promo CD
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The "Animal Boys" returned to the Kreuz in Nidau on 17
December 2004 to make their best recordings of all times. Dr. D.
Schneider, the "Godfather" himself, was the sound engineer
during the concert and Dominic Schilt produced the smashy sound
in his studio. The cool illustrations are made by Joe Merenda. Despite
adverse circumstances he gave the best "Animal Boys" recordings
of all times an appropriate appearance. The promo CD "On Crash Course" contains five Ramones
cover versions, two of them can be downloaded on the Sounds/MP3
page. The CD release party was somewhat later, on 29 October 2005
at the Loco in Biel.
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Animal Boys at the Lokal-int
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Let's not forget the various shows on smaller stages which were
without a doubt some of the best gigs in the band's history. The
"Animal Boys" played on the tiny stage of the Züri
Bar and were squeezed into the In Flagranti in Biel, but it will
never get any smaller than the Lokal-int Biel/Bienne where the
"Animal Boys" played in an old kiosk at the "World's
smallest Rock'n'Roll Festival" in April 2009. The audience
enjoyed the Ramones
sound through a tiny window in the vitrine and was having fun on
the street outside of the kiosk!
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Cheers!
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The "Animal Boys" beer brewed by A. Dreyer & T. Teutsch
after German purity law, was presented on 25 December 2010. There
was no better place for this occasion than the Coupole in Bienne,
birthplace of the band 18 years earlier. The Coupole was full at this
Christmas night and the beer which was limited to 300 bottles immediately
became thee "Animal Boys" cult merch item.
GABBA GABBA HEY!!!
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