Old punk bands don't die, they just get booked at the Beachland Ballroom. This past Thursday saw the latest incarnation of Cleveland's mythically iconic Rockets from the Tomb take control of the Collinwood venue's stage. In front of a packed crowd, peppered with a veritable who's who of Cleveland's graying 70s and 80s underground scenesters, David Thomas (Crocus Behemoth) steered the quintet - consisting of: guitarists Cheetah Chrome and Richard Lloyd, drummer Steve Mehlman and bassist Craig Bell through an hour-long liquid jet fueled blast from the past. With the experience of a handful of gigs under their belt this time around this RFTT have gelled into a tasty little unit - even though Thomas resorted to a cheat sheet on some tunes - launching solid versions of now classic proto-punk tunes into the appreciative crowd like friendly fire RPG's. In wingtips, beret and sweat soaked blue work shirt, Thomas careened and teetered about the stage with the aid of cane like a run away water tower. The seeming result of DNA splicing of Jackie Gleason and Orson Welles, the big guy punctuated the bridge of Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo bellowing the phrase "I'm alive" like a B-movie monster in a lightening storm. He wailed like a wounded grizzly during "Final Solution" with an intensity that would shake the snow from pine tree branches within a several mile radius of his personal ground zero. The band easily supported Thomas' hulking vocalizations with electric switch crispness as he barreled through all the old favs - Sonic Reducer, Down in Flames, What Love Is. A robust looking Chrome cut out front to sing original member Peter Laughner's self-prophetic song Ain't it Fun (to know you're gonna die young) while Thomas stalked around the stage with a devious grin - looking as if he was trying to decide which band member to bite. The band ended the evening with an encore rendition of Laughner's Life Stinks. Life certainly didn't stink for the throng of fans that caught the show, or for Rockets from the Tomb who looked to be having as much fun onstage as the audience was watching. Note to Cindy and Mark at the Beachland: Keep on digging up the primordial punk - maybe the Sex Pistols could be cajoled into reforming if Sid Vicious' could get some help with that nagging death habit of his. From Cool Cleveland contributor and Poetry Slam Master Michael Salinger salinger@ameritech.net

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