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Romeo Void – Live At Mabuhay Gardens, San Francisco – Dec.3, 1980 – KALX–FM, Berkeley
Romeo Void to end up the week. A bit of American Punk to remind you that things were popping on both sides of the Atlantic. For everyone who thought Britain was the Mecca of Punk in the 1970s, know that there were just as many, if not more bands falling into the Punk/Post-Punk/New Wave mold on this side of the Atlantic.
Romeo Void were a band from San Francisco – originally formed by mutual Art School friends, Romeo Void quickly gathered word of mouth that here was a band with talent a few notches above what was currently going on in the West Coast.
Fronted by the charismatic Debora Lyall, the band had a good run, going from 1978-1985 before calling it a day. But during that time they were an influential element in a genre busy trying to find its own voice and were an integral part of the West Coast Punk/Post-Punk/New Wave scene.
This concert, from December 3, 1980 was recorded for posterity by radio station KALX-FM in Berkeley, and is a great example of what the West Coast Punk scene sounded like during their peak in popularity.
There have been reunions over the years since, and the members have pursued solo careers. Most notably Debora Lyall has gone between a solo career and pursuing a career as an Art Teacher. But mostly Romeo Void has been firmly planted in the history books as one of the movers and shakers in the West Coast Punk scene of the 70s and their popularity among fans of the period hasn’t waned, nor have written perspectives and assessments of what they were all about at the time, and the uniqueness of their vision, has continued.
Another one of the bands which made the West Coast fertile ground for experimenting and coming up with something new. You may have missed it the first
