Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg at The Plaza Live, Orlando (9/3/2026)
I was lucky enough to see the Ramones twice back in the 90's, both times at The Edge in downtown Orlando with both within maybe 18 months of each other. And though the cobwebs in my old man brain are plentiful, I remember a lot from both of those shows. I remember how cramped and swelteringly hot both gigs were. I remember a rapid fire succession of seemingly endless tunes that everyone sang along to. I remember Johnny Ramone getting pissed off at some dude in the crowd and threatening to hit him with his guitar. It was punk rock. It was The Ramones.
Though Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Tommy have all since moved on to Rock n' Roll Heaven, the music (and cultural reverence) of The Ramones has only continued to grow in the decades since the band said Adios Amigos in 1995. As the band's longest serving drummer, Marky Ramone and his Blitzkrieg have been keeping the music alive for years now, mostly at festival appearances across the globe. Find any of the band's shows on YouTube and you'll see thousands of joyful faces singing along to songs that were written decades before most of those attendees had been born. So when a one-off Orlando gig was announced at The Plaza Live, I quickly snatched up tickets and counted the days until the show.
A few weeks before the gig, I started getting emails from the Plaza announcing 50% off tickets for the gig. That's never a good sign for a show when the venue is willing to take that steep of a cut. It's also never a good sign for a show when the only promotion you've seen for the gig is through Instagram ads. I made it to the venue a few minutes before the opening act Who Are You took the stage. I was prepared to see some empty seats, but when the house lights went down the venue was maybe at 50% capacity. Oof.
Who Are You is a nationally touring The Who cover band that was surprisingly good. I have an appreciation for The Who's music these days that was most certainly lost on my younger self, and when a capable cover band sounds better than the current touring version of the actual band, all the better. The band cut a wide tranche through The Who catalog, pulling out all of the hits and a some deeper cuts for an audience who's median age appeared to be in the-mid 60's, and was either firmly glued to their seats and/or their eyes firmly glued to their phones. To their credit, the band put on a solid show, but I felt myself wondering if this is what those tribute concerts at The Villages are like; an indifferent older crowd demanding to be entertained but at the same time not giving the band anything back in return. When I'm in the younger demographic range of an audience, you start to get an idea of what we're dealing with here.
Speaking of entertaining - let's talk about the lady and her husband sitting directly behind me. I'm hoping it was alcohol induced, but the poor gal sounded like she was having a manic episode throughout the entire opening set. From the moment Who Are You hit the stage, she was SCREAMING how great they were and seemed to be having a really good time. I know this because nobody else in the crowd was making a sound, and she was particularly loud on top of that awkward silence. And then her jubilation immediately shifted to sobbing, hysterical tears and demanding that her partner get her outta there. A fedora was tossed onto the stage. Lead singer Carl Dixon entertained the moment and wore the hat during "Eminence Front" and then politely tried to return her fedora. Said fedora was then thrown back on stage with shouts of "NO, YOU WEAR IT, IT LOOKS BETTER ON YOU!" Awkward glances between band members. More hysterical sobbing.
Hope I die before I get old.
After a brief intermission, Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg took to the stage. The venue had filled in a little by this point, and I was happy to see more younger, eager faces in the crowd. One interesting thing about Marky's backing band is that there's often 1) a rotating cast of supporting musicians and 2) it's incredibly difficult to find out much online about who those supporting musicians are. Yes, there's a core group that have recorded a few singles that have a little more backstory, but I like to think that this mystery is intended to keep the focus on the music itself vs. who's actually playing the music (aside from the drummer who's name and photo adorn the venue marquee out front, of course).
As is customary, Marky took a victory lap at the front of the stage to wave to the fans and show his gratitude before taking his seat behind the drum kit. Fronted by a kid who looked like a cross between Fonzi and a young Sal Mineo (look it up) and flanked by brooding guitarist and bass player, there was an immediate shift in the room's attitude. With the 3-beat intro to Bobby Freeman's "Do You Wanna Dance", the room came alive. The band asked if the kids wanted to dance, and yes. Yes, the kids absolutely wanted to dance.
Much like the final scene in Rock and Roll High School where the kids have taken over the quad while Joey and the band play the titular theme song, all of the younger faces in the crowd rushed the front of stage and filled the aisles for 80 solid minutes of high energy dancing and power punk sing-a-longs. Security made a passive attempt to get folks back to their seats, but quickly realized it was a fools errand and let the fans have their moment. Most of these kids never had the opportunity to see the Ramones live, but the music had clearly made a tangible impression on them. Tonight, this was as close as they were gonna get to the real thing and they were gonna make it count. The moment wasn't lost on me.
For their part, the actual band was great. There was no stage banter, no theatrics, no wasted moments, just straight ahead rock n' roll - they played all of the hits ("Teenage Lobotomy", "Sedated", "Beat on the Brat") and peppered in bunch of tunes that I wasn't expecting to hear ("I Believe in Miracles being a personal fav). For anyone that might accuse Marky Ramone of using this as an opportunity to cash in on the Ramones legacy - go see the show. Aside from the digital backdrop with the band's logo, Marky was content to stay low behind the kit, never making the gig about him. It was about the music he's been playing for 40 years. It was about making sure the fans had a good time. And the fans had a great time. Strangers danced together, a bunch of drunk dudes hugged, and everybody roared when the next tune kicked in. That's the kind of unity that only the music of The Ramones can bring to a Orlando on a Thursday night.
I didn't see what happened to the lady having a manic episode, but I did see her partner doing the twist at the front of the stage for most of the show. The fedora is likely in a van headed to the next city.
