Rob Younger, the frontman for Aussie punk legends Radio Birdman, told a packed crowd at the Beachland last night that rock 'n' roll is Cleveland's heritage. Well, my God! I certainly hope so. After all, cheap apartments and rock 'n' roll are really the only two things keeping me here.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Radio Birdman's show last night. They haven't played together in twenty-some years. But they've gone all out -- they're touring, they've recorded a new album of new material, they've added a new rhythm section.

There have been quite a few old bands who've come through Cleveland in the past four years or so: Stiff Little Fingers, The Buzzcocks, The Undertones, The Dictators, X, The Cramps, The Damned, to name a few. And Radio Birdman definitely held their own in that gene pool. They just rocked, in that old-school way that all young kids in bands aspire to. And they weren't all washed up, either.

We spent a few minutes debating which songs would be encored; I argued that since "Murder City Nights" made it onto many of my mixes, it had to be included. (Made sense to me.) I was right, along with those who said "New Race" would close out the set. And, of course, "Steve, I want to say thank you / for all you've done for me."

I certainly hope Cleveland will continue to impress upon seminal artists the importance of it's, uh, rock-ness. Heritage, indeed. But I also wonder, when these old bands finally do hang up their guitar straps, who will replace them?

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