Dead Kennedys: The Early Years Live: 4 out of 10: Ah the classics... Well this very short video (30 minutes) shows, what one assumes was amateur video, of The Dead Kennedy’s tour in support of their first album. It also has a human-interest news report on lead singer Jello Biafra’s run for mayor of San Francisco.The video quality is unsurprisingly awful. The sound quality however is even worse which makes this useless as a concert tape. Since the camera stays focused on Jello and the boys one does not even get the interesting thrill of seeing the punk rock audience, which is often the best part of the show. Outside of a few clips of Jello vacuuming a sidewalk (don’t ask) there is virtually nothing intelligible in the entire program. Which I guess is kind of punk in its own way after all.

This could be a 10 star movie, but the live videos are so few... there are just 9 live videos, that in fact come along with an extreme and genuine attitude from the early years of the Dead Kennedy's history, but there could be much more live videos here, and other footages similar to that one where Jello is running to mayor, and, to compensate the few live videos that are, there could be some kind of Discography and biography, but there are none...So, i give to this a 8, cause of the attitude that Jello and the rest of the band and public are showing, and because i like this kind of raw and "home maded" live footage demonstrated here.

This made-in-Canada cheapie is a must own for any Dead Kennedys fan or anyone who has any interest in the early days of San Fran punk rock. It includes some great footage of Jello Biafra running for office, and sing-along option for those of you unfamiliar with the language of Jello. Among performances at historical locations such as Mabuhay Gardens, Sproul Plaza, and one at 330 Grove St., are two live recordings at Target Studios. So enjoy, let East Bay Ray's solos, Klaus Flouride's possessed bass, Ted Peligro's frantic drumming and Jello Biafra's Johnathon Swiftian lyrics take you into the late 70s and early 80s and show you what lame feature's like SLC Punk couldn't. And remember, "There's always room for jello."