D Generation at Irving Plaza

Jesse Malin

D Generation (also known as DGen) evolved out of the hardcore punk scene in New York City in the 1980s. Vocalist Jesse Malin led Heart Attack as a teenager in the late 1980s, along with guitarist Danny Sage. They formed D Generation  in 1991, a band that would blur the lines between punk rock, glam rock and garage rock. The band's three albums in the 1990s became critics' darlings, but after low sales, DGen splintered in 1999. The band reunited several times beginning in 2008, and presently consists of the classic line-up of Malin, Sage, guitarist Richard Bacchus, bassist Howie Pyro and drummer Michael Wildwood (Sage's brother). D Generation  released its fourth album, Nothing Is Anywhere, on July 29, 2016; it is D Generation's first album in 17 years.

On the day of the new album's release, D Generation signed copies and rocked an in-store set at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, New Jersey. A day later, the reunited band rocked its home town at Irving Plaza. Performing 12 songs from the 1990s albums and five from the new album, the band performed ferocious rock and roll from beginning to end. As in his other bands, Malin never stopped moving, flinging his microphone stand and anything else in his path. Sage's frenetic lead guitar work stung like an insect bite. Where the band might have missed a step was that the show was thoroughly bombastic, leaving no room for nuance or reprieve, except when Malin shared an anecdote to introduce a song. D Generation's  wall of sound boldly and unmistakably announced "We're back!"

Visit D Generation at www.dgeneration.us.