The Insaints were an American punk rock group from

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

and later

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States, fronted by controversial vocalist

Marian Anderson Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to Spiritual (music), spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throu ...

from 1988-1994. She was noted for her powerful, sexually charged and provocative live performances which frequently included on-stage nudity and sex acts. The Insaints made Bay Area headlines when Anderson was arrested for lewd conduct after a performance at 924 Gilman Street in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. The charges were eventually dropped after a year long legal battle, but the band broke up in 1994. In 2001, Anderson died of a heroin overdose at the age of 33. In 2005, the group reformed under the same name with Eva Von Slut as its new vocalist. A documentary about the Insaints and the life of vocalist Marian Anderson, entitled ''Last Fast Ride: The Life, Love, and Death of a Punk Goddess'' directed by Lilly Scourtis Ayers and narrated by

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...

, was released in February 2011. It features interviews with Insaints guitarist Daniel DeLeon, and Bay Area musicians Tim Armstrong of Rancid, Dexter Holland of The Offspring, Texas Terri Laird, and other assorted Gilman Street veterans as well as photos and footage of the band in action.

Post-breakup

After the Insaints broke up, Anderson played guitar and sang backups in local San Francisco band The Ritalins with John Kiffmeyer (or Al Sobrante) on drums, "Rotten" Ron Ready on bass, and Josh Donald on vocals. The Ritalins performed in and around the Bay Area for almost two years where they were noted mainly for their chaotic and unpredictable shows. Shortly before her death in 2001, singer Anderson and Insaints guitarist Deleon formed a

psychobilly Psychobilly is a rock music fusion genre that fuses elements of rockabilly and punk rock. It's been defined as "loud frantic rockabilly music", it has also been said that it "takes the traditional countrified rock style known as rockabilly, ram ...

band called The Thrillkillers. The group's only performance was in September 2001. Marian Anderson is survived by her daughter, Hannah Lolly Anderson. As of 2012, Daniel DeLeon is active in the

band Rezurex and

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

/ new wave band Neon Kross. Eva Von Slut is a burlesque performer and has fronted the

band Thee Merry Widows, as well as the punk band The White Barons.

Recordings

Before their breakup in 1994, The Insaints had only one official release; ''Diesel Queens vs. Insaints'', a split, double 7-inch EP with The Diesel Queens from San Jose, California, released by

Maximum RocknRoll ''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly zine of punk subculture. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and hardcore music, and primarily featur ...

in 1993. On November 9, 2004 the six tracks from the 1993 EP, along with the four other outtakes from the 1993 recording and nine additional live tracks, were collected and released as a full-length album called ''Sins of Saints'' on the Disaster Records label.

Discography

*''Diesel Queens vs. Insaints'' (Split 7 inch w/ the ''Diesel Queens'') (1993) *''Sins of Saints'' (LP/CD) (2004)

References

External links

Insaints MySpace page

Last Fast Ride Official Movie Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Insaints Punk rock groups from California Musical groups from San Francisco