An overview of the early years--late 1970s, early 1980s--of San Francisco punk band Dead Kennedys, with clips from some of their live concerts and footage of landmark San Francisco locations of the punk music scene. Jello Biafra and The Dead Kennedys show why they're the kings of satire in 9 live early performances.

It was clear from the start that the Dead Kennedys were not your average band. Jello Biafra's lyrical themes were overtly political, attacking President Ronald Reagan, the Klan, big business, and such with a glorious sense of raging sarcasm that owes some credence to such wild luminaries as Lenny Bruce. Their appearance at the Earth Tavern in Portland Oregon in November 1979 was a rare step out of their native CA when Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables had just made the stores and Holiday in Cambodia was only just hitting the decks.

Dead Kennedys filmed live at Arena Wien in Vienna, Austria, 1982.

This 58 minute DVD video is one of the Dead Kennedy's last ever live concerts, captured on film just months before their breakup in 1984. This 14-song performance at San Francisco's On Broadway catches Jello and company at the height of their punk powers.

On July the 19th, 1978, the Dead Kennedys would play their first show at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco, California. This venue, also known as The Fab Mab was somewhat of a legendary venue. It saw the likes of The Runaways, Ramones, The Dead Boys and even Motorhead stretch their strings there. So what better place for the Dead Kennedys to launch their assault onto the world. The Dead Kennedys would be formed through The Recycler. A now legendary newspaper that brought many influential groups together. Metallica, Guns N Roses and Motley Crue all started from classified ads here. Whilst of course the Kennedys were a full band, one man would essentially become the spokesperson for the group and his name would become synonymous with them. You can’t hear the name Jello Biafra without thinking of the politics behind Dead Kennedys.