King Missile last performed on Saturday, June 27, 2015, at Shea Stadium (20 Meadow Street, Brooklyn NY.

This potentially raised several questions:

Which King Missile is this? The second one.

Are these the guys who did “Detachable Penis”? Yes.

Did they have any other good songs? That’s a matter of opinion.

When was the last time this version of the band played together? It was Saturday, June 27th, 2015. Just like the headline says.

How many versions of the band have there been? Four. The most reason version, King Missile IV, released a short CD earlier this year called This Fuckin’ Guy.

Did they play stuff from all of the King Missile records, or just some of them?  They did stuff from seven King Missile recordings: Fluting on the Hump; They; Mystical Shit; The Way To Salvation; Happy Hour; King Missile; and Royal Lunch.

Hey, what about Failure, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life  and This Fuckin’ Guy? Nope.

Did they play any new stuff, that’s not on any records yet? Yes.  Some TFGs. But not the TFGs from This Fuckin’ Guy. Some other TFGs.

So, who is in this band, anyway?

• Dave Rick, who played guitar on Mystical Shit, The Way to Salvation, Happy Hour and King Missile, played guitar. Dave is known for his many other bands, including: Bob, Carol, Ted; Wide Right; McLoud; the Martinets; Yo La Tengo; Bongwater; and B.A.L.L.
• Roger Murdock, who played drums, percussion, emulator and other stuff on Happy Hour and King Missile, played drums and percussion. Roger has played or recorded with Laurie and the Sighs; Wide Right; The Messyheads; The Martinets; Joey Ramone; Ronnie Spector; Debbie Harry; Leslie West; and others.
• Rachel Swaner performed with King Missile for the first time at this show: keyboards, and accordion. Rachel’s other bands include Brian & Silbin &Friends; The Main Squeeze Orchestra; Freeman Dre and the Kitchen Party; The Soho Valley Boys; and Parlor Riot.

What about Chris Xefos?  Chris Xefos, who played bass, keyboards, tuba, and lots of other stuff on Mystical Shit, The Way to Salvation, Happy Hour and King Missile, lives in San Francisco, and was not available for this performance.

What about John S. Hall? Oh yeah. That guy. The vocalist. Yes. He was there. He did the vocals.

Why has it taken so long for this version of the band to get back together and play a show? That’s a good question, but the answer is complicated and somewhat uninteresting. Perhaps a better question is, Why did they do this now? Or Why did they do it at all?

Why did they do this now? Why did they do it at all? As This Fuckin’ Guy would say, Why the fuck not?

Will they ever do it again? If asked by the right venue, yes. They probably would.