Bob Gruen, Rock and Roll Photographer

June 16 - 18'04 - London - "The NY Dolls played a sensational comeback show! They've never played better! The Kings of New York!" So said the rave reviews in the London papers after their first show in almost 30 years. They played at the Meltdown Festival in London at the Royal Festival Hall. This years festival was curated by Morrissey and he called the NY Dolls and asked them the play and in a big surprise move, they agreed!. It was a fantastic night. The Dolls are better than ever, actually learning how to tune up and play over the years. Before the Dolls show, I had a screening of my Dolls video documentary, "Lookin' for a Kiss" and some other rare excerpts and footage of bands playing at Max's Kansas City. Now the NY Dolls are planning some more shows, including August 14th in New York at Randall's Island, a festival in Belfast August 28th and some Japanese dates at the end of September.

The Reunited NY Dolls pose for their first photo together in 29 years, and they're lookin' good!

The 2004 NY Dolls take a bow after their London debut.

The Dolls look happy to be together as they pose on the fire escape during their NY Rehearsals	The Dolls were so friendly with each other it seemed as if only a week had gone by instead of 29 years.
Backstage in London before going on David looks ready, and then hits the stage with a cheer.	David wows the crowd as he always has.
David and Syl stir up the fans.	Arthur and Syl get in sync as David calls on the audience to sing along.
David shows he has only gotten better on the harmonica. People were surprised to see how blues based the Dolls songs are.	Syl is happy to show how good he's gotten over the years and how glad he is to be back with the Dolls.
Someone yelled to Arthur to give a smile and it seemed to come easy to the now sober bassman.	Drummer Gary Powell usually plays with the Libertines, but he was great with the NY Dolls!
Johnny Thunders shoes are hard to fill, but Steve Conte played his heart out and the Dolls never sounded better.	After the debut show Sex Pistols bassman Glenn Matlock says hello to his inspiration, Arthur.
Chrissie Hynde came to see one of her all-time favorite bands and says hi to old friend David Jo.	Sex Pistol drummer Paul Cook, and the Clash's Mick Jones tell David how good it was to see the Dolls again.
Sir Bob Geldof and David give a very smashed Shane McGowan a shoulder to lean on.	Sky Sexon of the Seeds and Arthur get to catch up.
Grace and Don Letts meet David and Don explained the new "History of Punk" DVD project he's working on. The Grammy award winning director did interviews with the Dolls during their stay in London.	Tony James and Mick Jones are all smiles as they told me about their new band "Carbon Silicon".
Sir Bob Geldof, himself a big Dolls fan, gets an autograph from Sylvain for his daughter.	After all the excitement David takes a well earned rest as he waits for a ride back to the hotel.