Great line up this and a stop off on way to Rebellion Festival for many of the bands, perfect for those of us in London not able to take a holiday in the sun. Originally Mischief Brew were to open but obviously after the death of their frontman Erik Peterson they cancelled all forthcoming dates. Replacing them are London oiks Hard Skin made up of members of Wat Tyler & Thatcher On Acid and they quickly blister into a self-titled football terrace yobby anthem. Not a band to be taken seriously, they are as much about the humour as the short bursts of bruising music and bassist Fat Bob aka Sean is on fine form tonight dishing out wit left right and centre. Songs like 2 Chords 2 Fingers speak for themselves and get people bouncing about as they unleash their inner spirit of Sham 69. Songs come thick and fast and nobody is disagreeing with statements like ‘We Are The Wankers’ with its chant along chorus impossible not to join in with. Proving a perfect warm up they got everyone in the mood and the beer flowing and even threw in a self-described gay anthem ‘Who’s That Boy.’ United we were all skins during the all too short set of stupidity on stage. Silly bald twits!
Things took a more serious and faster turn when legendary Texan punks MDC took their turn. I’ve seen them a few times over the years including an unforgettable show at the Clarendon Ballroom in Hammersmith (RIP). Leading them all the way since 1981 is vocalist Dave Dictor, he may not be doing cartwheels across the stage like he was when I first caught them but one things for sure, musically he ain’t mellowed with age in the slightest. Their mission seems to be to get through as many songs as possible in their allotted time and the band blaze away fast and furiously with an occasional apocalyptic edge. There should have been a circle pit but at this velocity I doubt anyone would have managed to stay on their feet. The second someone tries they do a face-plant straight into an onstage monitor, ouch. Most of these songs are bona-fide classics. ‘No More Cops’ a baton blast of hate with the vocals spat out as fast as the barraging music. ‘Chicken Squawk’ provides a moment of levity and gives us the chance to partake in funky dancing and have a bit of a hoedown. There’s a lot of ranting at everything and everyone, not even John Wayne gets off and gets outed as a Nazi. MDC play as though they are headlining and to be fair it takes an impressive bill for them not to be. They batter out ‘Dead Cops’ and keep going. Nothing’s safe and there’s no messing with Texas here; excellent stuff.
I had no real idea what to expect from The Dwarves having never seen them live, would they be hurling midgets off stage, would there be hookers and blow? Well nope, none of that they simply get up there and play but in doing so cause a pile up down the front and get everyone joining in with their brand of tasteless kick ass rawk n roll. Songs come across as scrappy, intense and sleazy with a few bluesy licks here and there. Blag Dahlia asks the audience to shake their asses for him and there’s no shortage of volunteers doing just that. Songs like ‘Sluts Of The USA’ are impossible not to boogie along to and get the pit kicking off as they inject a real party vibe into proceedings. I got the impression that for many this lot were the main draw of the night and they even get a first stage diver in action. There’s more than the odd song about getting high and beer is flying all over the shop. The microphone is thrust in faces to allow a bit of audience participation and with the words ‘Let’s Fuck’ being yelled out it was all pretty easy getting the words right. There were a couple of more recent songs I recognised along with classics like ‘I Wanna Be Your Pimp’ and again the band were getting through as many songs as possible, hardly pausing for breath.. Nobody limped away from the front of this one feeling disappointed that’s for sure.
Apart from on countless viewings of Penelope Spheeris’ legendary punk film Suburbia I have never seen T.S.O.L live either. At least this gig wasn’t going to descend into chaos like in the movie. Another band with one hell of a history behind them, these are True Sounds Of Liberty stretching right back to 78. As Fat Bob had laughingly pointed out earlier there is a very noticeable Gothic edge to some of their sound but this wasn’t immediately apparent with opener World War III which swaggers around with really thick and heavy bass and plenty of ballast about it. It seems like a few members of this band have been around since inception and vocalist Jack Grisham stalks the stage in a flamboyant manner keeping the vocals coming in an urgent fashion. Speaking of genres his trousers exist in one all of their own!
It takes a little while to get used to their sound, a refresher course before the gig would have been a good idea. Numbers like ‘Terrible People’ are far removed from yer bog standard punk with a near art rock vibe about them. It’s interesting and although not as manic audience wise as it was for the last lot, the venue has far from emptied out. Sometimes the vocals drawl in a way that sits on the side of uncomfortable but the focus is drawn to bass and drums during the instrumental part and they really hit the spot driving the songs along. ‘Fuck You Tough Guy’ has an easy to understand message although vocally there was a bit of Danzig about it all to me and I was definitely finding the band a bit tricky to get a handle on. Guess that made them all the more interesting though. ‘Abolish Government’ brought a bit more of an anarchic edge and was a rebel-rouser of a number and although not sticking around quite to the end I was pleased to have caught the band, leaving with ‘Property Is Theft’ ringing in my ears. No doubt those catching them and almost 200 other bands at Rebellion are in for a blast and a half.
(Review and photos Pete Woods)
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