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Review: 'Saints, The / Fawn Spots / Jaded Eyes'
'The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 21st May 2015'   


-  Genre: 'Punk/New Wave'

Our Rating:
I arrive before doors and the place is absolutely ruddy rammed. Not only are The Saints headlining the main room, but the Games Room is hosting a lineup headed by The Serpent Power (a Liverpool supergroup featuring The Coral’s Ian Skelly and Paul Molloy of The Zutons. And it’s exam result day, so the place is rammed with pissed-up students as well as not-so-pissed-up gig goers. I can see why the old-timer sitting by the bar who’s clearly been a regular since it was a WMC and nothing more, is grumbling (although it turns out it’s the students he loathes, the gig-goers are ok). Welcome to The Brudenell, the very definition of ‘melting pot’.

Taking refuge in the main room with my £3.30 pint of Yorkshire Pale, I unwind for a while listening to Big Black over the PA before Jaded Eyes launch their very punk assault. With throaty, shouted vocals driven by full-steam hard-edged punk with a hardcore leaning (the singer might be wearing a DEVO T-shirt, but he’s got a Black Flag tattoo and a whole load of rage to get off his chest.

York’s Fawn Spots, having signed to Fire Records for the release of their debut album are label mates of the legendary headliners, and they more than do themselves justice on this outing. They may have been feeling a little below par, but you’d never have known it out front as they tore their way through their set of twitchy, spasmodic, sinewy and angular punk tunes and attacked them with unbridled energy. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve seen these guys with their various lineups, but sounding crisp and tight, it seems the Brudnell brings the best out in every band, and their frenzied blast went down well with the rapidly expanding crowd.

By the time The Saints arrived on stage, the place had filled out no end. Before, and occasionally during their set, I indulged in a spot of T-shirt spotting. You can learn a great deal about a band from the T-shirts worn by its audience. So what did a cluster of Ramones shirts, alongside Ts for Wire, Misfits, Killing Joke, Richard Hell & the Voidoids, Black Flag, Husker Du, 999, Reverend Horton Heat, The Jesus and Mary Chain and a (rather new-looking Rezillos beanie say about The Saints? Quite simply, it reminds us that these guys practically invented punk rock. While their sound may have evolved from the punk template that they set way back in ‘76 (and do they give us ‘(I’m) Stranded?)’ of course not) to incorporate more straight ahead rock and also janglier indie sounds (as exemplified here by ‘Let’s Pretend’ from the 1981 album ‘The Monkey Puzzle’): nevertheless, they’re generous with the back catalogue cuts and they still sound as fresh as ever.

The sound is crisp and clear and the band are as tight as you like, and Chris Bailey (covering bass duties and vocals and sporting some very fetching plaid trousers) is in good voice, and good humour, too. And considering he’s been making records almost as long as I’ve been alive, he’s wearing pretty well. They work the power trio format well, with Barrington Francis giving some impressive fretwork. ‘This Perfect Day’ still punches hard and is delivered with a sneering ferocity that’s as punk as it gets.

With two encores, they certainly give don’t leave anyone feeling short-changed, wrapping up with their blustering guitar-driven interpretation of ‘River Deep, Mountain High’. It’s a great way to go out, and there’s something elating about knowing you’ve not only watched a legendary act performing, but seen them on cracking form.
  author: Christopher Nosnibor

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Saints, The / Fawn Spots / Jaded Eyes - The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 21st May 2015
The Saints
Saints, The / Fawn Spots / Jaded Eyes - The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 21st May 2015
Fawn Spots