Day two. Bands included in this review are: Maid Of Ace, Vomit, Darrel Bath, Loaded 44, Reagan Youth, Subhumans, Vice Squad, Penetration, Dictators NYC, UK Subs, The Exploited.
Day two started with our traditional walk down the beach, only the tide was so high (as it had been on day one) that the water was all the way up to the concrete steps, so we decided we'd have our annual go on the big wheel to get in the mood for another day of great punk bands.
I started the day by having another senior moment when I managed to get the stages wrong so we managed to miss the Fuckwits and saw Maid Of Ace instead which turned out just fine. We really enjoyed Maid Of Ace last year, at least I'm pretty sure we saw them last year. Anyway they play grrreat Riot Grrrl style punk and one of the singers sounds a lot like Annette from Cay but hopefully has fewer bad habits than that might suggest.
Vomit were next in The Arena and they are as angry and messy as the name suggests. They also dragged the legendary Piss Off Reg on stage for the song that's named after him! He has a few Youtube videos in his honour too!! That and the hilarious ending that was Buy One Get One Free.
We then went and took a seat in the Acoustic Arena for Darrell Bath to play a typical solo set. It wasn't dissimilar to the last time I saw him play solo a couple of years ago. Although as this started at 2.20 in the afternoon Darrell looked and sounded far more sober than normal!! Some good bruised songs well played as per usual.
Then it was over to the Pavilion stage for a little bit of Loaded 44: some reasonably cool female-fronted glam punk and they played a good version of Generation Idiot.
Then it was straight over to the Empress Ballroom for US Hard core legends Reagan Youth, with the band's latest line-up paying tribute to some of the members they have lost along the way to the evils of the mail service or drugs. They were good just not as good as they thought they were, though Tibbe sounded great on bass and they certainly got the place going a bit. In Dog we Trust and Jesus Was A Communist were the highlights.
It was then time to go outside to the Tower Street Arena for The Subhumans who were playing theIR 1000th gig! It was also the first appearance of Dick Lucas who managed to front 3 different bands this year that we saw! Yes, everyone loves these Vegan anarcho-punks as they sing about animal rights. No matter how serious the lyrics, they are always a lot of fun to see and Dick is one hell of a good front man as unlikely as that is if you see photos of the man. Still they may sing about Apathy and how things Are Gonna Get worse but it never feels like it while watching them live. I really liked the slightly dub-by Fade Away.
We stayed where we were for Vice Squad to play a greatest hits set which found Beki and the boys in great form. I really enjoyed If I Knew What I Know Now and Latex Love sounded spanking. Beki made many of the punks feel nostalgic on Sniffing Glue and Stand Strong Stand Proud had everyone singing along to it as did the obligatory version of Ace Of Spades. As expected Vice Squad sounded and were great with one of the dirtiest bass sounds of the weekend.
Then it was back to the Empress ballroom for Penetration who opened by playing some of the new songs from their latest album, including a great version of Betrayed that sounded like classic Penetration. Pauline Murray was in fine voice.
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Beat Goes On/Movement really worked nicely. Their version of Patti Smith's Free Money was a sing-a-long classic as was Silent Community, but the place went nuts for Don't Dictate and they kept the energy levels up for Danger Signs. Firing Squad was good and foreboding and as ever they really were worth seeing.
Next on the Empress Ballroom stage were one of the bands who have been going for more than the 40 years of Punk. Yes The Dictators NYC are back to blast us with some quality Master Race Punk. Handsome Dick and the boys are still dreaming of being the Next Big Thing and sounding this good they should be. Yes they are still singing about Pussy & Money and wanting to Save Rock & Roll. Good to know nothing chanes sometimes.
Yes Ross The Boss is still killing it on guitar as they ask the ladies if they'll Come On Baby Let's Twist. Handsome Dick doesn't really look like a Two Tub Man, but hell they are fulfilling the Supply and Demand we have to see them playing as often as we can. For me this is now twice since becoming a fan in the early 80's. They finished their rampage by blasting us away with a great version of Kick Out The Jams.
We then scooted back to the Tower Street Arena to see Uncle Charlie Harper and the boys in UK Subs play a good, mainly greatest hits set. Down On the Farm sounded great and Hell Is Other People was good and angry. Endangered Species was OK but not as great as it should have been. I think City Of The Dead was one of the songs Charlie thanked Alvin Gibbs for helping to write.
As normal, the biggest pit and sing-along was prompted by Warhead, but Riot wasn't far behind it and the song that opened the encore, CID, went down a storm. The closing New York State Police seems more appropriate than ever sadly. Damn for a 72 year old Charlie Harper still rocks like hell.
We went back to the Empress Ballroom for The Exploited who were not as good as the 4 or 5 bands we saw prior to them. Wattie did his best to get the place going on Dogs Of War but they were a bit tepid overall. It's almost like they have turned into a joke punk band rather than the serious band they were initially.
However, Chaos Is My Life went down pretty well and Fuck The System is something most of us would agree with at the moment but the place really didn't get going till they closed with Sex and Violence and and even that didn't even sound as good as The Pukes' version the night before. Still it was a decent enough end to day 2 for us and we wandered off in search of some chips on the way home. We made a mental note to try to make sure we look more like Wattie next year, although I'm not sure about his red dreads.
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