Finally I am well enough to be back out going to gigs once more, as is normally the case in recent years my first gig of the year is at the 100 Club and is once again part of the excellent Resolution punk festival.
We got into the 100 Club just as The Backstreet Abortions started there set, they feature some very familiar faces to anyone who has been on the gig scene over the last 30 odd years, including on bass Les Docherty who back when I first saw him out and about, was one of the scariest of all the Kings Road punks in the 80's, he always had an air of menace about him, he is legendary for his involvement in the squat punk scene and as a member of The Varukers, the band that also features guitarist Biff, who is also in Sick On The Bus, who is backing his wife Jess whose on vocals, she is soon shouting expletive laden songs of pain at us, including the brilliant couplet "You make me sick, Suck a dick".
They play angry thousand mile an hour blitzkrieg punk about Abortion rights and drugs, on songs like Self-medicate and Decriminalize and the super seedy and nasty Dope Sick with its message to avoid taking or getting involved in Heroin, the songs all have a message, that was sometimes lost under the onslaught of the raging guitars and bass and the frenetic drumming.
They prove to be equal opportunity haters on God's A Pig that doesn't shy away from calling out all organized religion, Useless Chatter speeds past in a hail of words and splintered shards of guitar notes before they closed with a tribute to the bands friend Beano on a song named after him. This isn't my kind of punk but at least I lasted the whole set, which is more than I've managed while trying to see Sick On The Bus.
Next on were the Folk punk band Headsticks who manage to never name any of the members on the bands facebook page or website, so they are just four blokes making a cool racket. From the opening The Colour Red they got the packed club going and the singer had enough manic energy to draw loads of us into the band's world.
They took frantic aim at all the idiots making our lives a misery on Dickhead a song we were able to still sing the chorus too on the way home. They then went semi acoustic on Mississippi Burning that has a Levellers meets Ferocious Dog kind of flavor too it. As did the second acoustic song they played that I guess is called Oh No.
Cold Grey English Skies brought the garage punk guitar back as they summed up the weeks weather and the state of our deteriorating country nicely, with a good sing along chorus. Lies Lies Lies nails what most of us hate about how our politicians treat us.
They had plenty of smiles form the packed crowd as they asked What You Want over and over again as the guitars went off and the singer tried to out stare various audience members as he stalked the stage.
They went back to the folky side of things for My Own War that certainly was fighting on the right side of the battle to live decent lives. Dark Waters was a bit New Model Armyish but with less Celtic influence. The last of the acoustic tunes was the very on point Your Killing Me America that had plenty of bile for the way America behaves around the world and in their own country.
They then went back to being fully electric to close with the double punch of Miles And Miles that was good and road worn before closing with one of the most raucous songs ever called Peace And Quiet that left lots of people wanting a little bit more from Headsticks.
|
That meant it was time for Dick Lucas and the Subhumans to obliterate any thought we might have had about Apathy, as they blasted away any cobwebs and went full throttle at us in a blaze of glory. Animal flew by like they had to play as fast as possible.
As usual Dick never stood still and was all over the stage as he told us that we needed a New Age full of compassion for each other. His lust for life was clear as day on I Don't Wanna Die. He gave us his usual enraged speech about not listening to the people telling you that you are Too Fat or Too Thin, just be you and don't buy into the bullshit of perfect bodies.
Half the 100 club was a mosh pit by the time they played Internal Riot that Dick told us was about all the voices in his head. It's Gonna Get Worse is as bitter as it needs to be as the bands message is rammed home with joy and despite the title no Waste Of Breath at all, but the pace was relentless.
As usual Dick told us we should all despise the City bankers and reminisced about the Stop the City march many years ago that he wrote Rats about, a great anti corporate banking tirade in a glorious fun punk song.
Dick mocked himself for drinking water out of a plastic bottle as part of the opening to Poison about all the pollution and plastic we have poisoned the environment with. I guess the next song was Never Look Back about always trying to move forwards and not trying to turn the clock back to some imagined better day.
Dick then reminded us all that we must stick together as part of the 99% as that's the only way to beat the 1% who seek to rule and oppress us all. Naturally the place went nuts for Subvert that was played so frantically that we barely had time to take all the lyrics in. They closed the set with Minority that was blasted through deep into our brains.
Surprisingly the audience didn't go totally nuts for an encore, but despite that they came back anyway, they opened the encore with a song that I have down as Communication but that's a guess, but Dick wants us all to communicate with each other and get round the lies and distortion of the mainstream media and government.
They then unleashed No so we would all know what to say No too. Then they flew through Peroxide like a band on a mission, before they closed the show with a stonking version of Religious Wars to leave us in no doubt that the Subhumans remain an essential live punk band unafraid to speak the truth in 2023.
|
