GBH
Another early gig start meant that I was unable to quite make it down by the time local stalwarts Hotwired began their set. Bizarrely playing with the house lights still up they got some heads nodding and were reasonably entertaining, although minus points for their decidedly average cover of the Pistols' Bodies. The Varukers are one of those punk bands who have been recording since the very early 80s but have always remained on the margins due to the uncompromising nature of their sound. Coming from the same school as bands like Discharge, they’ve just released a new album and along with selections from that the set was packed full of older classics such as Die For Your Government, Another Religion Another War and Soldier Boy. With a bass sound intentionally resembling a cement mixer, barked vocals and frantic guitar any slight subtleties, and there are few, of the recorded versions were lost but there is something quite satisfying about the simplicity of what the Varukers do. I would imagine we were all on side with their anti-government, anti-war rhetoric and their message remains as relevant today as did 35 years ago. Whilst they lacked the touch of class that would have made them great rather than merely good the 45 minutes they played for was entertaining stuff.
GBH are arguably the most famous of all the second wave of UK punk bands. Achieving genuine success during their heyday they are rightly considered legends of the street punk scene and remarkably have 3 original members still in the line-up. As with so many of those early punk bands you can clearly hear the huge influence rock ‘n’ roll had on their sound and the interplay between the band members that comes from having been doing this for 40 years meant they were a well oiled live machine. I love watching a band who mean a great deal to the assembled throng, and for some of the old punks at the front this was a massive deal. Where once it would have been speed and glue, now it was pints and merchandise with the odd walking stick thrown in for good measure, but there was a great atmosphere all night, despite the fact the gig was nowhere near a sell out, which I found a little surprising. Lead singer Colin Abrahall was an excellent frontman, throwing his mic, handing it to the front row to bellow along and still breaking out his trademark jumps and scissor kicks. Mindful of the early curfew they crammed a huge amount of material into their hour long set building up to the stone cold classic City Baby Attacked By Rats merging seamlessly into City Baby’s Revenge which was absolutely brilliant.
Over the past 5 years or so I’ve seen loads of old punk bands and they almost always guarantee a good night out and this was no exception. I left feeling I’d seen another couple of legends but it was GBH who made me feel that I’d seen a hallowed name in the field of UK punk rock.
