Steve Ignorant's Slice of Life
Let's get the C word out of the way. Steve Ignorant is best known as the frontman with iconic DIY anarchy-punks Crass. I never got the chance to see Crass (or Steve's Feeding of the 5000 or Last Supper gigs of Crass songs) but the whole ethos of Crass has had a huge influence on the way I have tried to live my life. It seems that pretty much everyone who ever bought a Crass record feels the same way.
Announced just a few days ago, tonight's gig is part of Punk In The East. But this is not another blast of anarchic noise. Slice of Life - Carol Hodge on keys and Peters Wilson and Rawlinson on guitar and bass, respectively - back Steve up with an acoustic-based music that is more restrained than may be expected. That doesn't mean this is any less intense than anything Steve has been involved with in the past. Oh no. If anything, the music ramps up the intensity as Steve rants, rages and spits his lyrics in his trademark style.
The set is heavy on songs from Slice of Life's excellent Love and a Lamppost long player, which is no bad thing. Opener Man's World is full of vitriol at our failing political system. Eleven Chimneys, Stretford Blue and album highlights The Way Things Are and Slice of Life are as thrillingly passionate as the first time I heard them.
Having played the songs on the set list, things then go a little more spontaneous. There's SoL's own Killing Time, a heartfelt Bowie cover, and, yes, the Crass catalogue is revisited with an all too brief snatch of So What and a rowdy shoutalong Do They Owe Us A Living.
The band are pure class and Steve is a great frontman and raconteur. One year, one month and two days ago, Ignorant and SoL played the old Owl Sanctuary. It was one of my gigs of 2015 but this topped it.
