The Dets
The Dets kick off the evening with their set of classic punk covers including some by members of Alvin Gibbs band ie UK Subs and Ruts/Ruts DC in ‘Warhead’ and ‘Babylons Burning’. Karl bounces around the stage clearly enjoying himself and engaging with the audience. Nice to see someone play an Undertones track that isn’t Teenage Kicks for a change.
Fatal Dose
Fatal Dose are regulars on the punk circuit and a great bunch of guys. Hats off to them for providing the back line. They are a tight band with good songs as we know. Despite breaking a string early in the set, they recover impressively with the bass player takes over lead vocal as the singer/guitarist rushes off to get his second guitar.
After this minor interruption they are back into their useful groove playing excellent punk tunes that are well thought out with tempo and rhythm changes and some interesting cool drum patterns. For me there best tunes were ‘Twenty to Eight’, 7.40 to you, signature tune ‘Fatal Dose’ and the bravely titled ‘Brexit Benefits’ which these days could go either way depending on who happens to be in the audience. Despite the brief interlude this was a great gig and I enjoyed their set as usual.
Year Zero
Year Zero use the gig to showcase their new ep ‘The Louder You Scream’. They mix old and new tracks moving from fast to slow and play some recently recorded and revamped tunes including ‘Nostalgia’ and ‘DaNang Beach’. They end with new track ‘Fan Club’ (not The Damned song), this is about people with an obsession with serial killers. According to posts Leigh Heggarty thought they sounded good which is no bad thing.
Alvin Gibbs and the Disobedient Servants.
First up on this Double Headline is Alvin Gibbs and the Disobedient Servants, consisting of the usual crack squad of Alvin, long-time friend Steve Crittall who has played in many bands including local Birmingham heroes Black Bombers who sadly recently decided to call it a day, Ruts DCs Leigh Heggarty and a drummer friend from France.
They play tracks from album ‘Your Disobedient Servant’ and other tracks all with excellent bass lines, duelling guitars and tight drums. Some of the playing is amazing and you get the impression they could play anything they wanted. Tracks such as ‘Ghost Train’, ‘Clumsy Fingers’ are pure class as is the entire set. Alvin dedicates ‘Camden Town Gigolo’ to promoter and tonight’s host, Adam Ward renaming it Birmingham City Gigolo.
The audience are well into it and the band treat us to a mash up of ‘In a Rut and ‘Warhead’ with Leigh and Alvin sharing vocal duties.
This group have obviously been close friends probably going back to the days of the Croydon Greyhound and you can see their influences go back to those acts that were a massive influence on punk. This was a great set with some pretty amazing playing as you might expect given the personnel involved. They need to do this more often.
Chelsea
I saw Chelsea at Rebellion when Gene October shouted – ‘look they can’t believe how good we are’ and I must admit I have been with him on that one since the day they started.
Opener ‘Mission Impossible’ sets the tone for the show, catchy chorus, wicked lead riffs and full of the rock and roll swagger we have come to expect. Gene October leads the band in his cool blue shirt and on top form and self-assured. The playing is first class from Rob Miller and Nic Austin on guitars, Mat Sargant on Bass and the drumming from Steve Grainger is spot on.
The set is full of their anthems and someone standing close to me who has never seen them before can’t believe how every tune is as good as the last. All the band members have great voices which pushes the choruses straight at you and there is no let up as Grainger drives the band along with ultra tight drums.
October let’s the songs do the talking, occasionally shouting ‘did you like that one’ is his usual cool fashion. This is full of the hits and the classics such as ‘War Across The Nation’, ‘I’m of Fire’ the amazing ‘Evacuate’ that I just had to video and ‘No Ones’s Coming Outside’ (dedicated to the Villa fans who stayed at home to watch the match) were all absolute class. When ‘Urban Kids’ kicks in we know we are sadly nearing the end of the set. They pause to take their credits before ‘Right To Work’ ends a blistering set and brings the evening to a close.
What a great night!
