London - 100 Club (18, 19 & 20 September)

I have to say I had a great time at Punk Aid...despite the enforced changes in the bill all nights were great fun and all bands played well and some class performances. It was fitting that the celebration of Punk's first festival 25 years on was at the 100 Club and for a great cause...all the bands deserve praise for supporting Punk Aid.

Tuesday had the most line up changes... 3 of the bands having to pull out for various reasons...luckily Argy Bargy opened the event in fine style..can't wait for the next lp, a punchy well constructed and played set. Though obviously Oi! styled, the tightness of the band and the confident delivery means they would appeal to most people into tuneful punk...certainly got things off to a great start. Next were the Only Alternative, featuring Neil Thompson (ex-Carpettes) and some of the Stains, first time I've seen them and after a dicey start they played some solid 77 style pop punk...one to check out in the future...Neil certainly seemed to enjoy the Troggs to the next day! The Warriors came next and played a good fun set of their own material and Last Resort classics...if you're into Oi! this band is the real deal. Finally One Way System topped the bill, they're not really my cup of tea and I was tired from travelling up etc, saw about 5 numbers of okay Street Punk, not my thing but most people seemed to be enjoying it, despite the cries of "Where's Gavin/Lee".

Wednesday was as billed. Slutch starting off with some fine pop punk, utilising original Subs drummer Pete Davies to great effect. Then came Los Paraliticos who put on a solid performance...where did the spikes go though? TV Smith had 20 or so minutes as everyone was pushed for time, however TV and guitar used this time to great effect...New Church, Gary Gilmore's Eyes etc...these are some of the finest songs that came out of punk...TV was in the crowd last time...on the stage this time he was a star...great stuff! Tenpole Tudor was next, hilarious hearing Eddie say "one more song! For Tenpole Tudor one of the best bands in the world! That's outrageous!". During the set Claire King (Kim Tate from Emmerdale) was in front of us and seemed to be enjoying herself, even so much as getting involved in jumping around and falling down on her arse!! She got straight back up though and was soon happily bopping away again! Spizz Energi followed and I enjoyed them as much any band I saw over the 3 days...Spizz was on fine form, all of the 100 Club joining in with "Where's Captain Kirk?".

One of the great things I find about Punk Aid is that they get bands of different styles to play...such as Andover's 60's garage punk legends the Troggs....I overheard someone saying that they didn't know how they would go down...well they absolutely stormed it, everyone was going crazy to the sound of "Wild Thing", "I Can't Control Myself", "From Home" and the rest. They ran out of time and Reg had a bit of a paddy at the end about the DJ playing over the band and stormed off afterwards...shame but I suppose that's punk attitude for you! Only saw
a bit of 999 as I was tired, but they seemed to be on good form..."Feeling Alright With the Crew" was one highlight.

Finally to the last day...exactly 25 years since the Pistols, Clash, Banshees and Subway Sect played...the first band was the Anoraks who I hadn't heard of and I thought they were great...good versions of "Identity"(just like Poly and co) and "Nasty Nasty" combined with some sound originals, a band well worth checking out. Then Red Flag 77 followed, they were having a good time on (and off) the stage, a good set and also Fanny got to talk to Jo Guest!! Emergency followed with an energetic set, closing with "Looking at You" by the MC5. Mark
Lamarr played some great reggae stuff in between the bands, making a good contrast and also demonstrating the well established link between early punk and reggae which was so important to the development of the scene in 76/77. ATV were next, in my opinion one of the best bands in the country! Again Mark P and the band had the audience in their hands, new and old classics, my favourite being "Total Switch Off" from the new CD. Everyone seemed to be jumping around enjoying themselves...ATV were the very essence of punk! Well up to the standard of when I saw them last month at the same venue (didn't see you there Mr Turpitt!), miss them at your peril!!

Fittingly Chelsea closed the event as they were one of the bands formed around the time just after the 1976 festival...Gene berating the audience (as usual!), they played mainly 77-79 material apart from Evacuate, it would be great to hear some new Chelsea material, but they were great nonetheless. They ended with Right to Work (inevitably) Pretty Vacant and White Riot (Gene trying to get Mick Jones on stage for that one!), 3 cast iron punk classics and a clear nod to the bands that started it all. Everyone down the front was having a great time (including Tim Vicious)...it was a brilliant way to end the event with one of the first punk bands. Chatting to Mike Peters of the Alarm afterwards he said that he'ld never be able to write as good a song as "Right to Work".

Overall I had a great time, saw some fine performances of contrasting styles and talked to a lot of interesting people...(one of the best things I've felt about the 2 Punk Aid events I've attended has been the great atmosphere) what more could you want from a punk fest!! Great stuff!!

Review by Bone

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