BRUM PUNX PICNIC 2013 - SUNDAY

This was my debut at the Brum Punx Picnic and I’m not really sure why I have not been before.  

The Wagon and Horses in Digbeth is ideally suited to host, with an undercover outdoor stage at the rear of the pub and a second indoor stage upstairs on the first floor with bands alternating between the two.  The Punx picnic is usually a charity event with this year being in aid of Casa Alianza (an international, non-governmental organisation dedicated to the rehabilitation and defence of street children in Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico and Guatemala). 

Sunday saw 10 bands playing and at only £5 entrance fee you don’t need to be mathematically gifted to realise what great value for money this DIY event is. 

First up were Eastfield, Urban rail punks who eat, breath and live the DIY ethos.  I’d never seen Eastfield live before but they immediately engaged with the crowd delivering a frenetic but catchy set that had most of the crowd singing along by the end.  Feel like I have really missed out not getting into these guys (and gal) earlier, definitely worth checking them out if you get the chance and I’ll be ordering a CD or two from their website. 

 

First on the outdoor stage were Thirteen Shots, a bit pyschobilly, a bit punky rock.  Although the crowd was relatively small they played with plenty of gusto and another band work checking out, second album Tales That Start As A Whisper is out now.

 

Fear Insight were next in the upstairs room, I know very little about these guys other that I think they formed in Birmingham last year from various other bands and although their intense hardcore sound may not be to everyone’s taste I thought they were pretty good and seemed to go down well with the smallish crowd.

The Rutherfords from Nottingham were up next.  They exist in the same short song , pop punk world as the Ramones and early Undertones, and I am put in mind of more recent bands like Thee Spivs and The Cute Lepers.  They sounded great and went down a treat, finishing with a crowd pleasing cover of Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue. 

Next were Crashed Out, a Street Punk band from Jarrow, Tyne and Wear.  I’ve seen Crashed out a couple of times before and have always thought they were pretty good but they seemed to have grown in stature delivering a powerhouse of a sound.  Not afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves (the Angelic Upstarts’ Police Oppression was dedicated to Mensi, arrested the day before for breach of the peace while defending a photographer from the EDL) they seem to have elevated themselves to stand along side their Street Punk peers.    

Geoffrey Oicott were up next with their cricket themed punk rock.  With song titles that feature cricket play on words (She’s A Dickie Bird, LBW, Get The Runs) as well as the odd Darts ones too, the not too serious lyrics don’t detract from their great punk /Oi! catchy noise they make.

Then it was on to headliner time, anti fascist skinhead band Hardskin.  It’s really difficult not to fall for the sheer entertainment value of Hardskin.  Massive singalong tunes and lyrics that range from the self depreciating, to the nonsensical (Sausage Man – you are what you eat) every song sounds like an anthem.  If you have seen Hardskin before you will know the audience as well as anyone else associated with the scene are all fair game for the tongue ever so slightly in cheek in between song banter.  And it is this that makes them such an entertaining watch and great pick for headlining the final night of the Brum Punx Picnic
 
Best picnic I've ever been to.