2013 - A brief reflection on some of my live highlights

It’s that time of year when we reflect on the previous 12 months and what fun we had. 

In no particular order here are some of my gig highlights from 2013. 

The Stranglers / The Godfathers – Birmingham Academy – March. 
Proving the old guard still have it this was an amazing double header.  The Godfathers still got the passion for it and some great new tunes.  The Stranglers were spectacular, a career spanning set, an eager crowd, still one of the best bands around. 

Stiff Little Fingers / The Men They Couldn’t Hang / Eddie Tenpole – Bilston Robin – April. 
The queue to get in shows the demand that Stiff still have.  Crowd pleasing set from Eddie, TMTCH were great and Stiff blew the roof off with a mix of hits and classics from their back catalogue, even throwing in a cover of Staring At Rudeboys as a encore. 

Ruts DC – Rebellion Festival – August. 
By the end of 2013 I’d seen the Ruts DC four times in 16 months but this was probably my pick of the bunch.  Playing at the end of a brilliant Saturday at Rebellion in the slightly more intimate Bizarre Bazaar stage they delivered a great set of new and older Ruts DC material but it’s hearing those old Ruts songs once again that gets the hairs on the back of the neck standing on end.  Truly Brilliant!. 

Pete Bentham & The Dinner Ladies / Angry Itch – Adam & Eve – June. 
Well this turned out to be a stormer of a night.  I’ve seen Pete & The Dinner Ladies quite a few times in recent years, usually at the Rebellion Festival but I always seem to enjoy them more in smaller more intimate venues (like most bands I guess) and this was a storming performance.  Making the night even more special was the discovery of one of the support bands, Angry Itch.  They just blew me away.  The Birmingham punks are only recently formed  so the fact they deliver their catchy fast tunes so tightly only adds to the summation that these guys are something special and worth watching in 2014! 

Beans on Toast – The Rainbow Pub – October.   
I love the intimacy of this venue so when Beans on Toast joins the crowd to perform half his set you know it’s going to be something special.  Brilliant, funny, though provoking and some great in-between song banter made this one of the best gigs of the year.  And support Gorgeous George weren’t bad either. 

Shellac – The Rainbow – November. 
Playing in one of the larger Rainbow venues round the back this gig was nothing less than superb.  One of the tightest bands you will ever see, all members are just so tuned in with each other the impact of each song is magnified.  The attention to detail in the songs is outstanding and the in-between song Q  & A sessions add another dimension to the night and show the band in a totally different light. 

The Damned / Ruts DC – Wulfrun Hall – December. 
The Ruts DC were on form again but the night belonged to the Damned.  Atmospheric stage props and a more varied set taking in most periods of the band added with some great playing and a great sound meant this tuned out to be a bit of a corker. 

Toy Dolls / TV Smith – Birmingham Academy – November. 
It’s easy to gloss over TV Smith and assume he’s just another ageing punk rockers treading water but there is much more than just those old Adverts classics.  A quite brilliant acoustic set showcasing the best of his solo material too, possibly the best performance of his that I have ever seen, not bad for the support.  The Toys Dolls are often passed off as a one hit wonder novelty band.  Sure there is a lot of humour in their songs but that belies their musicianship and the songs are catchy as hell.   

Birmingham Punx Picnic – Wagon & Horses – September. 
I only managed the Sunday but this was a great day out.  Ten band for a fiver.  With Eastfield kicking off proceedings and Hardskin finishing off, it was a great atmosphere and will be well worth visiting the Punx Picnic 2014. 

Punk Rock Chaos 2 - Wagon & Horses – September.  Hosted by Angry Itch another great night of Punk rock all for a fiver.  Angry Itch were brilliant again (and I got a song dedication!) and local heroes Rotunda rounded off proceedings – as the night ran behind a little things ended in a bit of a blurrr but another great night of Birmingham Punk Rock

The Undertones / The Nightingales - Slade Rooms - May
Apprehensive about seeing the Undertones as Feargal has such a distinctive voice but any doubts were immediately cast away with a greatest hits and more set, such a great back catalogue of tunes.  And the Nightingales were brilliant!

Louise Distras - Rebellion - August
What a year it's been for Louise, globe trotting the world (well some of it) spreading her political and catchy acoustic punk rock message.  Great set at Rebellion playing the highlights of her then soon to be released debut, Dreams From The Factory Floor.  Cannot wait to catch her in 2014.

In fact cannot wait to catch a whole bunch of live music in 2014.

REBELLION 2013 - SUNDAY

Final day and we managed to keep the pace going. 

As we entered Sam saw a young lad by the name of Louie Raw on the acoustic stage so he stopped off to listen in and was mightily impressed for one so young. 

First on for us was the Terraces in the Arena who certainly woke us up.  We met up to watch Captain Hotknives in the Pavilion.  He had drawn a large crowd and although I have seen him before he had us all crying by the end of the set (with laughter that is). 

We then went to see the Adolescents in the Empress who I thought sounded great although there crowd wasn’t as big as I thought it might be.  

We then decamped to the acoustic stage to chill for a while and managed to see Mauri Clash City Rocker.  As you may guess he predominately played Clash cover but threw in a few other too and was a massive surprise when Colin from Cock Sparrer joined him on stage for Because You’re Young and England Belong’s To Me, aided by an appreciative crowd. 

Next was the Nightingales in the Pavilion.  I thought they sounded great, playing to a small crowd but if you get a chance check them out, still as relevant as ever. 

We then went to see Attila The Stockbroker on the literacy stage, another great set.  I could listen to Attila all night with his poems and stories , usually funny, sometimes biting and a superb and touching piece about his mom which reduced the room to silence. 

Then it was Lene Lovich in the Pavilion.  Another big crowd and to be fair I thought was a really good set and Lene sounded fabulous. 

A quick dash to the Olympia to see Face to Face, another band who suffered with poor sound but even that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd. 

Then it was back up to the Pavilion to see Peter Hook and The Light.  A slow start but a couple of songs in and once you’d gotten accustomed to Hooky singing these songs that were already ingrained in our consciences, you realised you were actually witnessing something pretty special.
 

It was a difficult decision to leave before then end of the set but I was keen to see Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine.  I never got to see the Dead Kennedys back in the day but have loosely followed Jello’s career and was mightily impressed with the recent album, from which they played a selection in addition to the crowd pleasing Holiday in Cambodia and Nazi Punks Fuck Off. 
 

Then it was last band of the weekend time, Sham 69.  Usually by this time I’ve kind of had enough and just want to go to bed but this year still felt quite lively even though we decided to watch from the balcony, couldn’t get a seat and it felt as hot as the tropics.  I thought Sham were a fitting end to the weekend, Jimmy Pursey was on fine form and they ripped through an absolutely blistering set.  Overall great weekend, few minor gripes over sound and running out of bottles of real ale, but that didn’t spoil another great coming together of the weird and the wonderful.