Played some brilliant live gigs over the last 18 months (most recently supporting the Damned in December), this is one of the highlights from last years Rhythm Collision Vol 2
Ruts DC - Mighty Soldier
Showing posts with label Ruts DC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ruts DC. Show all posts
Saturday, 11 January 2014
Monday, 23 December 2013
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.
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.
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
REBELLION 2013 - SATURDAY
Saturday was a return to form for us. Full English and we were back on it, okay we might have had an hour or two shut eye first but definite improvement in stamina today.
First off to the literary stage and listen to John Robb interview Gary Bushell. I kind of went off Bushell after he left Sounds and started writing for the Sun but there is no doubting his positive contribution to the punk and Oi movement over the years. It was an entertaining interview and he told an hilarious tale of when CID turned up at his house looking for Motorheads stolen Bomber stage prop.
Then it was down to the acoustic stage to see Louise Distras. Louise seems to have come so far in such a short time and seems to be on the road more than the Subs. Her voice seems to vary from melodic to a gravelly roar, sometimes in the same line and she has got a great batch of songs, sometimes political and having a pop at appropriate targets (Sam for some reason seems to think her final song about the creepy men from the internet was about me!?). Her debut album Dreams From the Factory Floor is out at the end of September and is top of the most eagerly awaited albums of the year. I urge you all to buy!
We caught a little bit of Anthrax in the Pavilion before going down to the Olympia to see Dirtbox Disco. They played on the smaller stage and we were a nit nearer the front so the sound wasn’t actually that bad. I’d never heard DBD until the Christmas Rebellion and was shocked at how big a crowd they drew then and the fact that everyone was singing along so we’d made an special effort to see the whole set at Blackpool. They are definitely at the more light hearted end of the punk rock spectrum but have some catchy as hell tunes that get everyone joining in and I would recommend catching them if they play in a town near you. (they are playing at the Birmingham Punx Picnic weekend at the end of August).
Next were King Prawn in the Empress. I love watching some of the ska bands as very often they present a bit of lighter relief amongst the punk rock mayhem but King Prawn are a bit different offering a ska tinged set with a tougher edge than most and I will make an effort to catch them again.
We saw Terveet Kadet on the Arena stage. A Finnish hardcore band from the 80’s they played a tight wall of sound 20 minute set and left. Brilliant. It’s this variance in styles that keep this festival interesting.
A quick dash to the Pavilion to catch the second half of Citizen Fish, another politically tinged ska band but so different to King Prawn but still great. It really was now becoming like a mad episode of Runaround (without Mike Reid) rushing from stage to stage to try to catch as many bands as we could.
We decided to drop in on Chas N Dave as we might never get another chance. They played to a pretty packed Empress but after 20 minutes we decided we’d seen enough. Don’t get me wrong they were good, but they would have been immense if they had taken a leaf out of Terveet Kadet’s book and done a heads down 20 minutes romp through the classics and cleared off.
Quick drop in on Zounds at the pavilion who sounded great and hopefully I will get chance to see a full set at some stage then it was down to the Arena again to see Hardskin. As Fat Bob proudly announces when they came on stage, Hardskin are an anti-fascist skinhead band. With tongue slightly in cheek they belt out a serious of classics and crowd pleasers and I’m so chuffed they are at the Birmingham Punx Picnic.
Soon as they are finished quick dash next door to the Empress to complete the London town knees up with the Cockney Rejects. At times suffering with slight sound problems they still belted out the classics and threw in a couple of tracks from East End Babylon album and Power and The Glory
to boot. Great set and always worth checking out.
We’d missed so many great band tonight but next up was the possible high light of the weekend. Managed to catch the Ruts DC a couple of times last year and they had been brilliant on both occasions so tonight was going to be tough to match it. Firstly they played the Pavilion where the sound had been good all weekend. Secondly Dave Ruffy and Segs both seemed really relaxed and were enjoying themselves. And those songs. A great mix of tracks from the excellent Rhythm Collision Vol 2 album, Ruts DC back catalogue and tunes from the mighty Ruts. Where do you start? It Was Cold, Backbiter, Dope For Guns, Something That I Said, Babylon’s Burning, Staring At The Rude Boys, West One, Love In Vein, In A Rut, H Eyes, Jah War. Say no more. On a day where highlights were great (Louise Distras etc) Ruts DC stole the show and maybe it’s because I’m a sentimentalist and they were one of my favourite bands but I don’t care because I fucking loved every moment.
Finally, went to see the Misfits in the Olympia, truly awful sound meant it was hard to distinguish between the songs at times but still sang along to Skulls and was that really a cover of Rise Above I heard? Best day so far!
First off to the literary stage and listen to John Robb interview Gary Bushell. I kind of went off Bushell after he left Sounds and started writing for the Sun but there is no doubting his positive contribution to the punk and Oi movement over the years. It was an entertaining interview and he told an hilarious tale of when CID turned up at his house looking for Motorheads stolen Bomber stage prop.
Then it was down to the acoustic stage to see Louise Distras. Louise seems to have come so far in such a short time and seems to be on the road more than the Subs. Her voice seems to vary from melodic to a gravelly roar, sometimes in the same line and she has got a great batch of songs, sometimes political and having a pop at appropriate targets (Sam for some reason seems to think her final song about the creepy men from the internet was about me!?). Her debut album Dreams From the Factory Floor is out at the end of September and is top of the most eagerly awaited albums of the year. I urge you all to buy!
We caught a little bit of Anthrax in the Pavilion before going down to the Olympia to see Dirtbox Disco. They played on the smaller stage and we were a nit nearer the front so the sound wasn’t actually that bad. I’d never heard DBD until the Christmas Rebellion and was shocked at how big a crowd they drew then and the fact that everyone was singing along so we’d made an special effort to see the whole set at Blackpool. They are definitely at the more light hearted end of the punk rock spectrum but have some catchy as hell tunes that get everyone joining in and I would recommend catching them if they play in a town near you. (they are playing at the Birmingham Punx Picnic weekend at the end of August).
Next were King Prawn in the Empress. I love watching some of the ska bands as very often they present a bit of lighter relief amongst the punk rock mayhem but King Prawn are a bit different offering a ska tinged set with a tougher edge than most and I will make an effort to catch them again.
We saw Terveet Kadet on the Arena stage. A Finnish hardcore band from the 80’s they played a tight wall of sound 20 minute set and left. Brilliant. It’s this variance in styles that keep this festival interesting.
A quick dash to the Pavilion to catch the second half of Citizen Fish, another politically tinged ska band but so different to King Prawn but still great. It really was now becoming like a mad episode of Runaround (without Mike Reid) rushing from stage to stage to try to catch as many bands as we could.
We decided to drop in on Chas N Dave as we might never get another chance. They played to a pretty packed Empress but after 20 minutes we decided we’d seen enough. Don’t get me wrong they were good, but they would have been immense if they had taken a leaf out of Terveet Kadet’s book and done a heads down 20 minutes romp through the classics and cleared off.
Quick drop in on Zounds at the pavilion who sounded great and hopefully I will get chance to see a full set at some stage then it was down to the Arena again to see Hardskin. As Fat Bob proudly announces when they came on stage, Hardskin are an anti-fascist skinhead band. With tongue slightly in cheek they belt out a serious of classics and crowd pleasers and I’m so chuffed they are at the Birmingham Punx Picnic.
Soon as they are finished quick dash next door to the Empress to complete the London town knees up with the Cockney Rejects. At times suffering with slight sound problems they still belted out the classics and threw in a couple of tracks from East End Babylon album and Power and The Glory
to boot. Great set and always worth checking out.
We’d missed so many great band tonight but next up was the possible high light of the weekend. Managed to catch the Ruts DC a couple of times last year and they had been brilliant on both occasions so tonight was going to be tough to match it. Firstly they played the Pavilion where the sound had been good all weekend. Secondly Dave Ruffy and Segs both seemed really relaxed and were enjoying themselves. And those songs. A great mix of tracks from the excellent Rhythm Collision Vol 2 album, Ruts DC back catalogue and tunes from the mighty Ruts. Where do you start? It Was Cold, Backbiter, Dope For Guns, Something That I Said, Babylon’s Burning, Staring At The Rude Boys, West One, Love In Vein, In A Rut, H Eyes, Jah War. Say no more. On a day where highlights were great (Louise Distras etc) Ruts DC stole the show and maybe it’s because I’m a sentimentalist and they were one of my favourite bands but I don’t care because I fucking loved every moment.
Finally, went to see the Misfits in the Olympia, truly awful sound meant it was hard to distinguish between the songs at times but still sang along to Skulls and was that really a cover of Rise Above I heard? Best day so far!
Sunday, 14 October 2012
RUTS DC - HARE & HOUNDS 6/10/2012
West One (Shine On Me)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s8k0GtLZ4o
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