Robyn Writes

Less Than Jake – O2 Academy Birmingham, 9/11/08 (a review by Ripper)

Now, I’m a Less Than Jake virgin. Wait, make that a ska virgin. It’s true! Of all the shows I have ever been to, I have never experienced a major band ska show. I’ve been to local ska shows, but around my area, that just means that the band’s attempting to be [spunge] and nobody’s skanking.

So, when I turned up to the Academy, in the pouring down rain, I didn’t quite know what to expect.

Also, I should mention here that fightclubsandwich was also at the show, and in between every band, me and my boyfriend searched in vain for her, believing that she still had pink hair. She didn’t tell us she’d dyed it back to black. So, we gave up in the end, until she came dancing over during LTJ’s set. We TBO girls really need to co-ordinate ourselves better.

For one of the first times in my life, I didn’t miss the support bands. First up were Imperial Leisure, a British band with a unique mix of ska and hip-hop. There were literally a sea of people skanking, and it was good to see a support band with so much… support! They were a lot of fun, but they’re potentially controversial in the way that ska fans will either love them or hate them. It’s definitely not traditional ska that Imperial Leisure are playing, but it works.

Beat Union were up next, and to begin with, I wasn’t enamoured. The type of bands they’ve supported in past put me off, the main one of these being Good Charlotte. I actually like GC, but they have a habit of playing with notoriously bad support bands (I think the main exception to that is Millencolin, who I actually preferred to GC when I saw them a few years ago). However, after a couple of songs, I was pleasantly surprised. Pop-punk with more emphasis on the punk, they played loud and energetically. Obviously influenced by the Police, they incorporated a more laidback style into some of their songs which worked well. They were my boyfriend’s favourite band of the night, and what pleased him even more was that they were local lads. Nevertheless, they played well and got the crowd going.

The third band on the bill was Pepper, a ska band hailing from Florida. Pepper are very much influenced by Sublime, and you can tell. Not that that’s a bad thing, though. Their laidback ska grooves were great, and it amused me greatly how every member of the band was wearing shorts in Birmingham, of all places. Their onset jokes were funny though crude. I found a lot of it funny, but when they started joking about weed, I wasn’t impressed. It doesn’t take much to stereotype ska fans, unfortunately, and they did it with ease. However, the songs were good and the brief cover of Bro Hymn by Pennywise went down well.

Finally, the band in question. Less Than Jake. fightclubsandwich and I disagreed on a few aspects of this show, but LTJ was one where we couldn’t help but to agree. They were awesome. It’s actually impossible to go to a Less Than Jake gig and come out with a frown on your face. I haven’t heard a lot of the new album, but the songs from GNV FLA came across as some of the strongest, as well as tons of classics from Hello Rockview, Borders And Boundaries, Anthem and even a couple of songs from even earlier were played. I was very pleased by the amount of Anthem material, because that was the album of 2003 for me, and songs where I actually knew the words! I’m abysmal when it comes to song lyrics. It was an extremely entertaining set. Bad jokes from the brass section! Heavy metal scream contests! Making fun of security guards! It felt good to laugh at a show again. LTJ’s sound was also incredible, making up for the bad levels in previous sets. Everyone was dancing, everyone was singing, everyone was having a good time. And that’s what a show should be like.

The truth is, whether you’re a Less Than Jake fan or not, it’s hard to deny that cheeky grin creeping up on your face when they’re playing. This band is essential for everyone, especially in a scene now dominated by depressing haircuts and suicidal lyrics. And hey, who doesn’t like trombones?

Less Than Jake – O2 Academy Birmingham, 9/11/08 (a review by fightclubsandwich)

I went through a lot of pain for this Less Than Jake concert. I had menstrual queasiness pretty badly for most of the day of the show, and consequently only ate a piece of toast and a packet of crisps instead of, um, actual meals. The weather that evening was positively nightmarish; I genuinely thought that I might get frostbite in my feet since I couldn’t feel them at all, my shoes were just filled with numbness and a weird, pins-and-needles sort of feeling. Then, once I took the train into the city, I had to walk to the venue through puddles that were deep enough to qualify – technically – as lakes, wearing two vests, a sweater, two jackets, a hat, a scarf, and my hood up too.

That I went through this much to see the concert should maybe give you a hint at the sort of partiality that you can expect of my “review”.

I am a pretty big Less Than Jake fan, and this night was the third time that I had seen them. The first time I ever saw them, I took a train from Cardiff to Bristol, just for the show. I am afraid that this review would fail so spectacularly at any attempt at objectivity that I may as well just discard any attempt at such pretences of neutrality and just admit that there will be fangirlish gushing.

The support bands, I can, however, review fairly. The first two bands were Imperial Leisure and Beat Union, in that order, and both made really great support acts. Imperial Leisure in particular, got the crowd skanking so enthusiastically that I can’t say I’ve ever seen such a reaction from the first band at any show. I suspect that a good portion of the crowd did come for this band, rather than the headliners. I can certainly see why they would. Imperial Leisure were the sort of band that you see once, and then think “yeah, if I heard that they were playing another show somewhere near me, I would definitely go, it’d clearly be a fun time”.

Beat Union were also pretty good, but let down by poor sound. I couldn’t make out a word that the lead singer said, and very few words that he sang. On the other hand, they were the best dressed band of the night, no doubt about it. Their sound seemed to be more influenced by second wave ska than Imperial Leisure, and, I guess, The Police, since they played a lot of chunks of popular songs by The Police. They totally laid to rest all the misgivings we had after finding out that they had played previously as a support act to Good Charlotte, though unlike the band that came before them, I would suspect that they sound better on recordings than as a live act.

Next came Pepper. Now, I had heard of think this band before the night of the tenth, so their popularity may have earned them a longer slot than the others, or perhaps I just found their set so utterly miserable that it just seemed to stretch on and on forever, but this was just an illusion. Musically, these guys were pretty easy to sum up. Do you like Sublime? If you said yes, then you’ll like this band, most likely. I, personally, went through such a massive ska phase between the ages of sixteen to eighteen, consuming so very much of the genre, that frankly, I’m almost completely desensitised to ska. More accurately, I’ve become desensitised to mediocre and unoriginal ska, so frankly, Pepper’s set bored me half to death. I danced a little, but was mostly just because it was more fun to dance than to not dance. I kept my faith in Less Than Jake, and that’s what got me through.

It wasn’t just the music that irritated me about Pepper’s set, but whether or not to judge them on other factors may be seen as unfair practice by some. I mean, it was mentioned that the band was from Hawaii, but to appear shirtless onstage in Birmingham in November? It just felt a bit contrived and a bit like posturing, though the room was admittedly, very warm from all the moving bodies. Also, the band constantly referred to “pussy” and even had some sort of gross hand gesture that supposedly signified a vagina. This was lame for so many reasons, not only it crude, (hey guys, guess what? Vaginas are attached to people! People standing in your audience right now, who don’t appreciate being objectified!) and slutty, (can you imagine a female artist coming onstage and saying “I love cock”? The uproar would be unimaginable) but also, I was just crabby about being reminded that I was on my period every five minutes, and that just took away from my enjoyment of the whole time.

And eventually, we had Less Than Jake. Just typing their name feels like the keyboard is massaging my fingers, after being forced to relive Pepper’s set in memory. Less Than Jake’s first song was All My Best Friends Are Metalheads, during which you could not hear Roger’s voice at all because everyone was singing along so. Damn. Loudly. It was amazing. Incidentally, they came on during the spoken introduction to the song that comes before the track on Hello Rockview (and later on played the “Harry Reynolds” bit before playing the song Automatic.) The next song was Does The Lion Still Roar? which was very exciting because it’s a song I’d never heard them play before. The new album’s superiority to In With the Out Crowd has been mentioned many times, and the new songs sounded really terrific live, even Summon Monsters, which is one of my least favourite off GNV FLA. It is a pretty excellent song to dance to, I think that’s its main strength and it just doesn’t come across on the CD. Incidentally, they did not play any songs at all off In With The Out Crowd.

Some of the other songs they played included The Mixology Of Tom Collins, The Ghosts Of You And Me and The Science Of Selling Yourself Short, – the latter being one of my favourite songs ever written, and the song that got me into Less Than Jake in the first place, back when I was thirteen, so that’s always a high point of any Less Than Jake show I attend. The band is also very funny and self-aware when they’re onstage; with the horns section telling purposely awful jokes, or dancing and mugging at the audience when they’re not required for certain songs; and Chris admitting, after having bad-mouthed the crowd at Nottingham, where they’d played the previous night, “I am going to talk so much shit about you guys tomorrow”. The best stage banter of the night was probably towards the end, when he announced the next song, which was almost entirely a description of the song Pete Jackson Is Getting Married (“this song is about my uncle’s wedding, and drinking until you actually like your family”) and then they played Plastic Cup Politics. I may have actually laughed aloud, but I can’t remember, and I doubt I’d have heard myself anyway over the sound of the customary screams of joy that came at the start of every song.

I caught up with Ripper and Thom about three quarters of the way through the show, near the barrier at the front. I stuck with them for such songs as Gainsville Rock City, Dopeman and the aforementioned Plastic Cup Politics. I demanded from Ripper a promise that she would not judge me by my enthusiastic, but generally horrible dancing, – which generally resembles an epileptic fit – and she agreed to exchange a small chunk of my student loan for a t-shirt, due to my irrational but crippling phobia of merch stands. While she did so, I asked Thom for his opinion of the evening, who tactfully replied that he didn’t like ska.

I have for a while now held the belief that such thing as a bad Less Than Jake show is impossible, and tonight did nothing to disprove me of such beliefs. This was the first time I’d ever seen any band for the third time, and so I got to see them in a new way, through the lens of familiarity. I may not be able to assess them fairly and objectively, but I think even without the passion for the band that I have, it was a fun evening. The band practically bleeds fun, and they bring an energy and humour to the stage that is just a wonderful example of the way that a band should behave, the things they should have learned after over fifteen years of playing shows. Some day Less Than Jake will slow down, I’m sure, they will no longer be interesting or fun, or maybe they’ll just stop caring. On that day, you and I will have a big loud fight about whether they are an awful band, and I will end up crying, and admitting that I’m just deluded, but for now, even with an awareness of all my partiality, – my huge bias towards a band that will likely never stop being one of my favourites – I still believe that Less Than Jake are one of the best live bands around.

No matter what bozos they may be on tour with.

Lock It Up (At Reading And Leeds 2010)

When I looked at that page on the 25th May, I thought I’d attained rapture or nirvana or some other such spiritual high. The announcement I’d been waiting for since I’d bought the tickets was finally there and it seemed like more than I could have hoped for. In order to grasp the importance of this upon my being, here’s a few things about my feelings for Reading Festival which you probably should know:

  1. As a rule, I generally hate most of the main stage acts. With the exception of about 20%, that holds true this year.
  2. It’s not quite a waste of money, but it is horrifically expensive, so there has to be something there to keep my attention.
  3. As nobody will go with me to Rebellion in Blackpool, the Lock Up tent is my one chance of seeing a wide variety of punk rock in the space of one weekend.
  4. I would still rather be at Rebellion.

    5. So therefore, the Lock Up is a very big deal to me. Many bands who are embarking on a world tour will only play Reading and Leeds before they head off to pastures Japanese, particularly in the summer. So like last year, allow me to dissect the Lock Up for your information.

    Friday
    This time, there are a fair few bands I haven’t heard of on the Friday. I will most likely be spending time on the main stage as a result, if their Myspaces don’t impress. But, let’s give them a fair chance.

    Blood Or Whiskey
    Blood Or Whiskey may possibly be the only true Irish punk band in the scene today, as we generally have to deal with Boston impostors. They describe themselves as “demented Irish traditional music kicked in the balls by punk rock!” and well… I wouldn’t so much say kicked in the balls but possibly tapped. It lacks the edge of the Murphys or the melody of Flogging Molly, but it’s certainly an interesting combo. And they get extra points for actually being Irish.

    Crazy Arm
    Crazy Arm are on Xtra Mile, alongside folk punk hero Frank Turner and their Myspace proclaims that they’re a mix of punk, rock and country. I’m not hearing the country so much, but I am hearing brilliance. Their singer has a positively lovely voice, and it sounds like good honest punk rock. I may have just found my new favourite band. First song I clicked on, Still To Keep, grabbed me by the lady balls and said ‘fucking listen!’ So, I certainly am, I’ve ordered the CD just now, and will be watching these guys without a doubt.

    The Skints
    Punk based reggae from London. Generally, I don’t like reggae at all, but this doesn’t sound too bad. There definitely is more reggae than punk in this, but recent slots on Slam Dunk Festival lead them to be put onto the Lock Up. As the song (GET ME!) plays, it gets a bit more heavy, gains a bit more attitude, grows in confidence. I imagine that they’d be a reasonably fun band to watch, and I appreciate that they don’t lose the London accent in favour of something a bit more Jamaican flavoured.

    Civet
    Civet are an all girl punk band from LA. Now, I’m going to hold back my prejudices (how terribly unfeminist of me) because hell, so far I’m in an all girl punk band . In their Myspace pictures, these girls are dressed to the nines, and well, good on them. I’m hoping that the song content isn’t all ‘we hate men, let’s torch some shit’ because so far, ‘Son Of A Bitch’ seems to be just that. They seem like the cliché girl group, which is a shame, because it’s been proven that girls in punk rock can be so much more – Bridge and Tunnel, The Distillers, Tsunami Bomb! Although they didn’t have an entirely girl band, they certainly knew how to rock and not try and play up their feminine wiles in order to get people to listen to them. Sadly, I will be watching these in order to see how it goes, but I can guarantee I won’t be enjoying it.


    East Bay hardcore. This is more like it! It’s hardcore, sure enough, but there’s a bit more to it – far more melodic than you might expect. The band themselves describe themselves as genre breaking and to be honest, they are. They say they’re progressive, hoping to show that through their music and their lyrics and yeah, I can agree that they are. From the songs I’ve heard on the site, I’m not sure how electric their live show would be, but musically, they’re certainly keeping me interested.

    This Is Hell
    Well, I knew what to expect, having heard these guys before. This Is Hell? This is hardcore. Some sweet breakdowns, fast pace, kind of from the same school as Comeback Kid (which is never a bad thing) if only a bit more melodic which is how I like it anyway. Woo, clauses. I am going to come out of a pit battered and bruised after this one, whilst loving every minute.

    Strike Anywhere
    I’ve never really listened to Strike Anywhere before, although knowing that they were exactly my kind of music. I don’t know why not, just never thought about them before. Straight up American punk rock, and there’s not much more to say about that! Lots of fun gang vocals seem to be cropping up, which will make for good times in the set. Yeah, I’ll watch them.

    Streetlight Manifesto
    HOLY FUCK I LOVE STREETLIGHT MANIFESTO. Maybe now I’ll get to watch them this time! Last year, I had a younger sister in tow and a boyfriend who hated ska. Now I have a younger sister in tow who is a little older and has friends to accompany her and the boyfriend is now an ex. I am going to skank my little heart out to some sweet, sweet ska.

    Hatebreed
    Typical tough guy hardcore. I’ve never been a Hatebreed fan, alongside Throwdown and Terror and similar hardcore bands that only have one word names. I mean, the guy’s wearing a bandana in the video, for fuck’s sake. You know exactly what kind of band this is. And well, I’m not a fan. I’ll more than likely end up watching them for the sake of it while I wait for something better.

    Against Me!
    Oh yeah, and there’s the something better! We all know my feelings for Against Me! and if you don’t, it’s that I adore them with all my soul. They only come second to AFI on my favourite bands list. I originally hated White Crosses, then started to love it and saw them on their UK tour (I even reviewed it). They’re my favourite live band and no doubt, they’ll completely own the place.
    Sick Of It All
    Again, I’ve seen Sick Of It All already this year, as they supported AFI but holy shit, they were amazing! I first saw these guys headlining the Lock Up in 2006 and well… it was great then, they’re bound to be great now. The new album is pretty badass and Built To Last is one of the greatest hardcore songs ever written so they should be on top form.

    Alkaline Trio
    Again, another band I’ve already seen this year and adore. Alkaline Trio were good, but they could have been better when I saw them in Birmingham. A festival set should be a lot sharper, a lot more singles based and generally, more fun. Hopefully, the Trio’s most dark and acerbic songs should be coming out to play for what should be an excellent set.

    Well, out of 12 bands, it seems that 9/12 are set to be pretty fantastic in my eyes. Worthy of a whole day spent there? More than likely. To be there early enough to catch Crazy Arm should result in me being there the whole day and I’m surely going to enjoy myself. Even if I am on my own all day.

    Saturday
    Saturday’s lineup is a bit more well known in regards to my musical background and therefore, I’m most likely to spend the day there. There are, however, a few rogues in there that I haven’t seen live before or heard of, so I may as well break it all down again for you.

    Moral Dilemma
    A bit of female flavoured punk rock from London. Unlike Civet, it seems like these boys and girls actually know what they’re doing. This is some seriously angry stuff, and don’t be fooled by the fact that there’s a girl in the band – it’s pretty brutal. This is exactly the kind of music I would like to be playing myself. This should make for an excellent wake up call on Saturday morning.

    Off With Their Heads
    I LOVE THESE GUYS. …From The Bottom is a ridiculously good album which more people need to listen to. Oh, they’re just so good! I can’t help but sing along whenever anything of theirs is on, and nothing’s changed since they moved to Epitaph – it’s still as gruff and bouncy as ever. These guys are set to be one of the best bands of the entire weekend. Yep.

    Paint It Black
    Paint It Black, Dan Yemin’s other band, are not quite Lifetime but hell, they’re still pretty fucking awesome. Melodic hardcore at its finest. Following after Off With Their Heads, everyone should be pretty psyched up and feeling up for some good clean fun, making this set potentially amazing. One of the bands I’m most looking forwards to in the weekend.

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    Trash Talk
    A band frequently featured on The Org that well… I haven’t ever listened to completely. Pretty heavy stuff. This is set to be one of the most intense sets of the weekend. I might sit this one out, to be honest. I love hardcore, and I love really heavy hardcore, but if I want to survive for Bad Religion, it might be a good idea.

    The Rats
    Well, The Rats just don’t seem to exist. Lots of googling aside, it looks like it’s most likely Gallows, as their fan club is called The Rats. However, it could be a wide number of bands, as it appears to be a secret slot; personally, I’m hoping for The Gaslight Anthem.

    RX Bandits
    Again, a band I’ve heard of but never actually heard. Well, I probably have at some point in my life, but for the purposes of this article, no I have no. They seem to be a glorious mix of EVERYTHING – there’s some synth in there, some ska grooves, some vaguely Minus The Bear-esque sounds. Hell yeah I’m checking this out, if for no other reason than I’d love to finally find out who the hell they are.

    Crime In Stereo
    Crime In Stereo are amazing. Pretty much enough said. Seriously fine post-hardcore. I’ve never seen them live before so this should be an interesting set. I unfortunately do not know enough of their back catalogue to predict what they’ll play, but I’m hoping a fair amount from Crime In Stereo Is Dead because well, that’s pretty much the only album I know. I am very, very excited for these.

    Zebrahead
    Zebrahead! It’s been far too long! Last time I saw you, it was 2006! Possibly earlier (when the hell was Give It A Name in Birmingham?) or later, but even so, it was at least three or four years ago and I have missed you. The only pop-punk band that I will ever permit to rap in (Good Charlotte kind of tried it and failed) because they’re so much fun! Me + moshpit + Zebrahead = happy Ripper. I wouldn’t miss this for the world, if only for the nostalgia element; Zebrahead were one of the first bands I encountered by the medium of satellite television.

    Cancer Bats
    Cancer Bats are pretty brutal. I’ve been around Cancer Bats but never actually seen them as a result of “Ripper, let’s go watch something else that isn’t any more of your hardcore shit!” Unfortunately, I am the best sister in the world and will sacrifice much to keep my sister happy. But not Blink 182 on Sunday. But yeah, Cancer Bats are a bit more metal than hardcore but ultimately pretty awesome. I will cling to the barrier and hope not to die.

    The Get Up Kids
    Oh. Holy. Shit. I’ve been wanting to see TGUK for aaaaaaaages, but never managed to when they did their first and second reunion tours. Therefore, this should be something special. I’m a huge 90s emo fan and while TGUK might not quite fit that mould, they come close enough. Like Rival Schools were my fix last year, TGUK will be this year. Oh man, I love James Dewees so much. If you’ve never listened to The Get Up Kids, please remedy this immediately. It’s in your best interests and will make you a better person.

    Bad Religion
    Do I need to say anything? It’s Bad Religion! One of the first punk bands I ever listened to, courtesy of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, one of the first punk bands that made me pay attention to the world and one of the biggest inspirations behind my wanting to be a musician some day. This will make Reading Festival. Oh yes.

    So, Saturday seems to be a most excellent day with 10/12 being most likely to enthral me. But please, let’s have positive thoughts about it not being Gallows for The Rats, as well… they suck. But on the whole, the Lock Up looks to be more impressive than last year’s efforts and I can see that it will be a worthy enough replacement for Rebellion, especially as World/Inferno Friendship Society have pulled out of Rebellion. Sweet.

Lock Up Your Daughters (At Reading And Leeds 2009)

Following the Reading and Leeds festivals online has become my new internet obsession. Waiting to see who’s been announced, disappointed when people who were strong rumours aren’t going to be there, shaking my fist at the computer because somebody shitty is playing instead… it’s all part of the fun of the build up to the actual thing itself. It’s just like when I was obsessively following the Watchmen movie before it got released – the hype, the excitement, in order to be eventually both wowed and disappointed at the same time (we’ll talk about that when the DVD comes out). I am pretty sure the same will apply to Reading, but with more music and less punching people in the face. I think.

The stage that I’ve been most interested in, the Lock Up stage, has been announced in its entirety, as far as I know. And like I said, there’s some disappointment, but there’s also some serious excitement. And I mean the kind where you punch the air like you’re straight out of an 80’s teen movie. There’s also bands I’ve not really listened to. I probably won’t care about them either. So, here’s my rundown on the ones to watch this year.

Just for reference, the band’s name will link you to their Myspace or related website so you can check them out for yourself. Also, these bands are in order of headlining, meaning that the lower down the band is, the earlier they will be playing.

Friday

Billy Talent
Billy Talent are headlining the Friday this year. I saw them live a couple of years ago at Leeds and really enjoyed them. They’re over excited Canadians with good music, how can you say no?! Well, my boyfriend dislikes them with a passion so he could probably tell you, but I don’t know anyone else who doesn’t like them. Even my mum rates these ones and she’s a difficult lady to please.

Anti-Flag
If I’m being honest, I’ve never been that hot on Anti-Flag. I’m not sure why, I just never got into them. I like political punk a lot, and I probably filled my quota by the time Anti-Flag rolled around. However, live videos I’ve watched seemed pretty awesome. Lots of energy, which is just what you need on a punk stage. Who knows, this might be the year I get converted to the Anti-Flag camp.

Alexisonfire
Alexisonfire are great. I really like them. I tend to just like bands from Canada (excluding Nickelback and Simple Plan). Although I haven’t heard the new album or the first album, I really liked Watch Out! and Crisis. According to Bailey, they’re awesome live, and I tend to trust most things Bailey says. Therefore, I’m looking forwards to these.

Bouncing Souls
I know someone who is very excited for these guys, namely our own ninthandash. Truth is, so am I. These are one of those bands that take me back to my P-Rock TV days. If there’s any band that makes me miss being 13, it’s Millencolin. And it’s these guys too. Great summer punk rock songs which are just perfect for the festival season. You’ll be disappointed if you miss them.

Leftover Crack
Leftover Crack are legends in the punk scene and I’m not entirely sure why. Probably due to their controversial lyrics, but apart from that, I don’t think that there’s that much that’s special about them. I’m not bothered about seeing them. They have a couple of alright songs though. They’re very politically based and are pretty much anti-everything, so be prepared for some heavy stuff.

The Aggrolites
The Aggrolites are pretty fun, but pretty bland at times too. They’re an odd mix of reggae, ska and punk rock, and can be found on Tim Armstrong’s Hellcat label. I don’t know what they’d be like live, but Dirty Reggae is a tune and a half.

Streetlight Manifesto
Streetlight Manifesto are one of my favourite ska bands. I’ve never had the opportunity to see them live (my boyfriend hates ska, my sister’s not really into it and I haven’t been to a gig with my parents since My Chemical Romance) so I am actually really excited to see them. I am definitely forcing some people to stick around. If you like catchy ska tunes that are a little bit different to the majority, check out these guys. You won’t be disappointed.

Fake Problems
I love this band. Their songs have a habit of getting stuck in my head for days. Seriously great stuff. I’m very much looking forwards to seeing them and you should be too! Not to mention, this band has had some killer facial hair (see my last article for more details!).

The Riverboat Gamblers
These are one of those bands that fightclubsandwich always tells me to listen to but I never get round to it because I’m too busy swirling around in a world of J-pop to care about anything else. But after looking at the Myspace just now, I’m actually loving this. Excellent summery punk rock tunes. I shall be watching these.

The Flatliners
I’ve never listened to The Flatliners before. It’s one of those names that comes up on punk news sites that I read on occasion, but I’ve never thought to look into. I go on their Myspace and see that they’re from Canada. This is a good sign. I listen to the first song, ‘The World Files For Chapter 11’. If I had balls, this song would have grabbed me by them. This is actually the kind of band I’ve been looking for! I will be watching.

The Ghost Of A Thousand
This is a band I’ve heard good things about, but have never heard anything from. They’re from England, and apparently are a hardcore band. I’m apprehensive. The British scene hasn’t put out anything good in a LONG time (apart from Cutting Class, who you should listen to, by the way). Upon a listen, the first song sound pretty good. According to the Reading Last.FM page, they’re shit live, but I’ll reserve judgement until I see them for myself. I just wonder if they can get a pit going that early in the morning.

The Plight
The Plight are also a British hardcore band. Again, I’m slightly apprehensive. But, from the Myspace, I see they’re touring with Cancer Bats, which is quite a good sign. Listening to the first song, I’m not really feeling it. The second song sounds a lot like Fight Paris, until the vocals kick in. I’m used to the gruffest of hardcore vocals, but I don’t know, I just don’t like this man’s. Perhaps they’ll prove me wrong when I’m there.

So that’s Friday out of the way. So far, we’re on a potential 8/12 for awesomeness. This makes for a good day, considering the main stage line up is fairly shit. Now, I’ll have a look at Saturday. The good news about this is that all the bands I want to see on other stages are playing on the Sunday, so I won’t have to miss them. Believe me, I’m not missing AFI for anything.

Saturday

Rise Against
Do I really need to say anything? Rise Against = one of my favourite bands. Rise Against = one of my favourite live bands. If I have to skip on these to watch Arctic Monkeys, I might actually cry.

Thursday
I’ve seen Thursday twice before, and I know I’m in for a good time. Thursday are a great live band. Geoff Rickly totally sexy dances at various points. I don’t think he can help himself. Either way, I know this is in support of the new album which I really want to hear, so I’m looking forwards to seeing them again.

The Bronx
The Bronx are straight up punk rock. Apparently, their live shows are explosive, so I would very much like to be a part of that. Plus I’ll have to watch them anyway for a good place for Thursday, so if they’re good, that’s just even better.

Mad Caddies
Another one of my P-Rock bands from yesteryear, I always remember Mad Caddies making me feel really happy. I think this is because they’re a ska band and my natural reaction to ska is this emoticon: ^________^. I’ll be watching them if I can convince my boyfriend and my sister to stick around.

Rival Schools
Again, a P-Rock band I adored. At the time, I didn’t know they had members from Quicksand, Gorilla Biscuits, CIV and Youth Of Today, bands that now mean a lot to me. I also didn’t know that they had one album. I just remember that one song, Used For Glue, and how awesome it was. The fact that they’ve got back together to do some shows is amazing and I will not be missing this for the world.

Set Your Goals
I like Set Your Goals. I like the EP better than the album, but nevertheless, I like them. I’d like to see them live. They’re a lot of fun and have a song named after The Goonies, which gives them extra points.

Snuff
Snuff are yet another P-Rock band from my childhood. If you never watched P-Rock TV, you missed out. I always liked Snuff, even if I didn’t listen to them as much as some of the other bands on the channel. Good punk rock with a touch of ska. I wouldn’t mind watching them.

Municipal Waste
Municipal Waste are straight up hardcore with some of the most badass album artwork I’ve ever seen. I’m usually not a fan of most stuff on Earache, but I do quite like Municipal Waste. They seem like they’d be very good live too, so I’ll probably be watching.

A Wilhelm Scream
I always think that I’ll check these guys out and always forget. Again, it’s that J-pop thing. It can drive you mad, you know. Listening to the Myspace, I can hear that the singer has a really gruff voice, which I like. It’s melodic punk, which is probably my favourite kind of punk, and it’s managed to knock my Comedian poster off the wall with its awesomeness, so I assume I’ll be watching.

Chuck Ragan
WHY IS HE NOT FURTHER UP ON THE LIST?! I know it’s Chuck on his own, not Hot Water Music (which I’ll admit, I’ve been hoping for since I booked the tickets) BUT STILL! I am watching this no matter what. I suggest you do too! Wonderful folk punk anthems for the weekend.

Polar Bear Club
I really like Polar Bear Club. I saw them with Frank Turner (who I am seeing again this summer) and The Gaslight Anthem a couple of months ago and they were great! Really full of energy and they’ve got an awesome sound. Very enjoyable. I wouldn’t mind seeing them again.

The Computers
The Computers are WEIRD. It’s like a really weird mix of hardcore and blues, but I’m actually really enjoying it. And holy shit, there’s a harmonica in this breakdown. I am not missing this shit. Look them up, because this’ll blow your mind.

As for the Saturday, I am quite comfortable watching every single one of those bands, giving it a 12/12 for awesomeness. After seeing the main line up announced, I was very disappointed, and only really wanted to go because it’s the first year I can camp. However, this has given me hope for the weekend. I will go, I will see good bands, I will throw down! Thank goodness for punk rock.

Leeds Festival 2009 – Friday (a review by ninthandash)

FRIDAY.

Leeds Festival. Two words that will give anyone from the North of England either happy memories or a resentful frown. Last year, being unable to go, I was sadly the latter. But this year, I made it. I’m writing this from my bed, a novelty which has not yet worn off for me, and I’m so covered in bruises that I was considering attempting to play connect-the-dots – an idea I quickly threw away once I touched the pen to my arm and remembered all over again how sore I was. This, of course, is my way of beginning to explain what a fucking fantastic week-end it was.

I cleverly decided to bring a friend along with me who hadn’t heard of most of the bands who were playing, aside from the obvious, and who wasn’t a fan of many of the bands she had heard of (Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, etc). This meant that I could slyly enforce my own schedule upon her while saying, eyes wide, “But are you sure there’s nowhere else you’d rather be?” Of course, there wasn’t, leaving me free to rejoice in all the live music I wanted. I am a total live music whore, I’ll admit it right up. If it’s a band I’ve never heard of, I’ll listen (and probably dance, being unable to sit still). If it’s a band I don’t like… I’ll still dance. Hence the busy schedule – I was determined to make the best of my time.

The weekened opened with Mariarchi el Bronx. I’d heard tell of the Bronx’s mariarchi set and was intrigued to give it a chance. There wasn’t much else that I would be missing, so we headed on down to the Main Stage and seated ourselves comfortable. I’ll admit right now that I know next to nothing about mariarchi; Wikipedia tells me that it’s from Mexico and consists of of at least three violins, two trumpets, one Spanish guitar, one vihuela, one guitarrón and occasionally a harp.

Thanks to Mariarchi el Bronx, I also know that it’s forgettable. Mariarchi music is not something that interests me, in fact; it sounds like music that I expect to hear in the elevator or maybe when put on hold during a phone call. The costumes amused me, the stage presence was disappointing, and the reaction from the crowd was, understandably, almost none. Opening the main stage on a Friday afternoon is difficult, nevertheless, Mariarchi el Bronx were not, in my opinion, a success.

Up next were Fightstar, and we decided to stick around out of interest. Known to most as ‘Charlie-from-Busted’s-new-band’, Fightstar sounded mostly like a lot of noise… and not in a good way. (Yes, there is a good way.) I, personally, can never take them seriously after Busted, and Fightstar sound like a poor imitation of many better bands – so why not listen to the better bands instead? The most interesting part of their set was when the people around me started yelling out Busted songs as requests. I was hopeful that Charlie & co would play an impromptu version of ‘Air Hostess’ – sadly not.

Heading over to the Lock Up tent, I managed to get front row for Chuck Ragan. I’d heard nothing of his music before, aside from a pretty spectacular cover of ‘Wreck of the Old 97’ from a punk rock Johnny Cash tribute album, but as the ex-frontman to one of my all time favourite bands, Hot Water Music, I figured he was worth a look. And he was.

Chuck is now a folk singer/songwriter, and his music is catchy and fun while having a deeper tone to it. I knew he was doing folk, but I didn’t expect to find it as enjoyable as I did. It was one of my Leeds festival highlights, and Chuck has a great stage presence, even going so far as to throw free CDs into the audience at the end (although, I’ll admit I ducked, not wanting a sharp edged CD cover to hit my head at high speed).

At the NME tent, we managed to catch half of Metric’s set, including the fantastic ‘Monster Hospital’. Emily Haines is an amazing frontwoman, stomping around the stage in a glittery dress that I unashamedly coveted. However, they soon made way for the artist we were really there to see: Patrick Wolf.

Patrick Wolf is every inch a performer, with nothing but dramatic openings and gestures from start to finish. This isn’t to say that the focus is taken away from his music, rather, it adds to his performance and becomes a part of it. Appearing on stage in one of his famous unusual outfits, white-blond hair tied back, Patrick displayed his amazing singing talents, going on to also demonstrate his keyboard-playing abilities. With a costume change halfway through the set, not to m ention some surprisingly earnest banter, Patrick never failed to entertain, including his gloriously indulgent twirls along the barrier. Definitely one of my Leeds festival highlights.

The next band we caught the end of were Mad Caddies at the Lock Up tent. They were undeniably fun, and you only had to glance at the audience to see that they were having an amazing time. Skanking and dancing all over the place, it was riotous entertainment and I couldn’t stop smiling during the whole three songs I was there.

After Mad Caddies, I made my way to the barrier for The Bronx. Not sure what to expect after their lack of stage presence and, frankly, dull performance earlier as Mariarchi el Bronx, I was pleasantly surprised when they arrived on stage in a whirl of energy. Screaming and throwing himself around the stage, Matt Caughthran at one point climbed halfway up the tall pole in the middle of the tent and did a backflip into the audience, setting the tone for the rest of the set.

It was impossible to stay still during their particular brand of noisy punk rock, and the set was over surprisingly quickly. At one point, Caughthran stood up on the barrier and demanded that all crowd-surfers be sent to him, ‘to deal with’. If I’d been tall enough to see and not flinging myself around in the pit, I’m sure that it would have definitely been something worth remembering.

After The Bronx finished and I’d had time to recuperate from their energetic set, Thursday took the stage. This was the third time I’d seen Thursday and they were similar each time, satisfactory and enjoyable but not particularly gripping or exciting. ‘Consistent’ would be the best word to describe them, and they did their best to get the crowd involved.

Friday finished up with Rise Against. The atmosphere was phonomenal before they even took the stage, with the tent packed full, causing barely enough room to breathe. Everyone was excited, and the music playing only added to the tension, with spontaneous sing-alongs to Jimmy Eat World’s ‘The Middle’ and Blink-182’s ‘Dammit’. Rise Against finally delivered an amazing show, playing a wide selection of songs and gaining a fantastic response from the crowd. They were the perfect choice to finish the night, and left me feeling exhausted in the way that means I know I’ve had a good night.