A sunny Friday night in Brixton was the perfect venue for a
night of great punk rock music from some fantastic up and coming bands. Punk
rock promotion company Till The Wheels was presenting Ducking Punches at The
Windmill with support from River Jumpers, Wank For Peace, Other Half and Bro.
I arrived at The Windmill (having successfully found it
using my good friend Google Maps) just in time to see Bro begin their set.
Having been added to the show at the very last minute due to another band
having to pull out I had no idea what they would be like. I was intrigued when
they took to the stage without a bass player. They didn’t seem to need one; Bro
played some fast rock music with a energetic drum beat with some nice vocals.
The next band up was three piece punk band Other Half from
Norwich. Comprised of Cal and Sophie from Ducking Punches and Alfie on Drums
they played a set comprised of 90’s style punk songs. Front man Cal I found to
be an incredibly watchable front man and his in-between song “banter” was very
entertaining. Definitely a band to look out for.
Up next was the surprise of the night, Wank For Peace from
France. Armed with a frankly terrible band name WFP are a politically charged hardcore
five piece band. It amazes me that a band would travel on a ferry to another
country to play in a small pub to about fifty people. WFP did though and boy
did they put a show. It was a set chock full of energy, fast aggressive music,
big choruses and great gang vocals. I like how humble they were as well,
constantly thanking everyone there for putting them on or coming to watch them.
Wank For Peace gained some new fans tonight, myself included.
Brighton melodic pop punks River Jumpers were tonight’s penultimate
band. I’m a massive fan of these lads and was looking forward to seeing them
for the second time. Kicking off the set with one of my all time favourite
songs, the amazing Five Doors Down – a song that I can relate like no other. It’s
about being out at a punk show whilst all of your friends are out at a club. Something
I loved the first time I saw River Jumpers was how much passion they play with.
Every song is played like it’s their last. River Jumpers are clearly a band who
believes in what they do and love every minute of it.
Musically it was spot on and
the harmonies were fantastic. Front man Nicholas Davis in particular was a ball
of energy, playing fast and frantic and hopping around the stage like his life
depended on it. A couple of times that the show is ours (the crowds) showing
how he felt about the punk rock community and how there is no “them and us” it’s
just us all in it together. Finishing with the brilliant Heartstrong (a song
about being positive and not being afraid to do what you believe in) River
Jumpers set was over all too quickly. With a new album due at the end of the
year I am very excited to hear some more from these guys.
Now it was time for the headline act of the evening, also
from Norwich, the excellent Ducking Punches. Ducking Punches are a folk punk
band formed of members from bands such as Bad Ideas, Manbearpig and of course
Other Half.
I’ve wanted to see them for a while now and jumped at this chance.
They have had a very successful year as well having recently released their
second album – Dance Before You Sleep and gone on tour with Frank Turner and
The Sleeping Souls as well as playing Download festival. Tonight they were
playing The Windmill in Brixton and were absolutely brilliant live. Like River
Jumpers before them they played with so much heart and passion and put
everything they had into their set. The crowd really responded to the band and
got quite involved in the show by building a human pyramid and attempting some
crowd surfing (much to the terror of The Windmills sound guy). Highlights of
the set for me were the songs Six Minutes, a song about front man Dan Allen’s
best friend who sadly took his life and Big Brown Pills From Lynn which drew
the biggest sing along of the whole night.
Till The Wheels had put on a great night of underground punk
rock all for just £3 a ticket. The Windmill is a fantastic little venue and it
was great to see so many people out supporting these up and coming bands.
Listen To Ducking Punches Here: http://duckingpunches.bandcamp.com/
Listen To Other Half Here: http://otherhalf.bandcamp.com/
Listen To River Jumpers Here: http://riverjumpers.bandcamp.com/
Listen to Wank For Peace Here: http://wankforpeace.bandcamp.com/
Now Listening To Chapters by River Jumpers
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