It
was time for day two of the festival and frankly after a long journey
up from Colchester the day before and a late night all I wanted to do
was stay in the horribly uncomfortable bed at the hostel I was
staying at. Eventually though I did drag myself out of bed and made
my way back to Sound Control.
After
arriving too late to check out Sammy H Stevens next door at The
Thirsty Scholar I headed downstairs to see Bear Trade open up the day
of punk rock at Sound Control. A decent sized crowd had already
gathered to see the band which to me was incredible considering how
early it was. Happily the time of the day didn't put a dampener on
the band or the crowds enthusiasm as there were plenty of big smiles
and sing alongs throughout their set. After Bear Trade I set off
upstairs to check out Dead Neck for the first time. I was really
impressed with Dead Neck, playing fast melodic hardcore their energy
levels were through the roof. Blasting through their set it seemed to
be over just as quickly as it had begun. I will definitely be
checking out more from Dead Neck.
After
running back down the stairs (going up and downs stairs became a
theme for the day) it was time for one of the bands I was most
looking forward to seeing all weekend – Leagues Apart. Their album
Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (reviewed here) was one of my favourites of 2014
and this was the first chance I had had to see some of it performed
live. From the opening of Kat Dennings; You Are My Everest to the end
of To Know The Night Is To Live In It Forever the set was absolutely
brilliant. Adam and James voices were strong, gravelly and perfect
for a punk rock show. It was fantastic to see the whole band having
such fun on stage together as well. I wish they would tour more. Next
I hurried back upstairs to see Scottish pop punks The Murderburgers
start their set. I lost count of how many songs the trio got through
during their thirty minute set but every one of them had me tapping
my feet and bopping my head. The speed which Fraser sings and manages
to play his guitar amazes me. Lots of hooks and lots of good times
were had with The Murderburgers. Catch them on tour with Masked
Intruder in May.
After
a quick food break I made my way back upstairs to see Just Panic.
Another band I knew very little about other than they had reformed to
play the festival. A sizeable crowd gathered, I guess that they were
loved and were much missed. Straight away I could see why, their folk
punk was very well received by the Manchester crowd. Plenty of
sing-a-long moments and fists in the air in celebration of a great
great band. After Just Panic finished an awesome set I popped over
the road to The Thirsty Scholar to see my first acoustic set of the
day, Scotland's finest – Billy Liar. Billy's set showcased
everything I love about punk rock, it was played with a lot of
passion and it never felt like he was holding anything back and there
were a lot of mistakes. That didn't matter at all though to anybody
in the room, it added a whole lot of charm to the set, Billy Liar is
one of us playing music that he loves and having a great time doing
it. The song Change in particular got a brilliant reaction from the
fine folk in the room.
Then
it was time for another highly anticipated band for the weekend, from
London it was those silly chaps Wonk Unit. The early start cobwebs
were now a distant memory as Wonk Unit worked the crowd into a bit of
a frenzy, creating the first mosh pit of the weekend so far with
their unique brand of punk rock music, they really are like no other
band in the scene. Wonk Unit are clearly a very popular band in
Manchester, uniting punk rockers young and old with everyone having a
cracking time during their set. Six piece ska punk band Stand OutRiot were another band reuniting to play the festival and I was
excited to see them. Despite not having played a gig together for
over a year they put on a set like they had never been away. As you
would expect from a ska band the energy was incredible as they
delivered a hugely enjoyable set. Another band that needs to play a
lot more shows.
Smoke
Or Fires Joe McMahon was playing an acoustic set at The Thirsty
Scholar so after the conclusion of Stand Out Riots set I wandered
back over to check him out. Acoustic music always comes across more
honestly than full band music and that combined with McMahon's
heartfelt voice delivered one of the more thoughtful and moving sets
of the weekend. Roughneck Riots set was already in full swing by the
time that I got back upstairs (each climb was getting slower and
slower by this point). The room was absolutely packed by this point
and the crowd were having the best time dancing to Warrington's
Celtic punk rockers. It had been a few years since I'd had the
pleasure of seeing them live and they were just as good as I
remembered. Roughneck Riot are a group of fantastically talented
musicians spreading an important message. After this I made my way
back to The Thirsty Scholar to catch the end of Great Cynics front
man Giles Bidders acoustic set. The room was absolutely packed for
his upbeat set of old and new Great Cynics songs, all of which went
down a treat, it was brilliant to see such a talented young man
getting such a good reception.
After
catching five minutes each of Fair Do's and That Fucking Tank it was
time for Vanilla Pod. Kings Lynn's finest are celebrating their
twentieth year as a band and have been playing gigs everywhere. They
have also put out a brand new EP on TNS Records named Seeing Out The
Sunrise. Their set was comprised of songs from that EP as well as
plenty of old favourites such as Surrounded By Idiots. Vanilla Pod
put on a fantastic show which pleased everyone in the room; they may
have been one of the older bands playing the festival but were
certainly among the most energetic. One of my biggest hopes for the
festival was for Muncie Girls to play some of their recently recorded
new material. I was pleased as punch when they opened their set with
four brand new songs, all of which sounded excellent and have gotten
me very excited for their debut full length. I also thought that is
was very brave of the trio to open to a crowd that wasn't necessarily
their own with material very few people in the room would have heard.
Absolutely love Muncie Girls for doing that. As much as I enjoyed
their new stuff it was also great to hear some of my favourites such
as Railroad and Kasper & Randow. This was by far the biggest room
I'd seen the band play and they just looked born to do it, excellent
stuff.
After
another quick food break and a sit down (I was really struggling by
this point) I pulled myself back up the stairs to see the end of
Darko's set. I really love watching hardcore punk bands like Darko
live. The intensity of the performance was crazy; and even though the
intensity was high each member of the band was playing with a massive
smile on their bearded faces. The crowd at Sound Control really
responded to them by singing and dancing along with the band. Next I
made my way back downstairs for Plymouth punks Crazy Arm. A band
influenced by punk rock, folk and americana music, Crazy Arm are
always a treat to experience live. This was the wildest I'd seen the
crowd get all day with plenty of moshing and a great human pyramid.
Crazy Arm are fantastic recorded but to really experience just how
good they are you have to see the live. After Crazy Arm I ran (sort
of) back upstairs to see The Restarts as I had seen a lot of people
wearing their t-shirts all day. I only got to see a couple of songs
but I really enjoyed the Hackney based three pieces fast and furious
hardcore punk.
I
made my way down the stairs for the final time for Apologies, I Have None – the first of two headliners. I made sure that I was at the
stage early to get the best possible view of one of my favourite
bands. Starting out with fan favourite Sat In Vicky Park the crowd
sang louder than they had all day. The band ripped through songs from
full length album London and newish EP Black Everything, which grows
on me more and more every time I hear the songs played live. Massive
props have to go to Leagues Apart guitarist James Hull who was
playing bass for only the third time with the band. Finishing up with
the songs Long Gone and The 26 Apologies, I Have None proved why they
are the number one punk band in the UK's amazing underground scene.
The main portion of The Manchester Punk Festival was finished by
Essex punk legends The Filaments. The irony of me travelling all the
way to Manchester from Colchester to see a band from Essex didn't
escape me. As I arrived upstairs the show was already going as The
Filaments played Tears Of Essex; a fantastic song about how UKIP
tried to get elected in Essex a few years ago and failed. Another
highlight of their set for me was Tales From The Barside, a song that
name checks The Soundhouse, a bar in Colchester. The Filaments were
at the absolute top of their game, old school tracks such as UK Now
and Bastard Coppers really got the crowd going, whether they were
skanking, moshing or just singing at the top of their voices everyone
was having a the best time. What an excellent way to finish the
Manchester Punk Festival.
Except
that wasn't quite the end of the day. Five minutes away at Retro Bar
an after party was being thrown featuring Bear Trade as The
Replacements, Just Panic as Against Me and Leagues Apart as Rancid. A
lo of fun was had at Retro Bar, songs were sung so loudly it was
almost like punk rock karaoke, everyone was dancing and a lot of new
friends were made. There was a strong feeling in that bar of never
wanting what had been a very special day to end.
The
Manchester Punk Festival really was the most epic of days. All the
acts were fantastic at being ready on stage when they needed to be
and all playing very good sets, EVERYONE was super friendly and for
me the most impressive thing was just how smoothly the day ran. If
there were any problems during the day they definitely weren't
noticeable. I can't give the people at TNS Records, Moving North and
Anarchistic Undertones enough credit for successfully putting on the
UK's very best festival. If they happen to be reading this, thank you
so so so much. Roll on the Manchester Punk Festival 2016.
Now listening to Something I Can Hold In My Hands by The Smith Street Band
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