When Colin realised I was going to the same NOFX/Alkaline Trio tour as him he asked if I would also review it for his blog as it would be interesting to read about the differences between how a woman experiences a gig and how a man experiences it.
I saw them in Leeds on the original Friday date where they
were supported by Lagwagon and Gnarwolves and I basically bought my ticket for
Alkaline Trio. Disclaimer: I don’t really know NOFX at all. Like, I know that
Bob song but that’s about it. Given that it’s now been over a week since the
Leeds gig, I’m sure many of you may have already reviews of it and so I don’t
intend to get too into too much detail about the songs they played etc.
especially since my memory is rubbish and I couldn’t tell you the names or
order of what was played. Instead I’m going to talk about how I personally
experienced the gig.
The O2 Academy in Leeds is a venue that a lot of my friends
don’t particularly like. It’s a tall building with a balcony level so even
though it has quite a large capacity it doesn’t feel that crowded as there is
still a decent amount of space above you. It also means that the stage is high
enough that even people my height (about 5’6) can generally see the stage. I’m
used to going to tiny gigs in tiny Scottish basements where there’s like 40
other people in the room with you so I was worried I’d feel overwhelmed or
uncomfortable in a bigger venue but I didn’t and generally the crowd was great.
I didn’t spend the gig squashed into some large, sweaty man’s armpit and I
didn’t get trodden on or particularly pushed around. My friend Jack (who I blog
with here) did get
quite groinally intimate with a man in front of him who seemed determined to
pretty much get inside him but given that we weren’t that far back from the
circle pit we did okay.
Unfortunately, due to me and my pals having a moment of confusion
about door times, we completely missed Gnarwolves and, due to the complete
ineptitude of the O2 bar staff, we spent most of Lagwagon queuing to then not
even get served. I don’t know Lagwagon but what I heard sounded alright. I have
since heard negative reviews though so maybe they weren’t up to their usual
standard. Alkaline Trio, however, were fucking amazing. So good. They did From
Here To Infirmary in full and then finished with a few other tracks and I spent
the whole set singing my heart out along with them. They didn’t spend that much
time talking between songs but it didn’t really need it as pretty much the
whole crowd was so in to it. My friend Brendan, who is the singer for Get Human, did say he noticed Skiba
not quite hitting some of his notes but I couldn’t tell. Ten out of ten, would
see again.
NOFX, on the other hand, I will never see live again. Or
probably even choose to listen to. I’ve seen completely opposing views of their
performance, even just amongst my friends, but for me it was bad. Musically
they were okay but not great, but the problem was the chat between the songs.
Like I said, I don’t really know NOFX but I always had the vague idea they were
decent enough people. I was definitely not prepared for the sheer volume of
bigoted and offensive bullshit I heard. I don’t care if
they didn’t mean it, it went beyond a joke. Homophobia, racism, slut shaming,
insulting the disabled fans who’d come out to see them, transphobia, etc etc
etc. There was just no need. People I’ve spoken to since then have suggested we
can’t hold them, or punk musicians in general, up to ‘those standards’ (i.e.
not being bigoted fucks) but why not? I tried to ignore it/let it go as a
joke/whatever but I walked out halfway through the encore when they stood in
front of their Rainbow flag and deliberately misgendered Caitlyn Jenner. One of
the main reasons I love Punk is for how accepting and open it is but this set
completely alienated me. I’ve seen as many people say that they loved the show
as I have say they hated it. Maybe the band didn’t mean it, maybe they did but the
point is they said it.
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