I woke up on the third day (my second) of Make-That-A-Take's Book Yer Ane Fest
IX eager to crack on with another day of punk rock goodness. That was until I
looked out of the window of my hotel room and discovered it was snowing quite
heavily in Dundee. This made me retreat back to bed and decide to skip the day’s
hardcore brunch featuring Skelped and Boak at Cerberus. Eventually I decided it
was time I should brave the snow and, wearing two hoodies, I made my way down
the slippery hill back to Buskers.
Dundee's Salem Street were the first band up on the final
day of the festival. Avon had already suggested that I check out these boys
before the festival had even started as she thought that I'd like them and she
was definitely right. Clearly inspired by The Clash and Rancid, the four-piece
started the day right with songs about growing up and not doing what is
expected of you. They also chucked in a couple of covers - Bonzo Goes To
Bitburg by The Ramones (my favourite Ramones song) and Knowledge by Operation
Ivy. An excellent start to the day. Next up were another Dundee band, three-piece
emo/punks Please, Believe. Please, Believe have a new fan in me, their jangly
guitars combined with some excellent gruff vocals make a really interesting
sound and I'm looking forward to them actually recording something so next time
I see them I can sing along.
After Please, Believe finished their set it was announced
that today's headliners Above Them had pulled out. On a personal note this was
annoying as it also happened when Emma and I were supposed to see them at
Manchfester back in October. On a more general note, it had me confused for the rest of the day with
set times so I was just sort of winging it going back and forth between Buskers
and The Vestry throughout the day. Because of Above Them's no-show Slowlight
were moved to Buskers after being due to open Vestry and were on next.
Slowlight are a four-piece post hardcore band from Glasgow that features male
and female vocals. Slowlight had a little difficulty with the equipment not
working properly for them but managed to plough through their set regardless.
The harmonies from Colin and Beth in particular were a highlight for me. Next I
made my way to The Vestry for the first time that day to see Brendan Dalton.
Another artist I've never heard of before, Brendan is a singer/songwriter from
Perth with a voice that can break your heart. It may have been because I was
tired but I actually found myself getting a little choked up during his set, which
also included a magnificent cover of the Nirvana classic Smells Like Teen
Spirit.
Up next it was one of my most anticipated bands of the day -
Elk Gang. Avon is good pals with the band and has been raving to me for a while
about how good they are. On the Saturday she introduced me to Kevin and James
from the band who are really good dudes. I was expecting them to be good but I
was amazed at just how good they actually were. Playing melodic hardcore skate
punk, Elk Gang gave the day a real adrenaline shot in the arm and really picked
the pace up. These chaps have really made something special and I can't wait to
see them get bigger and bigger. This show was also a bit of a bittersweet show
for the band. It was their first time playing BYAF but their last show with
temporary bass player Mark from Get It Together (who sprayed the crowd with
silly string at the end of the set!). After Elk Gang I was starving so popped
out for some food but when I came back I managed to catch the end of Aberdeen
based band Lenin Death Mask. These experts in noisy indie punk rock were one of
the surprises of the weekend for me. I had heard them before and enjoyed them
but it's clear that it's best to experience Lenin Death Mask Live. The
complicated guitar riffs and the gruff shouty vocals work so well together.
Bettie Akkemaai was next up down in The Vestry. Bettie is an
anarcho folk punk from Den Bosch in the Netherlands. As she took to the stage
she commented on the lack of women playing at the festival (something I had
also noticed) and that she was proud to be one of the few to do so. She was
very endearing on the small stage, playing honest acoustic music about
feminism, community and life as a musician using witty and intelligent lyrics.
Next up were a band I'd been listening to quite a lot recently, Robot Doctors.
This five-piece from Dundee play some of the best melodic punk rock music I've
heard in a long time. They were fantastic as a live band too, seemingly super
casual on stage between songs but really rocking out during their songs. The
band makes the most of having five members and they have some excellent
harmonies in their songs. A great band to keep an eye on.
Another band I've been listening to a lot lately is
Edgarville from Blackburn. The duo have just come back from a three month
European tour with Terrafraid. I'd had a message from Ed from Edgarville asking
for a review of their upcoming album Fingerprints and Handwriting. I had
listened to the album and really enjoyed it so was looking forward to hearing
some of it played live. Ed has a very unique voice I'm not that used to hearing
in an acoustic act, it's a booming, gruff style of vocal that keeps Edgarville
sounding like one of the most original bands in the scene. Up after them were a
band I was super excited for; all the way from Denmark - Forever Unclean! Their
EP Shreds is one of the best things I've heard all year. Seeing them live
reminded me of everything I love about punk rock music - it was, fast, fun,
passionate and full of energy. This was the first time in the day that I could
really sing along with a band and I really made the most of it. Everyone around
me seemed extremely impressed with these three Danish gentlemen and they
without a doubt gained some brand new fans. Back down in The Vestry were
another Dundee band, Stonethrower. Stonethrower, who have Ross from Please,
Believe in the band, were using their set at the festival as a release show for
their new EP Swells/Repels. After a little delay (due to an AWOL drummer)
Stonethrower launched into a set of technical punk rock music featuring vocals
from three different members of the band, which is always nice to hear.
You don't often find a lot of instrumental bands in the
world of punk rock but as I went back upstairs to Buskers Dundee's Shitgripper
were in full flow. They were honestly like no band I've ever seen before. Their
dark, hard, experimental punk rock sound was so intense and had the room full
of people engrossed. They are definitely a band that have to been seen to
believed. Following Shitgripper were Terrafraid, returning home after a three
month tour of Europe with Edgarville. I only stayed for a couple of songs for
this four-piece indie/pop punk/emo group as I wanted to make sure I had a good
spot for what was next but I was so impressed with Terrafraid. The UK emo scene
is getting bigger and bigger at the moment and Terrafraid have to be placed at
the top of the list of best bands in the genre.
After a couple of Terrafraid songs I made my way back down
to The Vestry for what I was considering the headline act for Sunday: every punk’s
favourite angry Scot - Billy Liar. Billy plays honest acoustic punk rock music songs
about all aspects of life. Whenever I've seen Billy play live it's almost felt
like he's playing like it's his last ever show as he puts every ounce of energy
he has into his set. This night was no different; he decided to start his set
slightly earlier than he was supposed to, joking he was going to play a warm up
set for himself. Quite the showman he entertained the crowd with a combination
of excellent songs and hilarious stories including a tale about a cease and
desist letter he received from David Hasselhoff's lawyers and a funny story
about the Edinburgh festival he may or may not have stolen from Paper Rifles.
Speaking of Mr Paper Rifles, Jon joined Billy on stage for a couple of songs
from their upcoming charity single. Billy Liar and Paper Rifles are both
fantastic solo performers but working together they were absolutely brilliant.
They were a real highlight from the whole festival and will be something I
remember for a long, long time.
The penultimate band at BYAF were WOMPS. WOMPS are a three-piece
indie punk band who hail from Glasgow. The crowd felt a bit smaller now, I
guess a lot of the crowd left after Billy Liar as it had started to snow again,
but the people who were left really seemed to dig WOMPS. Like every band, a lot
of energy and passion was put into their performance and this transferred into
the crowd as they too showed a lot of enthusiasm for the band. Finally the time
came for the final band of Book Yer Ane Fest IX - Kaddish. This was Kaddish's
ninth time in a row playing the festival so it was kind of fitting that they closed
the festival. Kaddish are a three-piece hardcore punk band from Dundee who were
worshipped. The folk down the front of the crowd were in full-on head-banging
mode, really enjoying the final moments of the day. It's great to see a long-running
band still enjoying playing gigs and having fun doing it.
Book Yer Ane Fest was absolutely amazing and one of the best
weekends away I've had all year. Everything about the weekend was excellent;
the bands were fantastic, the whole event was brilliantly organised (something
that must have been incredibly tricky to do) but most of all everyone was
incredibly friendly and welcoming. From Avon introducing me to various members
of bands to Deeker, leader of Make-That-A-Take Records, coming and saying hello
to me, I didn't meet a single person that I didn't like. After being at a Frank
Turner gig the night before I left for Scotland that was full of idiots this
was a very welcome change. Brendan Dalton said something during his set that
really stuck with me. He said that punk rock isn't just a genre of music but it’s
also a family. A very true and poignant quote.
My holiday to Book Yer Ane Fest was also a bit of a personal
triumph for me. Going to Dundee is the furthest I've ever been from home and
the fact that I did it by myself was a big achievement for me. At the beginning
of this year I was having some serious issues with depression and anxiety and
it got to the point where I didn't go to many shows at all, especially if I was
going by myself. I'm quite proud of how far I've come on my journey to get
better. Punk rock has helped so much. Thank you punk rock!
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