Gig Review: Ray Rocket at New Cross Inn 18/2/18

My absolute favourite thing to do on a Sunday is to visit the New Cross Inn in South London to spend the day at one of their legendary all-dayer gigs. This one was just a little bit different and a bit special. Be Sharp Promotions were putting on an all day acoustic show headlined by Ray Rocket of Teenage Bottlerocket and supported by Sam Russo, Alex from Wonk Unit and nine other acoustic performers. I imagine the sound guy working the event has had fewer easier days than this one. I however had the unenviable task of reviewing twelve chaps with acoustic guitars and making it sound varied.

We arrived at the New Cross Inn a little late (because trying to find the way into London Bridge station is a mission at the moment) so the opening act C-Rage's set was already underway when we arrived. I knew nothing of C-Rage before the set began but quickly recognised him as a regular of the New Cross punk gigs. He played a fun acoustic pop punk set with plenty of songs about girls, one about finding punk on the radio and another about feeling left behind by his friends that are going out and doing all that boring growing up and getting married stuff. In what turned out to be a bit of a running theme of the day, he played a couple of covers - one being Hope by the Descendents and another being a cover from one of Be Sharp Promotions Paul Smith's old bands. This was a really fun way to start the day. Also, to try and add to variety to this review - C-Rage was the only person to play a left handed guitar.

Following C-Rage was Northern Irish acoustic guitar man Mark Noble. Now based in London, Mark was perhaps one of the days performers who was most used to performing acoustically. He also dealt with some rowdy punters at the bar superbly simply by informing them that he had the microphone so would be louder. Playing more of a folk punk (opposed to simply acoustic punk) style than the rest of the day's artists really made him stand out. Mark played a selection of his own songs, some traditional folk songs as well as three excellent covers of Billy Bragg's A New England (a song we were talking about on out train journey in), The ’59 Sound by The Gaslight Anthem and, most surprisingly and hilariously, Hit Me Baby One More Time by Britney Spears. During the Britney cover he even managed to get a pub full of punks to sing-a-long and provide backing vocals. Excellent work.

We'd previously seen SKIV under his previous stage name Sweater Songs at another New Cross all-dayer back in July of last year. Former DropThis singer Jordan Harris again played a wonderful set that shows off his wonderful vocals. He had a great confidence between songs and was more than happy to banter with the crowd and tell jokes. When he opened his set Jordan joked saying "we're SKIV" alluding to the fact that it's normally a full band effort including Cereal Box Heroes guitarist Conor. For me the highlights of his set were his two new songs In A & E and Thumb Print as well as his excellent cover of the Descendents song Dreams which he expertly had the crowd singing harmonies for.

Up next was someone I was particularly looking forward to seeing. Dan Peters of RxR and contributor to CPRW. I've known Dan for a few years thanks to the wonder of the Internet but this was my first time meeting him let alone seeing him play. Because I do consider him a pal I'm a little concerned about sounding overly biased in my praise for his performance. I would have said that Dan was my favourite performance of the entire day but I changed my mind the next day because I had the pop song Call Me Maybe stuck in head and it was super annoying. Dan's set was covers from start to finish with him playing acoustic versions of songs from MXPX, NOFX, Rancid, Blink 182, Dead Neck and old friends Müg. There might have been more but I was busy taking a picture and sending it to the CPRW group chat. Dan has a brilliant enthusiastic charm on stage and plays with a big smile on his face, exactly what I like to see. He also plays a tiny guitar.

I was also quite looking forward to seeing Call Me Malcolm frontman Lucias take to the stage. I must admit I was kind of expecting more of a ska acoustic sound from Lucias. We didn't get this but we did get another thoroughly entertaining set. At times spell binding and at times hilarious it was impossible not to stay completed fixated by the man on stage. Playing a selection of his own material including Call Me Malcolm and 24 Hour Punks songs as well as some excellent and varied cover selections including Coolio's Gangsters Paradise, Lit's My Own Worst Enemy and a hilarious parody of Tom Petty's Free Fallin'. I was so impressed with Lucias voice here, I hope he performs more acoustic sets between playing with his other bands.

The big problem with all-dayers is finding the time to have a food break, especially at an acoustic day where the changeovers are quite quick. This means you inevitably have to miss out on some or all of a performer. Unfortunately due to the need to eat we only got to see three songs of Wayfairers set. From what we saw Ian was as great as ever playing tracks from both his excellent EP's Drifting and Losing My Cool.

We got back from a quick bite to eat just in time for the next act, Stew Gush. Stew Gush is a melodic acoustic punk rock artist from Redhill. Despite the day all being men with acoustic guitars it was at this point of the day I'd realised how varied all the artists had been so far. Stew's melodic set was great as he showed a great amount of skill and versatility on his guitar. Sometimes playing energetic punk rock and sometimes adding a bluesy element to his music. His set of course had some covers in it as well including NFOX's Monosyllabic Girl and MXPX's Doing Time. Stew is recording his music soon and I'm looking forward to checking it out when it's released.

Up next was Triple Sundae's Hassan Afaneh. When he took to the stage he mentioned that he was supposed to be joined on stage by other members of Triple Sundae but unfortunately they hadn't been able to sort out a practice in time so he was flying solo. Not that took anything away from his set at all. Hassan has an incredibly passionate and powerful vocal that really blew me away. I'd not realised on my previous times seeing Triple Sundae just what a strong voice Hassan has. This was without doubt one of the most punk rock sets of the day and had me wishing I knew more words to Triple Sundae songs so I could have sung along some more as the way they were performed truly deserved some big sing-a-longs. 2018 is going to be a big year for Triple Sundae, with a new EP being released on Umlaut Records soon and I'm sure plenty of shows on the horizon. Make sure you check them out!

After Hassan had finished we had a bit of an extended break due to the day actually running early. This gave us a good chance to catch up with some pals before Dan Goatham from Spoilers took to the stage. This was the part of the day when the whole feeling of the day shifted from a bunch of mates playing for each other down the pub to a proper gig. Spoilers are a band that, despite knowing about for a while and only ever hearing great things about, I still haven't gotten round to seeing (yet - they are at Manchester Punk Festival this year). After seeing Dan perform solo acoustic he has really wet my appetite and made me want to change that. Despite waking up that morning with a cold he put on an engaging and entertaining performance. This was one of the first times of the day that the room was completely silent with everyone's attention glued to the stage. Dan exuded confidence and charm on the stage and had the crowd in the palm of his hand. So much so that he managed to get the whole crowd providing backing vocals for final track Punks Don't Die - ingeniously getting the crowd to sing at the right times by moving his eyebrows.

Up next was one of the most loved and respected punks in the UK, Alex Wonk from Wonk Unit - and he wasn't alone. Because this was a hometown show, Alex decided to invite Wonk Unit members Simon on keyboards and Pwoison on bass. Having seen Wonk Unit full band a few times over the years, it was most interesting to see this stripped back version of the band and it was superb. Wonk Unit are a band like no other, even in this form, being at their most weirdly entertaining best playing along to some of the most passionate fans around. Wonk Unit and Teenage Bottlerocket toured the UK together back in 2015 so it was no surprise to see Ray jump on stage to help them sing the chorus of crowd favourite Lewisham. Being this acoustic version of the Wonk it was a chance for the band to throw in some old songs they don't play so much anymore as well as all the new favourites. This, as always, was a great fun set from Wonk Unit.

The penultimate act of the day was the UK's number one acoustic punk rocker, Sam Russo, who had spent the entire week on tour with Ray. I've seen Sam play so many times now and every time he impresses me more and more. One of the few artists of the day playing songs that were actually written for acoustic performances, there was a fuller sound to his set that was perhaps missing from many of the day's performers. Playing everyone's favourites from both albums Storm and Greyhound Dreams, which got great reactions, and is there a better sing-a-long acoustic punk track than Sometimes? He also treated us to a little sneak peak of a song that's been written for his new full band project inventively titled Russo. This song was great! Much like Dan Goatham earlier, this track really has me itching to catch Russo perform at Manchester Punk Festival in April.

Lastly it was time for the legend that is Ray Rocket. Teenage Bottlerocket are one of the most beloved bands of the past ten years so seeing Ray perform solo in a small pub felt like a very special opportunity. This feeling clearly wasn't missed on the rest of the people at the New Cross as everyone gathered round the front of the stage to get up close and personal with the great man. Ray started out with the title track from his debut solo album Do You Wanna Go To Tijuana? and quickly had the crowd singing along with him. His set was mostly comprised of songs from that album which includes a cover of Pet Sematary by The Ramones and acoustic versions of Teenage Bottlerocket favourites such as Radio, Go With The Flow and Rebound. There was a cool section where Ray sang some of bandmate Kody Templeton's TBR songs including the awesome They Called Me Steve, where he was accompanied by Sam Russo and Alex Wonk on backing vocals. Between songs Ray took to the time to tell tales and banter with members of the crowd including revealing a secret about Sebby Zatopek who was in the crowd. He also told some stories about his much loved and missed twin brother Brandon who sadly passed away in 2015. He told some funny stories (Brandon had a two word saying he always used - "fuck acoustic") and some heartbreaking stories between a few songs about his relationship with his twin and how much he misses him. This part of the set was one of the most humbling and brave things I've ever seen on a stage and at time I myself had to hold back on some tears as it was an extremely emotional moment. The crowd lapped up Ray and didn't want his set to finish, but unfortunately all great things must end and Ray ended a great day in style.

Like I said 2000 words ago, New Cross all dayers are the best way to spend a Sunday.

This review was written by Colin Clark. Photos by Emma Prew.