Gig Reivew: The Bennies at New Cross Inn, London 15/8/19

Last year Australia's superstars of ‘psychedelic reggae ska doom metal punk rock from hell’ made their first appearance at the New Cross Inn and it was obviously a match made in heaven. Unfortunately I couldn't make the show because I was off busting my Hot Water Music cherry in Camden. Ever since then I have been hoping and praying and mostly bugging the gentlemen from Be Sharp Promotions to get them back. Those guys are legends so of course they did – on a warm Thursday night in August after a mammoth tour of Europe including some festival dates at Brakrock and Punk Rock Holiday. I was super excited when the gig was announced and when I saw the entire line up I knew that the New Cross Inn would be the 'party machine.'

Paul The Kid opened up the night. This was my first time seeing the New Zealander who is now based in Fulham. Starting his set, he announced that the whole set would be non-stop bangers. He wasn't wrong. Playing a mash-up of ska, house, dance, chill and rap, I was a bit taken aback when he first took to the stage as I'm not used to watching someone perform with just a laptop but he soon won me round with a highly energetic and infectious performance. Despite the small crowd, he played a set like he was playing to a room full of people and that's always nice to see. It's clear that a lot of time and skill goes into crafting his songs and it was a very fun performance. If you're a fan of MC Lars then you should definitely check out Paul The Kid.

I feel like I may have written about Bald Head And The Dreads more than any other band this year. Watching them progress has been one of my musical highlights of the year. Each and every time I see them they feel more and more like a ‘proper band’ rather than a group of locals getting together and having a mess around. Sure, it's still a bit silly but they have some really fun and catchy songs. They're now moving on from their songs about Paul Smith and the New Cross Inn (though they did play Be Sharp Bop at the request of Skiv's Connor who was celebrating his birthday) and have added some great songs about living in London and how dog breeding is bad. Speaking of dogs – the crowd-pleasing Quit Your Job & Get A Dog is one of the catchiest songs I've heard all year and every time I hear it I'm inspired to do so. Sadly, Emma and our landlord won't allow it. Bald Head & The Dreads are fast becoming one of my favourite bands to see live. I really want them to get a release out soon – I want to listen to these songs at home!

The penultimate act of the evening was ‘the best thing since free Wi-Fi’, Eat The Evidence. Seeing these guys again was well overdue as I haven't seen them since Level Up Festival in 2018 where I accidentally got hit in my gentleman's special part whilst having a dance to them. Thankfully this didn't happen again and I managed to get through the set unharmed. What a relief! Eat The Evidence are one of the most original bands in the UK's ska punk scene. The band incorporate an accordion, a ukulele, a slide whistle and, at one point, a steel drum into their sound and it does not feel out of place or odd in the slightest. Playing some favourites such as You Only Say You Love Me When I'm High and Fruit Of The Loot as well as some newer songs such like Fruity Moroccan Couscous and Sicky Slip, Eat The Evidence do such a great job of warming up a crowd. I've seen them a handful of times now and this was up there with their best performances. They may have even upstaged The Bennies, which really takes some doing. I didn't even mind that the evening was overrunning and I would be missing a part of The Bennies set because of trains and such. If you haven't seen Eat The Evidence yet, I urge you to put it on your to do list – there aren't many better live bands out there at the moment.

Sadly the night was running about half an hour behind schedule by the time that The Bennies took to the stage which meant Emma and I would have to miss a sizeable portion of their set. That didn't prevent us making the most of the time we got with the Aussie band however. Starting their set with Party Smashers where the lyric "motherfucking London" is most appropriate (I shouted "motherfucking New Cross" but it didn't catch on), The Bennies quickly proved why they are such a beloved live band not just in London but wherever they play. Not having a new album to promote, this was more of a best of set with fan favourites from their whole catalogue of songs being played. While we were still there, we got to hear great tunes such as Detroit Rock Ciggies, Heavy Disco, My Bike and, new song, Green Mitsubishi's before sadly having to leave during Knights Forever – which we later learnt featured singer Anty doing a crowd walk. The Bennies are a fun time kind of band but you can tell how much work goes in to making what they do as good as it possibly can be. There's a professionalism about them that seems to ensure that everybody in the room has the best possible time during their set. This is why we all love them so much and there is such a buzz whenever a UK tour is announced. As we hurried off towards the train station, we were in good spirits despite the disappointment of having to leave early. The Bennies bring the party, they bring the fun and they bring the smiles. We love them.

This gig review was written by Colin Clark. Photo by Emma Prew.