Gig Review: King Punch with 3dBs Down and Last Edition at New Cross Inn, London 14/08/22

The activity I missed by far the most over the past seventeen months has been going to gigs. Not only were gigs exciting because I got to see some of my favourite bands but it was also an opportunity to see many of my wonderful friends, as well as travelling around the country. It was a wonderful thing and I always felt extremely privileged to be able to see and experience so many unforgettable moments because of it. So when lockdown happened a huge part of my life (and I’m certain everyone’s reading this) vanished. Obviously, I understood that it was important for it to happen so I learned to live with it and kind of got used to not being able to do my favourite hobby. After seventeen months we were finally able to go to gigs again. I bought some tickets, kind of expecting not to be able to use them but things got better and some aspects of life from the before times were able to happen again.

On Saturday the 14th of August I got to attend my first gig in 524 days. It had to be at my favourite place in the whole world, the New Cross Inn in South London, for a Be Sharp Promotions show featuring 3dbs Down and Last Edition, headlined by King Punch.

I can’t lie, I was slightly apprehensive the entire day of the gig but myself and Emma have both been fully vaccinated and we took lateral flow tests the morning of the gig which came back negative so we felt safe in the knowledge that we wouldn’t be spreading anything about. After a stress free train journey, we arrived in our spiritual home in time for doors. As soon as I saw some old friends, any apprehensions I had quickly faded and I was just super happy to be back and set for an exciting night of ska and punk.

Leicester’s Last Edition were the first band on and I couldn’t think of a better band to reintroduce me to live music. This was also the band’s first show back as they sadly had to drop out of a show earlier in the month due to illness. As soon as they started their set you could see in their faces how happy they were to be back on stage together. This feeling quickly bled into the crowd as the band soon had everyone moving. I had these strange feeling of muscle memory kicking in as my body began to do things it hasn’t for months. It was an amazing feeling. Last Edition’s upbeat brand of ska punk filled the room with smiles as they played through favourites such as This One, Last Orders and 10 Years as well as brand new(ish) songs Good Luck, Shorts Until September and Half Drunk At Half Time. This was a fantastic kick off for the evening.

Up next were DIY punk legends 3dBs Down. These guys were the band on the bill I was most looking forward to seeing, after they released my favourite album of 2020. This was finally an opportunity to see some of the songs from it live. As much as I enjoy the band’s previous material, I was very pleased the set was mainly songs from the amazing Get Your Retaliation In First. One of the major things I love about the album are the big three part harmonies that Matt, Si and Tage perform. It’s brilliant on record but live it’s just something else. I was so impressed with how seamlessly they were performed as some sound quite complicated to do. The band opened up with At My Signal with the very appropriate lyric “it’s good to see you, welcome home.” I’m not sure a more poignant lyric has ever been sung at the New Cross Inn. They also played Moussaka, Pink Cardigan Twinset, Hang In There Man and Idiot Ignorant Evil before closing the set with Count To A Million. My only complaint from the set is that they didn’t play longer as I was having such a nice time and didn’t want it to stop.

Last up were the undisputed champions of a New Cross party, King Punch. After the previous two bands, the crowd were suitably warmed up and ready to get crazy for the seven piece. Not many bands can match King Punch for the energy that they have on stage. If there was any fatigue from not having played a show in so long then it didn’t show. If anything they picked the energy up the further they got into their set. Unfortunately guitarist Tor had some technical problems at the start of the set but that didn’t seem to hinder the band one bit. Personally I noticed because I happened to be on that side of the stage as he was trying to sort it out. King Punch basically played the entirety of Sit Still without a guitar and it still had the crowd in a frenzy. King Punch have always liked to throw a cover or two into their set and this was no different. Their now classic cover of System Of A Down’s Chop Suey went down as well as ever and there was also a brilliant cover of The Pixies’ Where is My Mind. Unfortunately due to Saturday trains still being rubbish (I haven’t missed those) we had to duck out of the gig early but not before we got to hear Enrico, Wishbone, Another Bomb, Weekend Warrior and a brand new song which I’m very excited to hear a recorded version of.

As a first gig back after over 500 days I couldn’t think of a better one. All three bands absolutely smashed it and the promoter, venue and crowd ensured it was a safe environment where, as far as I’m aware, everyone felt comfortable. Long may gigs continue. Let’s never go so long without one again!

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