Gig Review: Random Hand at Islington Academy, London 28/1/22

I think that the three year gap between seeing Random Hand in January 2019 and January 2022 is the longest time I’ve ever gone without seeing them. Even when they had their break, it seemed a shorter time than that. I guess that’s what a global pandemic will do. I believe the original plan for this gig was for it to be in the summer of 2020 but this had to be postponed for the reasons mentioned in the previous sentence. Since the original gig was announced, there had been date changes, venue changes and line-up changes but it was finally here and I couldn’t wait.

Unfortunately we arrived at The Islington Academy a little late due to work and the early start so only managed to catch the last three songs from Babar Luck And The East End Trinity. You could feel the positive vibes that Babar and his crew always bring though, so I was pleased we were able to catch a bit of their set.

Up next were Riskee & The Ridicule. I believe the last time I saw them was also supporting Random Hand. Since then they have added Maz, the former saxophone player in Ghouls to their ranks to play bass guitar. Looking around the crowd, it very much seemed as if a good chunk of people had come out specifically to see Riskee and they must have been delighted with the show the band put on. The band started with (a) Kaboom! and didn’t slow down from then on. There was a lot of hype around the band before the world stopped and even with the break it appears that their momentum keeps on rolling. The band played a tight set and even with some issues with the sound – I think there was a problem with a drum mic – the band soldiered on and played an entertaining set.

Following Riskee were the penultimate act of the night, The Filaments. Last seen in London, headlining the opening night of Till The Fest in October, I was just as excited to see them again. I wasn’t the only one because as soon as the band began their set Islington went off. On this occasion, the band were playing as a seven piece with a three part brass section which is not something I’ve seen The Filaments do for years. Having that many people on the stage added to the energy that The Filaments omit. Musically, the band flick effortlessly between ferocious hardcore punk and barroom singalongs with ease and have the crowd in the palm of their hands throughout the set. Tearing through their set with minimal time between songs meant that they manage to squeeze plenty of tracks into the set but I was still wanting more when they finished. Half hour sets aren’t long enough for The Filaments! They have too many classic songs that I want to hear. They seem to have already announced a fair amount of gigs this year so hopefully it won’t be too long before seeing them again.

The night was flying by, it was soon time for Random Hand and there was a feeling of anticipation filling the venue. The band would be playing their third album, Seething Is Believing, from start to finish during the set to celebrate its tenth (or eleventh because of postponements) anniversary which, as luck would have it, is my favourite album the band have released. Though I have to say it’s a close run thing as they only release brilliant albums. To nobody’s surprise the crowd went for it as soon as the band began set/album opener Tales Of Intervention and it only got rowdier as the set progressed. I feel like there’s always a bit of a risk with album shows that a couple of the deeper cuts on the album might fall flat on the more casual fan but this was not the case on this occasion. Listening to the album live really made me appreciate the track ordering on the album. How many bands have songs of the calibre of Not A Number, Three From Six, Floating Ghosts and Bones following each other – amazing work. Like I mentioned in the introduction, it had been three years since I last saw Random Hand but this felt a reunion with an old friend where you just fall back into friendship like you’ve never been apart and it felt wonderful. Robin remains one of the best frontmen in punk rock, an extremely watchable performer and very funny whilst interacting with the crowd between songs. There are also a few moments where he takes the time to give thanks to the other bands and the venue, and you can see how genuinely happy the band are to be able to be doing gigs again. After completing Seething Is Believing, the band dipped into their discography to play an encore including classics such as Scum Triumphant, Play Some Ska, Anthropology and Anger Management to ensure the crowd went home even happier. What an absolutely blinding set and I can’t wait to see them again at Manchester Punk Festival in April… Is it April yet?

Random Hand once again show why they are one of the most highly respected bands to emerge from the UK’s DIY punk scene ever. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve seen them over the years – it’s easily in double figures now – and they never, ever disappoint. Being able to see them once again after so long was a cathartic experience. Legends.

This gig review was written by Colin Clark. Photos by Colin and Emma.

Gig Review: Till The Fest Day One 8/10/21

As rewarding as being a DIY punk gig promoter can be it can often be thankless, frustrating and hit you very heavily financially. Speaking to many friends who have promoted gigs over the years, they have often become jaded and disillusioned and leave promoting gigs to the other people. To reach twenty years in the game is an incredible achievement and that’s something the legend that is Ollie Ward of Till The Wheels recently achieved. To celebrate the big milestone, Ollie decided to put on a three day festival in New Cross named Till The Fest.

Ollie originally announced Till The Fest whilst the UK was in the midst of a lockdown and, if I’m 100% honest with you, I was very sceptical on whether or not the weekend would be allowed to go ahead. As time went on and restrictions gradually began to ease, my confidence in the festival actually happening began to grow. I quickly bought weekend tickets and even began to get very excited. As the months went on, more and more amazing bands continued to get added to the line-up and it soon became a three day, three venue, over 50 bands behemoth of an event.

Till The Fest would be taking place at the New Cross Inn, The Amersham Arms and Matchstick Piehouse. There would also be a record fair happening upstairs in the New Cross House pub and a five aside tournament happening at Fordham Park. There was absolutely loads going on! It was also a wonderful opportunity to have a punk rock family reunion, with friends from all over the UK making the pilgrimage to South East London. As the weekend grew closer, I was just as excited to see people I hadn’t seen for nearly two years as I was to see some of my favourite bands. It was due to be an emotional weekend.

We arrived in New Cross, dropped our bags off at our Air BnB, freshened up and made our way to Matchstick Piehouse. This was our first time going to Matchstick Piehouse and Emma and I were very grateful to bump in to our pal Tommy of BaldHead And The Dreads to help show us the way. We arrived at the Piehouse and immediately bumped into loads of friends and it was a bloody lovely feeling. Music hadn’t even begun yet and we were already having a magical time.

After saying lots of hellos to lots of people, we needed to get some food before the bands began. We met up with CPRW member Lara and her husband Nicky, who had travelled from South Wales for Till The Fest, and took them to our favourite falafel spot, Beirut. Unfortunately I got us lost on the way there, shout out to Tommy for helping out again, so we sadly missed SKIV. I’m sure they put on a 10/10 show to open up the festival at The Amersham Arms.

Thankfully we did get to New Cross Inn in plenty of time to see the band tasked with opening the festival there, our lovely friends Goodbye Blue Monday. Despite it not even being 7pm, a very decent sized crowd had turned out for the Scottish boys and were treated to another superb GBM set. Graham noted that they would be opening with a brand new song for their first show back since the lockdown. This new song, along with the couple of others, sound amazing and has me even more excited for their debut album, whenever they’re able to get it recorded and released out in to the world. Of course there was also big sing-alongs for favourites such as Misery-Punk Ruined My Life, Love Is A Noose For Two, Trigger Alert, Take Your Pills and Exile (which was my first time seeing it live since it was released). Seeing Goodbye Blue Monday always fills me with the warm, fuzzy feeling and leaves me with a sore throat. What a band. What a time.

We didn’t get a chance to hang around NXI and have a proper chat with the GBM boys as another of our lovely friends, Katie MF was taking to the stage at Amersham as soon as they finished. After a power walk for the five minute journey between the venues, we made it with a couple of minutes to spare. This was somehow our very first time in the Amersham Arms and I was immediately impressed with it as a venue. There was a nice wide stage, with no pesky pillar blocking the view of the stage. In fact, you could probably get a decent view of the stage from anywhere in the venue. Before the band started, Katie announced that the band hadn’t been in a room together since March 2020 so hadn’t practiced their set. If Katie hadn’t have said that I don’t anyone would’ve noticed as they played a cracking set. Playing the more uptempo tracks in the band’s catalogue, really tailoring for the punk crowd, for me it was another set of sing-alongs. I’ve said many times over the years that Katie has this magnetic quality on stage that cannot be ignored. Backed by one of the best rhythm sections in punk rock, this was another superb performance. Just like GBM before them, Katie MF have a load of high quality songs that are yet to be recorded and I can’t wait for them to get released.

Unfortunately we had to leave Katie’s set one song early as Just Say Nay were starting back at NXI. I always say that it’s a sign of a good festival to have clashes but, for me at least, this was a stinger. We arrived back at very full looking NXI to see Just Say Nay already well into their set. Sadly during lockdown trombone playing goblin king Mikey T decided to leave the band, so on this occasion they were only playing as a seven piece. Yes, seven members is the fewest amount of people I’ve ever seen on stage when I’ve watched Just Say Nay perform. This did allow lead singer Jak to move around the stage more freely and he did a magnificent job in getting the crowd amped up. Not that Just Say Nay need to do much to get a NXI crowd warmed up as they are much loved at the venue. We arrived back at the venue as the band were playing Tempted from their debut EP Shit Out Of Luck before moving on to crowd favourite, With A Twist Of Lemon. With A Twist Of Lemon has a great ending that gets the entire crowd chanting along with the band. It always goes down well but on this occasion it went down so well that the crowd did their own extra verse of the song. They probably would’ve done another one if the band hadn’t have moved on to the next song, Pass Me A Cloud. The band finished with Low Blow which earned another huge sing-along. Just Say Nay are one of the best live bands in the country – make sure you see them as soon as you have the chance!

We hung around at New Cross for the next band, The JB Conspiracy. We’d recently been able to see JB in Bristol for Fishstock but that didn’t dampen any excitement for seeing them again. I said in my review of Fishstock that JB get better each and every time I see them live and this trend continued once again. Playing a mix of old favourites and new ones from 2021’s Beginnings, this was the band’s second London gig since Beginnings’ release and it was clear that the crowd had spent plenty of time with it. It’s always tricky for a band releasing new music so long after they released two absolute beloved albums. Will people care about the new stuff or do they just want the classics? It really says a lot about just how good Beginnings is as songs like The Long Road To Zurich (one of my favourite songs of 2021) and Guiding Lights got just as good receptions as The Escape or This Machine did. It’s always nice to see a band on stage, who’ve been doing this for so many years, still clearly having the time of their lives. Between songs there was always a big smile on lead singer Lank’s face. I was sad that the band only had a forty minute set because I would have happily watched, sung and danced along with the band for much longer. Every time I see JB they prove that they are one of the very best ska punk bands that the UK has ever produced.

 

The choice of the night’s headliner through up another tricky decision on who to see. It was between The Bar Stool Preachers and The Filaments. Both are phenomenal live acts so I shouldn’t complain about having to pick between two fantastic bands. We decided to go with The Filaments at Amersham Arms. The choice was made because BSP were the last band we saw before lockdown started and we hadn’t seen The Filaments for years. Plus I always love seeing Pook bounce around on stage and he was playing in The Filaments. We made the walk back to Amersham with our new friend and NXI legend Fred The Punk. If you’ve not made friends with him yet, this is something I recommend you do. He’s a lovely man who really understands what this whole punk community thing is about. Amersham was already pretty full when we reached the venue but we managed to find a good spot from the side of the stage. The Filaments were a little late to take to the stage, I didn’t mind this though as it gave us time to have a little chat with pals. When the band did get on the stage they quickly began to tear the roof off the venue. The set was mostly comprised of the band’s more ferocious songs which got the mosh pit going hard. Unfortunately there was one person in the pit who was going too hard and ended up causing a fight. This lead to the band stopping a song midway through and jumping in to the crowd to sort it out. I believe that the instigator of the fight was then removed from the venue. It’s a shame that after almost two years of not having nice things like Till The Fest there was an idiot who didn’t know how to behave but big love and respect to the band and venue for making sure everyone was safe and the show could continue. I feel like this incident could’ve put a lot of bands off their stride but not The Filaments who stormed through the rest of their set. The highlight for me was a rare run out of Trevor, a song I’ve not seen the band play for years and it remains my favourite Filaments song. This was a great way to finish off night one of Till The Fest.

Night one of Till The Fest had been a massive success and all around us there were big smiles everywhere. There were positive vibes all around and there was much excitement for what was to come for the rest of the weekend.

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