One of my favourite venues to go see gigs in is a little
place named The Black Heart in Camden Town, London. Found just five minutes
from Camden Tube Station it is one of London’s best kept secrets. It’s in a
strange sort of place where you would ever find it unless you were looking for
it but it’s also incredibly easy to find. Even for someone with no known sense
of direction. The downstairs area is just like a normal bar, with friendly staff
and a fantastic atmosphere it’s a great place to hang out before the gig begins
but upstairs, if you can pardon the cliché is where the magic really happens.
If you go up the narrow staircase you will find a small room
with a tiny bar at one end of the room and a small stage area at the other. I
took my friend Natalie there recently and she was shocked at the size of the
room. It’s funny though, when the room begins to fill up and it seems so much
bigger and when it is empty.
I have only been to five gigs at The Black Heart, seeing the
likes of RVIVR, The Smith Street Band, The Mahones, Elway and Bangers to name a
few and they have all been fantastic nights. One of the things I enjoy about
The Black Heart is the bands hang out in the crowd during the other bands sets.
I always think it’s great to see members of one band enjoying another bands set
and it gives a great feeling of there not being a case of them and us regarding
the fans and the band. It shows a brilliant spirit of community in the punk
rock world where there are no stars.
From my experiences the organisation has always been top
class as well. From what I’ve seen they only have one guy running the show. I
assume he’s in charge of the sound and lighting and generally making sure
everything runs on time. Seems like quite a big undertaking but nevertheless
the five gigs I’ve attended have always run smoothly.
I like that at The Black Heart like many other smaller
venues there is no barrier between the stage and the crowd. This makes for a
much more fun show. It allows the band and the crowd to get up close and
personal with each other. I don’t really live when there are rails at shows;
people get crushed at the front with people trying to get as close to the front
of possible. Granted at small shows with no rails people still get crushed, but
they don’t come away with sore ribs from being squashed against a metal rail.
I don’t recall ever seeing a security guard at The Black Heart.
There have been some very rambunctious crowds and I’ve seen many a body go
flying through the crowd, but it’s always been in good fun and the crowd has
always played security guard to itself. I can’t think of many other scenes
where this would happen.
Another great thing about The Black Heart is the ticket
pricing. Natalie was again shocked at the price of the tickets when we went to
see The Smith Street Band. I don’t think I have ever paid more than £10 at The
Black Heart. When you consider seeing One Direction cost my friend £60 you’ve
got to think he was majorly ripped off! He could have gone to at least six gigs
at The Black Heart for that kind of money.
So if you’re ever find yourself in Camden wanting to have a
drink in a place with a fantastic atmosphere and listen to some great music,
The Black Heart is definitely the place for you.
The Menzingers are a punk rock band from Scranton,
Pennsylvania who recently released their fourth album Rented World on Epitaph
Records. Their previous album On The Impossible Past (released in 2012) was a
huge success and great things were expected from this follow up.
Happily in does not disappoint.
Rented World opens up with the brilliant I Don’t Want To Be An Asshole Anymore. A
song where lead singer Greg Barnett seemingly is apologising for his wrong
doings and wanting to make himself a better person. This is a classic
Menzingers sing-along anthem and is already a favourite of their live set.
The next two tracks immediately slow things down and take a
darker turn. Bad Things is a song
about being stuck and looking for a way to escape by any means necessary and Rodent is about being so low and not
caring anymore and comparing yourself to a rat that lives in a wall.
The next track Where
Your Heartache Exists is a great example of Barnetts vocal range singings
smoothly until towards the middle when it becomes rough, showing desperation in
the song. Following this the album picks up the pace again with the excellent My Friend Kyle. This is a song about a
friends who has died and talks about him being in a better place and not
forgetting about him.
The Talk comes in
at track number seven is one of the punchier songs on Rented World. A song
about a break up with short lined verses and finishes the angry shouting of “I’m
Not Like You!” which is sure to be huge with a live crowd. Nothing Feels Good Anymore is another mid tempo passionate track
about a struggling to get over a break up.
Another stand out track is In Remission. It’s a bouncy rough around the edges song with a
massive chorus . The lyric “If Everyone Needs A Crutch Then I Need A Wheelchair”
is classic Menzingers song writing.
Rented World closes with the acoustic When You Died. This is a bruising and emotional song about
struggling with the loss of a loved one. The chorus is one of the saddest I’ve
ever heard. It goes “Where Do People Go When They Die? How Dow You Keep Them
Alive? How Do You Make Sure That Something Like This Won’t Ever Happen Again?
Not To Any Other Friends.”
Overall Rented World is yet another strong release from The
Menzingers. With every album they somehow manage to make it sound different to
the last release without straying from their “sound.” This is a sign of a truly
brilliant band.
Now Listening To: I Don't Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore by The Menzingers
Recently I have been listening to Me First and the Gimme
Gimmes new album Are We Not Men? We Are Diva! For those who don’t know Me First
and the Gimme Gimmes are a punk rock supergroup consisting of Spike Slawson
(formerly of the Swingin’ Utters), Fat Mike (NOFX), Christ Shiflett (Foo
Fighters), Joey Cape and Dave Raun (both of Lagwagon) who only play cover
songs. This has got me thinking about who I would have in my dream fantasy
band.
The first thing I had to think about is what kind of band it
would be. Obviously different musicans are better at a certain style, for
instance if I was going for a ska punk band I might go for the Aaron Barrett of
Reel Big Fish on vocals but if it was a street punk band I’d definitely go for
Mike McColgan of the Street Dogs. I’ve decided to go with a straight up punk
rock band featuring a singer, a lead and rhythm guitarist, a bass player and a
drummer.
Every great band has a great drummer. In the punk rock world
there are many great drummers, you have the obvious choices like Travis Barker
of Blink 182 and Tre Cool of Green Day. Then you have more underground choices
like Warren Oakes (formerly of Against Me!) and George Rebelo from Hot Water
Music and more recently The Bouncing Souls. My choice though is Bill Stevenson from The Descendents,
All, Black Flag and Only Crime. His drumming style has been a blue print for
many bands and the likes of Dave Grohl and Josh Freese have cited him as an
inspiration. As well as drumming for all of those incredible bands he also
serves as a producer at his Blasting Room Studios in Colorado and has help make
albums for the biggest names in punk rock.
If any member of a band can go unnoticed it is usually the
bass player. The bass player often lays down the beat and rhythm of a song and
even though they may go unnoticed by the fans they are a vital cog in any
successful live band. Some of the contenders bass player in my band were Ken
Casey from Dropkick Murphys, Mike Herrera from MXPX and Jay Bentley of Bad
Religion. To be honest know this was a bit of a no-brainer. It had to be Matt Freeman of Rancid and Operation
Ivy. For me he is not only the best bass player in punk rock but the best bass
player ever. His solo in Rancids song Maxwell Murder is one of the greatest I’ve
ever heard, it amazes me how anyone can play an instrument so well. He can also
play in any style of band, whether it be a straight forward punk band, ska or
Oi! or even psychobilly, he plays upright bass and sings in the band Devils
Brigade.
I’m going for two guitarists in my band. Lead and rhythm.
The job of a rhythm guitarist is to provide a pulse in time with the singer and
other instrumentalists and to provide the harmony. The job of a lead guitarist
is to play the melody lines and do the fills and guitar solos. My choices are
both skilled enough to do both so it doesn’t really matter who does what in my
band. I could have picked two of a lot of different guitar players. Notable
expections are Lard Frederiksen of Rancid, El Hefe of NOFX and Pete Steinkopf
of The Bouncing Souls. My choices for guitars are however James Bowman of Against Me! and Marc ‘The Kid’ Orrell formerly of Dropkick Murphys. The biggest
reason I picked Orrell was for his live performances. He is one of the most
energetic performers I’ve ever seen but wherever he is throwing himself he
still manages to keep playing perfectly. I think that James Bowman underrated
guitar players in the punk scene. Often overlooked for Against Me! front woman Laura
Jane Grace I think that Bowman is the heart and soul of that band. He also has
a really powerful voice and is excellent for backing vocals.
Now for the lead singer; I personally prefer a singer that
doesn’t play an instrument, especially for live performances. Not having to
stay behind a microphone stand enables the bands front person to interact with
the crowd a lot more, which is a massive part of a good live performance. Some
of my favourite singers are Roger Lima from Less Than Jake, Sweeney Todd of The
Dead Pets and Wil Wagner from The Smith Street Band. My number one pick for
lead singer is Jason DeVore from
Arizona punk band Authority Zero. I really love his voice, its one of the most
versatile around. He can sing punk and reggae styles with ease. I was so
impressed when I saw Authority Zero live, it was at the end of a very long tour
for them, DeVore’s voice must have been hurting but I still sung his songs
exactly how they sound of record. That amazed me and made him shoot to the top
of my list for great punk singers.
Recently I’ve been reading a lot about various venues
closing down. Recently The Peel in Kingston as closed its doors and The
Boileroom in Guildford is currently under threat. One of my local venues, The
Twist has opened and closed more times than I can remember. If more and more
close down it’s very bad for the underground music scene whatever the genre. A
venue is just as important as a band itself in keeping a scene going. Without a
venue a band can’t play and without bands there is no need for the venues
themselves. We have to keep as many venues open so all the bands have somewhere
to play to their fans. I’m going to start writing about all the different
venues I’ve been to other the years to help promote them.
The first venue I’m going to write about is the venue I have
visited the most time, twenty-two times infact, it’s the Camden Underworld. Situated
beneath The Worlds End pub (featured in the Simon Pegg film of the same name).
The Underworld is often compared too much bigger venues such as the Brixton Academy
despite only having a capacity of about 500 people. It’s situated just across
the road from the Camden Town underground station. A big reason of why I like
it is its ease to find. It has put on gigs for punk rock goliaths such as Bad
Religion, Dropkick Murphys and The Offspring as well as acts such as Radiohead,
The Foo Fighters, Fall Out Boy and The Smashing Pumpkins though it mostly puts
on gigs from up and coming bands.
Whenever I’ve been to the Underworld, whether I’ve been with
people or by myself I’ve always felt a sense of belonging. Where at some venues
I’ve felt somewhat out of place I’ve never ever had that feeling at the
Underworld. All of the staff are super friendly; the security team especially
are among the nicest I’ve come across in my gig going adventures. They’re not
really needed at the Underworld. In my twenty two gigs at the Underworld I’ve
only seen trouble once, that was only a minor scuffle with an over enthusiastic
stage diver and was dealt with so quickly and efficiently I think only a few
people even noticed it.
The main room itself is a good size with the stage places in
one corner which allows a more floor room. It’s a small stage and its quite
amusing watching some of the bigger bands try and fit on it but it works. There
is raised area around the stage where people not wanting to have a dance can
stand and get a good view of the stage but to be honest you can get a good view
of the stage from most points on the floor. The only drawback is a huge pillar
in the middle of the floor which can block your view. That pillar is often used
my bands to get the crowd to circle pit around it so it has a use other than
holding the ceiling up.
One thing that has always impressed me with the Underworld
is how well run the nights are. You would imagine that trying to organise
sometimes upto nine bands in a day would be besieged with problems. Getting
everyone on and off in their allotted time slots must be incredibly difficult.
The soundmen have to make sure every member of the bands instrument is sounding
exactly how they like it. Luckily most of the smaller bands would be easy to
work with, if they come across as hard work venues will not want to work with
them very often and word will spread of their difficultness. I can’t remember a
single Underworld gig I’ve been to where the bands have been late on or the
sound has been noticeably off. Kudos to the staff for that.
The Underworld is a fantastic venue and long may it continue
to put on great gigs night after night.
Now Listening To: Should I Stay or Should I Go by The Clash
The purpose of my “introducing” blogs is to direct people to
new up and coming bands, this despite being only my second one will be slightly
different. This blog is more of a spotlight on rather than an introducing. The
spotlight is on Minneapolis punk rockers Off With Their Heads.
I’ve been going through a bit of a rubbish time lately and
Off With Their Heads make perfect music for me to escape with, but more about
that later, first a bit of background on the band. Like I mentioned earlier Off With Their Heads
formed in 2002 in Minneapolis. In that time they have released multiple albums
and EPs on labels such as No Idea Records, Chunksaah Records and their current
home, the mighty Epitaph Records. Since forming the band has always had a
rotating cast of musicians with lead singer and guitarist Ryan Young being the
only constant. Young has stated in interviews before that this has been good
for the band as it has prevented touring life becoming stale and different
people and personalities coming in and out has kept things fresh. Their style
is often described as gruff punk rock and melodic hardcore. I also think that
there is an element of pop punk in the music.
For me what make’s Off With Their Heads stand out above of
their contemporaries is Ryan Young’s lyrics. For me he is the best lyricist not
just in punk rock but in the whole world of music. Sure he’s lyrics can be
incredibly dark but whatever the subject matter of the song they hit the nail
on the head perfectly. The great thing about them is no matter how dark the
lyrics may be (I Know I’m Sick and I’m
Not Right, I’m So Fucking Tired Of Living This Life) the songs are
incredibly uplifting. I’ve only had the pleasure of seeing them live once. The
night before I had had a terrible night and was feeling so low. I nearly didn’t
go to the gig but I forced myself along and it definitely sorted me out. It was
like a night of therapy. I night of very loud, very sweaty therapy but I came
out feeling like a tonne of weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.
Almost every single one of their songs has some amazing
lyrics in them. The song Drive which is a song about being depressed and
struggling to find a reason to get by (I’m
Not Alive, I’m Just As Good As Dead, I Can’t Find A Reason Why I Should Even
Get Outta Bed) and wanting to get away from everything (So I Just Drive, It Doesn’t Matter Where, I
Put My Foot To The Floor and Let The Wind Blow Through My Hair).
The song Their Own Medicine is about being bullied and
having the courage to stand up for yourself. The verse that goes “For All The Weak and For All The Poor, For All The Tortured Who Can’t
Take Anymore, Don’t Let Them Get The Best Of You, Sometimes The Only Thing You
Can Do, Is Wait Until You Cross Paths Again, You’ll Be In A Position To Make It
All End, You’ve Been Dreaming About It All This Time, And It Will No More
Affect Your Life” will resonate with anybody that has been a victim of
bullying. Being bullied can affect you for a long time and you dream of being
able to get closure.
The songs Clear The Air and Nightlife both serve as cries
for help. Clear The Air features the lyrics “I
Wanted To Tell You, I Wanted To Share, Some Important Details That You’re
Unaware, I Want You To Listen, I Want You To Care, I’ll Choke To Death If I
Don’t Clear The Air” and Nightlife has the lyrics “Don’t Want To Be Like This, Anxious and Angry Or Hopeless and Upset
All Of The Time, Unable To Get Back The Feeling I Lost Somewhere Along The
Line, I Wear It On My Sleeve and Everyone Sees No Matter How Hard I Try, I’ve
Never Felt Worse In My Whole Life” are both lyrics that can strike a chord
with anybody who has ever felt down and alone.
Finally I want to talk about the song Shirts. This is the
song that inspired me to right this blog in the first place. Very recently I
have been going through a difficult patch and have been seriously down. I was
at work at the song came on my iPod and the lyrics “I Don’t Feel Like Me, Whoever That’s Supposed To Be, I’m Different
Person Every Time I Come Home” really made me wake up and want to get back
to being the real cheerful, fun, charming man with beautiful blue eyes I am
rather than the miserable, moody, grumpy idiot I had turned myself into.
I find Off With Their Heads To Be wonderfully therapeutic.
Whenever times get tough I can just pick out any one of their songs, crank my
speakers up to eleven and shout along. I think not only are Off With Their
Heads one of the best of the current group of punk bands but also one of the
most important.
Now listening to: Seek Advise Elsewhere by Off With Their Heads
On Sunday the 25th of May Slam Dunk Festival did
its annual invasion of Hatfield University. Slam Dunk Festival is a punk and
metal festival that happens every year on the second May bank holiday weekend.
It started out just in Leeds but over the years has expanded to Hatfield and
Wolverhampton. This was my second year going and after last years I was beyond
excited for this year’s festival. The line up was one of the strongest I had
ever seen at a UK festival. No line-up will ever be stronger than The Fest’s in
Gainesville Florida. I wanted to see nineteen different acts this year. They
were The All American Rejects, Motion City Soundtrack, The Skints, Less Than
Jake, The Ataris, Capdown, Zebrahead, I Am The Avalanche, Gnarwolves, Jesse
James, Fandangle, Real Friends, Neck Deep, A Loss For Words, Modern Baseball,
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Vinnie Caruana, Chas Palmer Williams and Rob Lynch.
Obviously there was no way I could see all of those fantastic acts in one day
so some hard decisions would have to be made.
At the start of the day I met up with my friends Smurf,
Scouse, Moles, Emily, Charlie and Marilyn before setting off to Hatfield. I was
in Scouse’s car with Smurf whilst the others were in Moles car. It was great to
hang out with Smurf and Scouse; they are two of my closest friends and had been
easily over a year since I’d spent any proper time with them.
The first band up for me was Camberley’s recently reunited
ska punk heroes Fandangle. This was one of two bands I was especially excited
to see as they split up before I got to see them the first time round and never
expected to get the chance to see them live. Moles, Scouse and Smurf all came
with me to see them I have to say it had been a while since I had been so
excited to see a band. I’m sure not a whole lot of the crowd really knew much
about them but Fandangle certainly won them over in a quick fashion. This was a
fantastic start to the day.
The second band of the day was the band I was the other band
I was especially excited to see, it was Jesse James. Jesse James were one of
the first underground bands I loved when I first began to properly get into
punk and ska music and their first album Punk Soul Brothers is one of my all
time favourites. When they were announced as playing the festival I actually
let out a little girly scream out of excitement. I had never even contemplated
Jesse James playing any shows again. The time came but sadly the crowd was a
bit small. Smurf, Moles and Scouse hung about to see what I was so excited
about but sadly didn’t get into it quite like I did. I started a little skank
on my own at the front as soon as Jesse James started playing. Eventually the
boys decided they would go and see what else is happening throughout the
festival. I didn’t care too much as I was having a great time. I looked around
behind me to see a dozen or so people, mostly older people were also having a
good skank and had massive grins on their face. The song Shoes drew the biggest
reaction from the crowd; the video for this song had received television play
on the old p-rock channel. This was nostalgia at its finest, even if the rest
of the day was a bust I as on cloud nine, I had just seen some of my childhood
heroes.
After Jesse James finished and briefly chatting to one of
the other Jesse James skankees (may have made that word up) I went to find
Moles and get some food. I tried for a while to ring him but was hard to get
through, when I did eventually get hold of him and try and arrange a meeting
place I bumped into my friend Sam. I say bumped into what actually happened was
I walked straight past her and stopped when I heard someone shout Colin. In my
defence this was my first ever time meeting her in person. After briefly saying
hello I eventually found Moles and along with Charlie, Emily and Marilyn we got
some food.
After some not very well cooked chicken Moles, Charlie and I
wondered over to the main stage to see some of The Skints set. The Skints were
a late but very welcome addition to the main stage. Their ska reggae style is
the perfect soundtrack to a beautiful summer’s day and today, like everyone
other time I’ve seen them they did not disappoint. Today they treated the crowd
at the main stage with a selection of brand new songs mixed in with some old
classics. The latest single “The Cost Of Living Is Killing Me” especially sounded
fantastic in a live setting.
Sadly Moles and I had to cut seeing The Skints short to go
and see Gnarwolves. If you have read by blog where I talk about Gnarwolves
you’ll know how much love I have for this band. This would be my first time
seeing them in a little while. I was supposed to once already this year but
couldn’t get there because trains were all messed up. When Moles and I got back
into the room they were playing in we were amazed by the size of the crowd;
Gnarwolves have become so incredibly popular in the past eighteen months since
I first saw them. Gnarwolves began their set and the crowd went absolutely
crazy. This was definitely the rowdiest crowd of the day so far. Like The
Skints before them their set was mixed with new songs and fan favourites. I
don’t like to say classics because they are not really old songs. The new songs
sounded fantastic and they give me very high hopes for their debut album.
Hopefully it will be out very soon!
Gnarwolves finished and Moles and I went out to one of the
smaller outside stages where we met up with Marilyn and Charlie to watch MC
Lars. MC Lars is a veteran of Slam Dunk and was playing his fourth one in a
row. I was surprised he was on such a small stage as the previous year he had
had a pretty sizeable crowd on one of the bigger stages. This didn’t affect his
performance though and gave a highly entertaining show featuring all of his
laptop rap hits. The biggest highlight for me was his ode to ska punk This
Gigantic Robot Kills.
After MC Lars we went back indoors for Orange County’s
finest Zebrahead. Scouse and Smurf were due to meet us there but we couldn’t
find them and couldn’t get through on our phones due to bad signal. I knew they
were in the room somewhere so made sure I kept an eye out for them. As per
normal Zebrahead came out to the Team American theme – American Fuck Yeah which
drew a massive sing along from the room before launching into Sirens and then
one of my favourites Hell Yeah! Something seemed off with Zebrahead today
though; due to illness lead singer Matty’s voice wasn’t its best. This didn’t
matter to us though, as the energy and enthusiasm Zebrahead are known for was
oozing out of them in abundance. For the song Postcards From Hell they got the
crowd to sit down ready to jump up when the song kicks in. Due to the lack of
room I ended up sitting on a friendly mans lap. Only at a punk show would this
be acceptable behaviour. Soon Zebrahead opened up the biggest circle pit of the
day. I’m not really one for circle pits; I don’t really see the fun of running
round in a circle. I stood back as the people ran past me, Moles had gotten
very excited and jumped in and was running round, then all of a sudden I saw
Smurf and Scouse go charging past me. Without a second thought I jumped in to
say hello. Finding two of your best friends in the middle of a circle pit is
officially the best way to meet people. I found the circle pit itself good fun
as well and I sort of understand why people do now, you get quite a buzz from
it. The rest of Zebraheads set flew by as I skanked, moshed and sung as loud as
I possibly could with my boys. Zebrahead finished like they always do with
Anthem, by this time Moles had made his way back to Charlie and Marilyn. As an
outro I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston, without thought Scouse, Smurf
and I had a big hug together. This was my highlight of the whole day, the only
way it would have been better would have been if Moles was there with us.
Up next was another blast from the past from the UK ska punk
scene, the kings of skacore – Capdown. Capdown were another band I never
expected to see again after seeing them at was supposed to be their last ever
show at Koko In 2011. Marilyn and Charlie wondered off to see someone else
whilst the rest of us stayed to see Capdown. Capdown played through a couple of
songs and I was thinking how much more aggressive they seemed tonight than they
did a couple of years ago. Scouse and Smurf decided to go see another band so
it was just Moles and I left. Capdown ripped through another set filled with
nostalgia for the ska kids of Hatfield. I had spent the set watching from the
sidelines as I was exhausted from Zebraheads set. Then as soon as my favourite
Capdown song Ska Wars came on I found myself skanking along in the pit. This
wasn’t the best set of the day but it was pretty damn good.
When the first wave of bands were announced for Slam Dunk
one of the stand out bands was 90’s ska punk legends Goldfinger. I was super
excited to see Goldfinger because I had never had the chance before. Sadly a
few weeks before the festival they had to pull out due to one of their members
needing an operation. I was gutted. The Ataris were announced as a replacement
and despite being an Ataris fan I was left feeling slightly underwhelmed. Despite
feeling underwhelmed by their announcement I still went along to see them,
mostly because they were the only band I wanted to see at that time of the day.
I talked Charlie into coming to see them as well as I thought he would like
them. We took out place in the crowd and I noticed by friend Sam who I had
bumped into briefly earlier in the day stood next to us, I quickly said hello
as the music started. To my delight The Ataris played a set mostly comprised of
songs from fan favourite album So Long Astoria. They played well and I was surprised
at just how well I remembered the words to most of the songs. For me it was an
enjoyable set but not really a stand out one.
Now it was time for the headline act, my favourite band on
the planet – Less Than Jake! Everyone had left me at this point to go and see
the other headline acts on the other stages. I wasn’t too worried by this though;
I’m too used to seeing bands by myself. I was absolutely shattered by this
point of the day; I had been standing and dancing for close to ten hour. I
decided to stay back and just watch the show rather than get too involved with
the crowd. This lasted for about five songs when they started playing All My
Best Friends Are Metalheads and the next thing I knew I was skanking in the
middle of the pit. I stayed here for the rest of their set (which lasted
another hour, another fantastic hour) and did not care just how knackered I
was. I was having the best time, dancing with random strangers, hugging and
high fiving everyone and singing along to every word. There is no other way to
finish a festival but to go and party with Less Than Jake.
The festival was finished and I was a sweaty mess. It had
been a great day, I had seen some of my favourite bands but my biggest memories
of the day will definitely be the time spent with some of my best friends.
