REJECTING THE EASY LIFE
GARY WELFORD JOINED HUNDREDS OF PUNK FANS AT THIS YEAR’S NORTH EAST CALLING FESTIVAL AT NORTHUMBRIA UNI IN NEWCASTLE
Punk’s heyday may have been in the late 1970s, but for a whole generation of fans it’s still the only music that matters.
That’s why hundreds from across the North East made the annual pilgrimage on Saturday to the all-dayer which began in 2005 as Durham Punk Festival.
The openers were Guitar Gangsters, a three-piece from London who, by their own admission “have done lots of stuff with lots of different people and still aren’t famous”.
They turned in an enjoyable half-hour set of songs like That’s When The Razor Cuts, Going To London and Turn The Tables, and the good news is they have a new album out soon.
They were followed by ***** Volcano and the Eruptions, a side project from the rudely-named Dirt Box Disco guitarist, where he takes the mic to sing songs like XR3, Sellotape, Hanging Round The Shops and DNA Failure.
Slaughter II are a threepiece featuring ex-Slaughter & The Dogs drummer Brian Grantham on drums, and they churned out a catchy brand of glampunk.
It was a surprise to hear singer Steve Lake say that anarcho-punks Zounds, from Reading, had never played Newcastle, and their set of oldies like Subvert went down well.
Midlanders Dirt Box Disco are one of the rising stars of the UK punk scene, and their appearance brought a noticeable increase in the size of the crowd.
Singer Weab.I.Am even wore a new onesie for the occasion, as they raced through a mini-set full of classics such as Burning, My Girlfriend’s Best Friend’s Sister and I Don’t Wanna Go Out With You.
Gimp Fist, from Bishop Auckland, are no strangers to North East Calling, having played just about every one, and they turned in a rousing set of fists-in-the-air street-punk. Their 40-minute set passed all too quickly.
Subhumans were the day’s biggest surprise. I decided years ago that the anarcho-punks from Wiltshire weren’t for me, but here, led by original vocalist Dick Lucas, they were on blistering form.
Next up were the punk equivalent of Marmite; Brighton’s Peter and The Test Tube Babies, and their frontman was in mischievous crowd-baiting mood from the start.
West London punky-reggae masters Ruts DC were next, blending classics like Staring At the Rude Boys and Babylon’s Burning with new songs like Kill The Pain.
Biker punks Anti-Nowhere League turned the anticipation up a few notches with a set which rolled back the years, including their cover of Ralph McTell’s Streets Of London, and its banned B-side So What. South Shields’ Angelic Upstarts celebrate their 40th anniversary this year, and singer Mensi performs as passionately as ever.
Oldies like Last Night Another Soldier still packed a powerful punch, as did the rarely-played England, and a stunning Solidarity.
That just left Cockney Rejects, who stepped in as headliners when The Exploited had to pull out. Singer Jeff Geggus said the band’s attitude is “play each show like it’s your last,” and they did just that, absolutely tearing through 16 songs in their allotted 45 minutes.
It was an exhausted, but happy crowd who left at the end, looking forward to doing it all again next year.
The band’s attitude is play each show like it’s your last