buzzcocksfan: January 2017

I’d been looking forward to this gig for weeks and weeks. Everything about it was right. Brudenell Social Club has to be one of the best venues in the country. Not just best small, independent venue but best venue full stop. Fantastic atmosphere, friendly staff, decent bar prices and wherever you stand you feel like you’re up close to the band you’ve come to see.

Tonight’s line up is perfect. Three top bands all of whom would be worth the ticket price on their own.

When we arrive most of Flies On You are sitting around as part of the crowd and at their allocated time simply stroll across the floor, up a mini step ladder, onto the stage, ask everyone to step closer and then launch into their opening number, 'Shipmanesque'. Banging drums and a thumping bass line and if you’d not seen them before tonight (I have) you’d be hooked immediately. Singer Doug Aikman needn’t have asked people to move forward, it just happens naturally once they’ve started and within minutes people are dancing.

Flies On You split their set fairly equally between their two albums, 'Nothing To Write Home About' and 'Etcetera'. It’s loud, it’s punk rock, it’s post punk, it’s pop music. The bass and the lead guitar get right under your skin and you can’t help moving your feet. Lyrics that stick in your brain and keep coming back to you.

‘Can You Smell That Burning Noise?’, ‘Slashing It Down’, ‘Swine Hero’ – If you like your bass lines to play a major role (think Stranglers and New Order), addictive, sometimes noisy, always catchy guitar lines and lyrics that reflect daily life - Big guys who work out, throw their weight about then cry like babies when they get a taste of their own medicine - then you can’t go wrong with this band.

35 minutes and twelve songs later they’ve finished. It’s a shame they couldn’t have been given a longer slot. It’s a pity they didn’t play ‘Action Stations’ and encourage everybody to sing along to “Bring down the government”. But you can’t have everything and this has been a great start to the night. Final song is ‘Josephine’ and the constant reminder that “You wouldn’t want a holiday in my head, well I wouldn’t want one in your head either”.

I’ve seen plenty of support bands who, although often very good, just cannot get a crowd moving. Despite their best efforts they receive polite applause after every song and that gap in front of the stage never gets smaller. Not so with Flies On You. There’s a decent crowd in to watch them, they hook the crowd in straight away, every song gets a really enthusiastic response, there’s people right up near the stage and there’s a lot of people dancing. As it should be.

Hopefully next time I see them there’ll be a third album to play.

Flies On You support Fischer Z at various venues around the country in April.

Flies On You albums and singles (some free) here.

FB page here,

Flies On You setlist

Flies On You

15 minutes to catch up with a mate I haven’t seen for a couple of months, make sure my daughter is OK, check my phone for messages about a couple of spare tickets I have and Department S are on stage.

Last year saw the release of a new album, 'When All Is Said And All Is Done' and it’s great to hear them play a decent number of songs from this rather than rely on their back catalogue. It’s an excellent album and deserves to be played live. Opening with 'Kings Of The World' the crowd are behind them from the start. Fast, catchy, indie, ‘post punk’, fresh yet immediately comforting to us old punks it fits (as do each of the songs from the new album) comfortably amongst the songs everyone knows.

In fact fast, catchy, indie etc etc could easily describe their whole set. This is also a band clearly enjoying themselves. Bassist Pete Jones and guitarist Phil Thompson never stop moving. In fact they’re bouncing. Tons of energy. Drummer Alex Lutes provides a stomping back beat. Meanwhile singer Eddie Roxy, smartly suited, rarely moves at all except to occasionally put his arm around another band member or gently tap his hand on his thigh. Very cool. Together it all works.

The set doesn’t let up. There isn’t a moment to slow down and catch your breath. An excellent cover of the Dead Boys ‘Sonic Reducer’ is greeted with much enthusiasm. Warm words are spoken about Pete Overend Watts, bassist with Mott The Hoople, who died recently. Co-producer of the first single by Department S, ‘Is Vic There?’ sounds better and better each time I hear it. They finish with the title track from the latest album. ‘When All Is Said And All Is Done’ is a perfect end to a set that’s too short. Try listening to this without jumping around, singing, humming. You just can’t. And to finish with it is genius as you can’t get it out of your head. The perfect ear worm.

Full set list in the photos.

Department S website here.

Department S Facebook here.

Department S setlist

Department S

Having seen The Rezillos three times in the last 5 months I’m convinced that they are bonkers. Brilliant, but bonkers. To a background of spacey, cyborg music they walk on stage as though gravity does not exist. All slow motion with arms and legs all over the place. In the dimmed lights your eyes are immediately drawn to guitarist Jim Brady and the small, but powerful red light dangling on his chest. A quick group ‘hands together’ and then they launch into ‘Can’t Stand My Baby’. We’ve already seen two great bands tonight. Now we’re witnessing a third. The Brudenell is full and the crowd are loving it. Brady, Fife and Reynolds own the stage. Swaggering, dancing, dashing from one side to the next, staring at the audience. At some points they’re almost in the audience. They move around so fast and with such enthusiasm it’s bloody hard to take a photograph and get them in focus. It's all held together perfectly by drummer Angel Patterson and bassist Chris Agnew. There’s some decent banter with a particularly enthusiastic member of the audience (I’m not sure the band noticed how many times said person spat on the stage though), an entertaining story about a broken guitar whilst on tour in Spain and a set list that would be hard to beat. Almost the same list of songs as when they played in Middlesbrough last month they’re not in the same order so nothing becomes predictable. And tonight they play ‘20 000 Rezillos Under The Sea’. This was missing in December. It sounds great. It also means Eugene Reynolds has to stand reasonably still right in front of me while he plays his sax. At least I get one photo that’s sharp.

As always it’s a decent mix of the old and the new although the focus is on the old. ‘Take Me To The Groovy Room’, ‘You’re So Deep’, ‘Zero’ and ‘Sorry About Tomorrow’ from latest album Zero and a great selection of crowd pleasers from days gone by. Set list is in the photos. By the time they leave the stage after ‘(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures’ they must be completely knackered. It’s exhausting just watching them. An encore of ‘Glad All Over’ followed by ‘Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight’ rounds off what has been a damn fine night of great entertainment.

I took my daughter to see the Rezillos in December. She summed them up as “Fun, poppy, bonkers, great to dance to and very, very entertaining”. I ask her what she thought of them tonight. Her reply, “Even better than Middlesbrough”.

The Rezillos website here.

The Rezillos Facebook here.