Rezillos / Johnny Seven / Death To Indie.
Westgarth Social Club.
16.12.16.
Every year I drive hundreds of miles to watch gigs so I’m
not sure why this is only my 4th visit to the Westgarth which is,
after all, only 20 miles from where I live. I’ve decided to put that right in
2017 and prioritise Westgarth gigs over others (unless it’s Buzzcocks). Why?
Because it’s a great venue that puts on great gigs that are promoted by great
people.
Tonight I arrive with my daughter (who is wisely realising
that there is more to music than X-Factor) at 5pm having said I’ll help out
with any pre gig work that might need to be done. By this time the Rezillos are
already here and all the loading in has been done so the only useful thing I do
is drive to the local supermarket to buy a can of hairspray for Eugene Reynolds
and some lightbulbs for the merch stall.
We hang around for a bit. Death to Indie arrive followed by
Johnny Seven. There’s a bit of drum and guitar sound-checking so we head to
Akbars for a rather delicious curry.
We return to watch Death To Indie. If you haven’t seen them
before then do so soon. A great combination of punk and pop that’s delivered
with attitude and a real enthusiasm that’s infectious. Look them up – plenty of
tunes on YouTube, SoundCloud and bandcamp. They work hard, they deserve to be
bigger.
Johnny Seven don’t disappoint. Teesside band, formed in
1978, split in 1980 they reformed 31 years later to support …. The Rezillos. There’s
a fair few people here to see them and they go down well. Melodic punk rock
with some obvious influences (The Clash). I’ll admit it’s only the second time
I’ve seen them but I’ll make sure I see them again. Based on tonight’s
performance they have at least one new fan. After taking a few photos I turn
round to see my daughter clapping her hands, tapping her feet and having a
right good bop. The whole of their set tonight can be seen on YouTube. Take a
look. Good stuff. They’re back at the Westgarth supporting The Godfathers on
February 9th. Definitely a gig where it’ll be worth arriving in time
to catch the support bands.
The Rezillos start with guitarist Jim Brady telling us all
“what a fucking shit year 2016 has been” then asking if there’s anyone under 18
in the crowd. I point to my daughter. He makes the point again. He’s right. For
a lot of reasons it has.
This is the third time I’ve seen them in 12 months. The last
time was at Butlins Alternative Music Festival back in October where they were
one of the highlights of the weekend. They never fail to entertain. From opening
song ‘I Can’t Stand My Baby’ you know it’s going to be a good night. This is a
band enjoying themselves. Fantastic chemistry on stage. Fay Fife shakes and
moves like a 60’s pop icon – exaggerate the dance moves from programmes such as
Ready Steady Go and you’ll get the picture. Eugene Reynolds in his leopard skin
patterned jacket, ripped t shirt, orange trousers and trademark wrap around
shades looks little different from those first performances on Top Of The Pops
38 years ago.
Drink 20 cups of strong coffee in half an hour and I imagine you’d probably feel and perform like guitarist Jim Brady does tonight. A perfect accompaniment to Fife and Reynolds the three of them front of stage means you’d never be bored watching this band even if you’d never heard a single song they’d ever done. And throughout it all bassist Chris Agnew and drummer Angel Patterson keep the infectious rhythm beating along.
As for their set list it’s the perfect mix of songs from past and present. First album Can’t Stand The Rezillos is well represented. Songs you’d instantly recognise even if you didn’t know the band – Top Of The Pops, Destination Venus to name just two.
Drink 20 cups of strong coffee in half an hour and I imagine you’d probably feel and perform like guitarist Jim Brady does tonight. A perfect accompaniment to Fife and Reynolds the three of them front of stage means you’d never be bored watching this band even if you’d never heard a single song they’d ever done. And throughout it all bassist Chris Agnew and drummer Angel Patterson keep the infectious rhythm beating along.
As for their set list it’s the perfect mix of songs from past and present. First album Can’t Stand The Rezillos is well represented. Songs you’d instantly recognise even if you didn’t know the band – Top Of The Pops, Destination Venus to name just two.
Getting Me Down, Mystery Action, No, It Get’s Me, My Baby
Does Good Sculptures all keep our feet dancing, arms shaking and vocal chords
singing along. Glad All Over needs to be started again after some timing
issues. No 20 000 Rezillos Under The Sea tonight which is a shame but it’s
absence does not take anything away from the gig.
Songs from their new, excellent, album Zero (2015) fit perfectly
into the set. Take Me To The Groovy Room, Zero, Life’s A Bitch.
They finish with Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In
Tonight. Last year, at this venue, this left Fay Fife with a broken tooth after
a too close encounter with an enthusiastic crowd. Thankfully tonight no such
thing happens.
Too many bands from ‘back then’ now rely on their old,
‘classic’, crowd pleasing songs when they play live. Not so the Rezillos. The
Rezillos are as good now as they have always been. It’s not just music for old
punks. It’s music for today and it’s still relevant. My daughter is 13. She
summed up the Rezillos as follows – “Fun, poppy, bonkers, great to dance to and
very, very entertaining”. She loves her Rezillos t shirt, her signed flyer and
photo she had taken with Eugene (did I mention that they are also really nice
people?). Perhaps if we all took our youngsters to gigs such as this the songs
and music would continue to have a (bigger) audience and more and more youngsters
would see just how crap and irrelevant shows such as X Factor really are.
The next day I post some photos to various Facebook pages
including TheRezillos and JimBrady. I get a message back apologising for the
bad language.
Rezillos play Brudenell Social Club, Leeds on 28.01.17.
Supported by Department S and Flies On You. Three great bands for £18.00. An
absolute bargain.
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| Death To Indie |
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| Johnny Seven |
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| Johnny Seven |
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| Rezillos |
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| Rezillos |
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| Rezillos |
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| Rezillos |
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| Rezillos |
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