Johnny Seven never disappoint. Formed in Teesside in ’78,
disbanded in ’80, reformed in 2011. Tonight there’s a decent crowd in to see
them and they treat us to some top punk rock ‘n’ roll. Johnny Seven play punk
you can dance to. Proper, tuneful punk that deserves the response it gets with
people singing along to ‘Shot Down’, ‘Can’t Escape Rock N Roll’ and ‘LSD’.
Johnny Seven are not a tired old punk band. They ooze energy. Dominic Green,
unable to stand still, bouncing round the small Westgarth stage, eyeballing the
punters whist delivering a class set of tunes. Johnny Baines and Pete Wilson
deliver slashing guitar riffs whilst Paul Ford &
Paddy
Muldowney hold it together with driving rhythms. There’s simply no let up as
they hammer out ‘LSD’, ‘Pumpin’ The Pomp’, the classic ‘Skinheads’ and more.
Catchy, ska tinged punk. Ending with a manic version of the Pistols ‘Bodies’ I
am, once again, glad I’ve seen this band.
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| Johnny Seven |
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| Johnny Seven |
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| Johnny Seven |
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| Johnny Seven |
Garage, punk, blues, rock? Blend them all
together and you pretty much get Fuzzy Vox, noise merchants from France who
tonight did their best to take the roof off the Westgarth. Energetic,
passionate, animated. It’s a matter of seconds before the rapidly swelling
crowd are irresistibly drawn nearer the stage by some fine infectiously raucous
beats. Frontman/vocalist/guitarist Hugo Fabri is all over the place. Leaping
around, on his knees, on top of the speakers, screaming out his vocals as he
hammers his guitar. Bassist Greg Dessons a master of the punk funk stance
whilst drummer Jeremy Norris is the only topic of conversation in the gents
afterwards –“How the fuck did he play like that with just 4 drums?” It’s
exhausting watching them. Sonically contagious, their set passes with the speed
at which they play and it’s over all too quickly. Look them up – ‘Told You
Before’, ‘I Want Drums’, ‘Explosion Of Love’ are all good places to start. Then
go and see them. You won’t be disappointed.
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| Fuzzy Vox |
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| Fuzzy Vox |
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| Fuzzy Vox |
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| Fuzzy Vox |
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| Fuzzy Vox |
The BellRays two recent releases are titled Punk Funk Rock Soul – Vol 1 and Vol 2.
Add in a bit of ‘Blues’ and you’ve got a perfect description of this powerhouse of a band. Opening with ‘Bad Reaction’ – a full on,
rocking number that showcases perfectly Lisa Kekaula’s furiously powerful
vocals. The BellRays are a hard hitting, kick-ass band who command your
attention. Loud, powerful, in your face, rockin’ tunes that, although the tempo
occasionally slows and calms a little – ‘I Can’t Hide’ - the energy and presence
never let’s go. Kekaula, together with Bob Vennum on guitar dominate the stage.
Huge riffs with some mean solo’s thrown in whilst Kekaula prowls the stage and,
at one point, strolls amongst the audience making sure that no one forgets they’re
witnessing something special. Despite their extensive back catalogue tonight’s
main set, with the exception of one song – ‘Infection’ – is drawn entirely from
just three releases. The previously mentioned Punk Funk Rock Soul Vols 1 and
2 and 2010’s Black Lightning. This is by no means a criticism. PFRS are both
superb. Full of slashing punk rock guitars (‘Mine All Mine’), heavy soul (‘I
Don’t Wanna Cry’), garage rock (‘Soul Girl’) to name just three from the ep
that is Vol 1. Both are played in full whilst ‘Power To Burn’, ‘Living A Lie’, ‘Everybody Get Up’ and ‘Black Lightning’ from Black Lightning are raw,
hard, aggressive, gritty, catchy numbers that make it impossible not to shake
your body. 19 high octane songs dominated by that voice. A voice that is
nothing less than wonderful. BellRays reviews consistently say things like ‘Aretha
Franklin fronts The Stooges’, ‘Tina Turner meets MC5’ and it’s impossible to
disagree. After leaving the stage for a
short breather they return to rip through a cover of ‘Johnny Be Good’ and that’s
it. It’s only March and I reckon this will be another gig in
my top five of 2018.
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| THE BELLRAYS |
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| THE BELLRAYS |
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| THE BELLRAYS |
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| THE BELLRAYS |
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| THE BELLRAYS |
can,t disagree with any of that
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