Music from memory: Q1 2024
Music from memory, winter into spring. These first few months have leant towards nights as social events, as a scene can be I suppose; your months may vary, and I’d love to heard your favourite (or worst, why not) gig: send me your newsletter link or give me a shout on the socials. Might do this every three months, so buckle up. Earplugs in:
@thepunkpaper I love rock music. Catastrophe, Bird’s Nest (Deptford), 20/01/2024 #punk #hardcore #livemusic #catastrophe #anarchopunk #londonpunk ♬ original sound – Another Subculture
20/01/2024
STINGRAY, RETURN FIRE, CATASTROPHE, NARKOTIK, SECOND DEATH, MALIGNANT ORDER Birds Nest SE8, 7-11pm, FREE.
After the customary post-Christmas lull and a couple of weeks on what I keep calling ‘the blue beers’, the first trip to Deptford in a little while for a cheeky M&D and bands with unfamiliar names. The Nest remains what you imagine a punk bar has always looked like and the music is perhaps proof that there’s some innovation brewing in anarcho these days… at least, it seems like everyone is taking their bootleg T-shirts to heart in these terrible times and trying to deliver something with bite. Which meant that CATASTROPHE were fucking fantastic, best of the lot and with a tape out this month, statements delivered in barks and treble turned up too high. NARKOTIK and RETURN FIRE both came from up north and reminded me to find Saccharine Trust on the algos on the bus home, STINGRAY got a reliable mosh, all in all a good start.
26/01/2024
CAN KICKER, THE PINCH, SANCTUARY OF PRAISE, SHADE George Tavern E1, 8-11pm, £8.80adv.
SHADE are a new band formed of familiar faces from the Power Lunches staircase of hell; they make a big stomp and are decidedly Punk and should record a demo soon. The rest of this evening melted into one, not least because I ended up chatting about birdwatching in the smoking zone. Did you see the meme where someone mocked up the George into a Wetherspoons?
03/02/2024
VAERMINA, CUCKO SPIT, WILDWOOD DADDY, SNIFFANY AND THE NITS, BODY HORROR, MIDDLEMAN AMP Studios SE15, 6pm-12am, £7.50adv. Launch for A Music Magazine.
Guaranteed turnout from me: launch a magazine, put a gig on for it. A Music Magazine is worth finding a copy of – it buzzes with the Now of whatever this music is, had bands I knew (Middleman, Powerplant) and ones I didn’t, and a timely long chat with Mo’min Swaitat of the Palestinian Sound Archive too. (No idea where you can grab a copy at this point, so search them up, maybe try Maggot Death?) This launch was worth the trip as well to see flyers and photos from the likes of Karim Newble, Maura Saltillo and others whose gnarly works you will have seen if you’ve waited for a wee at New River. Music was a nice mixture, although I definitely lost track of the running order and ended up tagging BODY HORROR with footage of an altogether different group – sorry about that if you’re reading? One thing to consider, although I appreciate the venue was blagged for Independent Venue Week, so fair play there: it would be preferred to put nights on at places where you aren’t required to be patted down (“mate, it’s just all paper!”), but increasingly it’s what you have to do. Didn’t help that DIY Space was around the corner, mind you…
07/02/2024
THE TUBS, FINDOM, GRAZIA Shacklewell Arms E8, 8-11pm, £11adv.
Massive by Christmas. A mate explained to me before this night that he enjoys the Tubs over any other Gob Nation enterprise is that there’s a layer of folk appreciation somewhere amongst the jangle, and having recently seen The Vaselines too where that deadpan combination is what makes those two special, I can see where he’s coming from. What is noted here is that the Shacklewell absolutely heaved and it should be mandatory for Romeo Taylor (newly installed on drums) to have a microphone turned on at all times. FINDOM still hold the crown of writing the best anti-Tory anthem this side of ‘House of Jealous Lovers’, while GRAZIA sprung into joyous punk on their debut with their live band – top New Wave seven out now, you gotta find one.
@thepunkpaper Grazia, first gig, a punk band! #grazia #punk #feelit #shacklewellarms #livemusic ♬ original sound – Another Subculture
09/02/2024
CATHOLIC BLOCK, VANITY CRYSTAL, SHEREEN ELIZABETH, RED LADY New River Studios N4, 7:30-11pm, £8otd.
Shereen had been planning this, a night celebrating solo punkers’ ventures, for a while and I was thrilled that it was a success. The most relaxing night at New River in years.
17/02/2024
KENO, MOIST CREVICE, RUBBER, CATHOLIC BLOCK; NIGHT IN ATHENS Paper Dress Vintage E8, 7:30-late, £6-10adv.
Played this one. Took a photo of the crowd like Nick Zinner, why not. Here it is:
29/02/2024
DAMAGE IS DONE: FAIRYTALE, TAKE IT IN BLOOD, BULLS SHIT, SUBDUED, IKHRAS, VIOLENT OFFENCE New River Studios N4,7-11pm, £13.20adv. Weekend tickets SOLD OUT.
People watching during any festival, especially anything that serves a niche or a subculture, is a hoot – wondered if Damage is Done has reached the level of punk weekender where people travel in, get the best germs and Garys sorted and piles right in. Getting there and FRAMTID the hot ticket helps, but that’s on Saturday. Thursday was the classic bedding in and a celebration of whatever we’re calling the New Wave of New Wave. Catching up with mates meant missing BULLS SHITT which I’ve been told was a foolish mistake. The Quietus punk column said that IKHRAS have “a shipping container of riffs” and, yes, correct. SUBDUED, again, anarcho to the fore and getting better every time, and then FAIRYTALE bludgeoned everyone with euphoric mad drumming and stomping noise. Temptation to stick around always tempered by the ninety minute commute home, but there’s always Saturday…
01/03/2024
DAMAGE IS DONE: FRAMTID, QUARANTINE, MAZANDARAN, THE FLEX, DESORDEN, STINGRAY, ECHO CHAMBER, THE ANNIHILATED, HELLSCAPE, CATASTROPHE Colour Factory E9, 3-11pm, SOLD OUT.
Time Out’s favourite club in the city, and it’s hosting this lot? Wondered about how it would work and although you have the bottlenecks between a set ending and a thousand people deciding to go for a vape or a pint all at the same time (a rhythm that doesn’t really bother you in a club setting, everyone just drifts and it works), it worked quite well with the commanding stage and QR codes for hog roasts. What I did appreciate, a recurring theme, is the insistence on activist spaces sharing time with the fruits of Vinosangre’s labour in the merch stands – Palestine Action, hunt saboteurs and anti-sweatshop campaigns like No Sweat were present amongst other good causes that are probably on Gove’s extremist list by time of press. Oh yeah, FRAMTID. Never seen a crowd so pent up, swirling to thrashing noise not music with such glee. Watched the whole thing from the balcony and seeing the band shred and the audience go for it as once was an absolute treat. I must work out how to recreate that guitar sound. Thought THE ANNIHILATED were on top form too, and my respect has to go out to the guy with the long hair and the rugby gum shield tactfully placed into permission before belting into the pit.
@thepunkpaper A hero’s welcome pit during The Annihilated at Damage is Done IV #punk #hardcore #deathtocapitalisthardcore #annihilated #moshpit #punkpit ♬ original sound – Another Subculture
09/03/2024
SHOOTING DAGGERS, SPLIT DOGS, GIRLS LIKE US, GROSS MISCONDUCT, ES, CAUTION ELDERLY PEOPLE, LIV WYNTER; FILM: ‘NI SCENE KAMI JUGA’ Old Spotted Dog, Clapton CFC E7 1-10pm, £7-10adv.
A welcome development, not least because they are not quite pubs but still carry the potential and soft furnishings of a function room, is the gig at the football ground. Dulwich Hamlet down south have put some top nights on over the past couple of years (yes, including mine) but up in Forest Gate the function room of the Old Spotted Dog, home of Clapton CFC, feels especially like a tight fit with the combination of punk ultras who are part of the community with a welcoming, refurbished space which will make you a cup of tea or sell you a can of Thatcher’s (Dead) cider for not much more than the shop. This all dryer was in aid of young mums in Newham, there was a barbecue and they let a bunch of flares off when dusk came and everything – my favourite atmosphere of any gig this year. Music: CAUTION ELDERLY PEOPLE are playing all over the place and sound giant (songs about fucking up bigots and being wary of geese); was great to finally see LIV WYNTER who was working up material to rile up the anticipated centrist dad audience at their biggest show to date; GROSS MISCONDUCT are the scene’s answer to MAGAZINE and possibly HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT and that is tremendous.
15/03/2024
ZEROPOLIS, HYGIENE, JOHNNY THROTTLE, TURBO; DJ GEMA New River Studios N4, 7:30-11pm, £8adv/£10otd. 14+.
I spent most of the night catching up on gossip and wondering whether to play Puzzle Bobble, but HYGIENE played a THIN LIZZY cover into ‘29 Bus’, so a trip well made.
As printed in Another Subculture’s April 2024 issue; get the latest paper by subscribing.