Re:place Radio Blog

Dear listeners,

The show goes on and so do the punk gig reviews. This time the action takes place in the realms of our very own Liverpool and not so very own Newcastle.

The Wasters (April 30th) in Heebie Jeebies, Liverpool
An intriguing act that I encountered not longer than a month ago, The Wasters quickly became my punk band of choice from the Liverpool area – and just at a time when I was ready to despair about the lack of pure and straight punk rock feeling in any music formation coming from Scouseland. On April 30th, the five lads took over the stage in the basement of Liverpool’s Heebie Jeebies, unfortunately for a performance to last no longer than 10 minutes due to technical problems. An earlier incident involving the present commentator’s glass and bottle of cider flying up in the air and splashing on the floor, after a miscalculated move on the side of The Wasters’ drummer (no bitter feelings, whatsoever), should have served as a warning about what’s to come. Whilst only emerging into their energy and anger-fuelled tracklist, involving the gem “Simple Life”, the boys and the crowd were unpleasantly surprised by a technical malfunctioning of Tommy C’s guitar. Whilst the mood dropped down, a few adjacent chairs did so as well as in an angry fit by the disappointed guitar player – and how do you call that but ‘rock’n’roll’? It’s all in the attitude and it did not let me down. Hopefully, next time it will be backed by their solid sound and inspiring performance as well. Until then, we can all relieve our feelings of anxiety and disappointment in current political matters by checking The Wasters’ legacy in songs like “No Room For The Working Class” and “Fuckin’ With The Government” (at http://www.myspace.com/thewastersmusic).

The Adicts (May 1st) in O2 Academy, Newcastle
Wow. The Adicts. Where do I even start from?! One of my all-time favourites, punk rock idols, stylish inspirations and addiction of choice (and what better of a name for them indeed!). Taking inspiration from the brilliant “Clockwork Orange”, originally written by Anthony Burgess, and later adopted to a renown screen-version by Stanley Kubrick, these boys have been rocking the punk scene in their white suits and black bowler hats for some 30 years now. Needless to say I was on the verge of losing my mind once the news about their mini-UK tour reached the internet space. The gig of choice took place in the upper floor space of Newcastle’s 02 Academy and the three and a half hour trip back and forth was worth it every single millisecond. Amidst the performance of some 20 (or more) classics and newbies, including the exceptional punk anthem “Viva La Revolution”, the clockwork punks also set in motion a hurricane of glitter, confetti, streamers, flying beach balls and what else not. Rumour has it that in the past they would even bring a real merry-go-round to the stage – just how genius is that? Instead of a merry-go-round, this time the boys decided to invite a bunch of enthusiastic fan girls whilst “Bad Girl” was permeating the music space – needless to say I was amongst the first ones to grace the stage area with my presence. Other highlights from the night included the appearance of Monkey, The Adicts’ voice and mime vision, in highly entertaining Elvis Presley outfit and sticky spray in hand, whose contents ended up entangled in my turquoise hair (surely the less pleasant part of the whole story). A band without age, first-class entertainers and above all exceptional musicians, The Adicts are one of these few treasures nowadays which unite music, attitude, image and fun all in one and shamelessly continue to cause chaos amidst fans old and new alike!