A Punk & Hardcore All-Dayer @ The Cockpit, Leeds:
Saturday, November 9th, 2002
- Photos from the event - Lowlife UK, Apocalypse Babys & The Swellbellys -
Good old Lowlife, stuck opening up for me once again. As I said before
however, this is no reflection of the band, they were just gentlemanly and
non-egotistical enough to comply with my polite request to kick off the
proceedings. Poor buggers, we got to within 3-4 minutes of kicking off time
for them and still hadn't opened the doors to the (large) queue that had built
up outside. I think however that we managed to get in quite a few punters in
the narrowest possible nick of time so they didn't play to an entirely
deserted floor.
In keeping with the proceedings for the whole of the day, I unfortunately got
to hear very little of the band at all. With the first two hours that we did
being a complete and utter mad-rush, I reckon that I can remember the band
playing just one song "F*ck the world", a shame but somewhat inevitable when
you are running an event like this, they went down very well though from what I
could see, Beaker's usual comical soundbites being given aplenty. Just to
re-inforce the fact that I do have great confidence in the band, catch them headlining at their December gig at
the Star & Garter in Manchester. A great bunch of guys and thanks again
for taking the spot no-one else wants, it was appreciated.
Well you can guess that some of my comments from above regarding brevity of
attention apply just as much with this next band. I have wanted to get the
Apocalypse Babys to play for ages but things have just never worked out before.
The band's problems with drummers are legendary (!) but thank god they have a
nice new one with some degree of dedication and not only did I finally get to
see them play twice this year at other gigs, but I managed to at last get them
to play at one of mine.
I can vaguely remember standing on the stage during 'Sucking on the dick of
America' and then I think that was pretty well it until I heard the final
strains of 'Live fast, die young' whilst dashing across the floor to the front
door, such are the tribulations of running a gig. It has to be said that I am
a big fan of the band, a very much under-rated talent if you ask me, clever
lyrics and a good variety of tunes to match, I hope that they prosper further
with their new drummer and good luck to 'em.
The Swellbellys are a potent new force in the field, Hardcore / Punk, whatever
category you might lump them into. As with all bands I have put on for the
first time, they started lower down the bill but you can be assured that
they'll be firmly up it if you see 'em again at one of my gigs. I was
initially underwhelmed by a record of theirs that I heard (despite a
recommendation from a reliable source), but when I saw them live for the first
time I was very much persuaded otherwise.
The band hit the stage and from that first instant I was very much aware of
the sheer power that emnates from them. Again, I only saw them for a
limited time but every time I got a glimpse of them you could see that the
crowd was well and truly whipped up, I am sure that they will go far. Watch
out for new songs like 'Nuclear nation', it stood out a mile.
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