Fireapple Red, Astoria, London
Minor Threat, Operation Ivy, The Police, Green Day and more!! @ Electrowerkz, London.
Unfortunately the said bands weren’t actually playing tonight themselves but those good good people at Burnout Entertainment organised a ‘Stars in their eyes’ style show with some of the finest UK bands covering some of their favourite bands. It could have gone either way really but it turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun and probably one of the most memorable shows I’ve been too in ages. And no, Matthew Kelly wasn’t molesting any kids or even in the building for that matter.
I arrived to see the end of CHOKING VICTIM, well really it was IDLE TUESDAY; a band I’ve never heard of before. To be blunt, they were surprisingly good. I’ve never really been a CV fan but IT, from what I saw; literally maybe a song and a half, they were more than competent enough to do the job.
Next up were OPERATION IVY, I didn’t catch the name of who they really were but I think it was possibly THE SCRUB? Or something similar anyways (damn lazy journalism). Anyway, they reminded me just how great OP. IVY were which can only be a good thing; powerful music with a good vibe and a strong message. The covering band had it all and the front man even sported a bandana and just generally had the sort of presence I’d imagine Jesse Michaels to have. All the classics including: ‘Sound System’, ‘Knowledge’, ‘Take Warning’ and ‘Bombshell’ got pulled out the bag and were more than well received by the crowd. Top stuff.
FIREAPPLE RED barring a couple of members were up next and pulled of an absolutely fucking amazing set covering PROPAGANDHI songs. They were practically note perfect throughout the set and busted out a wide range of material including: ‘Haille Sellasse, Up Your Ass’ and ‘Todays Empries…’. Green Dave actually had Chris’ voice down pretty well and they just seemed very convincing in general. It was already shaping up to be the set of the evening but then it struck me, oh God how it struck me. What’s that? The opening of ‘Purina Hall of Fame’? Surely not…faster than the record? Hell yes baby! This was without doubt the defining moment of the night. For those interested (mainly those partial to a spot of guitar wankery) the solo was executed superbly and the power of the shred made me need to sit down to recover. I’m not kidding either.
So I sat down and took a breather for 5 KNUCKLE covering MINOR THREAT and although I wasn’t inclined to tackle the unisex loos I also didn’t fancy my chances of getting much change out of a fiver for a can, yes a can, of beer. Meh, London prices suck. Anyways I could see from a distance 5K tearing up the stage, giving it their usual balls out mega powerful and insanely intense performance which we all know and love. ‘Straight Edge’ was a highlight as well as when front man, Dan, decided to calm down ever so slightly for ‘In My Eyes’ the guy looked like he was possessed the way he was haring across the stage like a psycho. Intense is too mild a word.
Now this was interesting, tonight JERRY BUILT were THE POLICE. In the last year or two I’ve become a massive fan of the latter and would be ultra critical of the formers performance if it wasn’t up to scratch. To say they were the tightest band of the night would be a lie, but who really cares when you have songs like ‘Roxanne’ ‘Message in a Bottle’ in your arsenal. This set, although only four tracks long, was loads of fun and had most of the crowd singing along to almost every word. Top marks for actually dressing up to the part too. N.B. I was gutted the hi-hat to ride bell trickery in ‘Message in a Bottle’ was omitted, I love that bit.
What came next was pretty special. GREBO were originally meant to be covering GREEN DAY but a couple of the band members couldn’t make it. Now when you’re a three piece band and you have a couple of absentees, it doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out this could cause some problems. Add Mr Rich Phoenix from CAPTIAN EVERYTHING and Mr GREEN DAVE of FIREAPPLE RED to the equation and you have yourself a make-shift band. ‘2000 Light Years Away’ and ‘Christie Road’ were unexpected treats, ‘She’ naturally followed ‘Basket Case’ and everyone had a hugely great time. By the end they were taking requests and the crowd were loving every single minute of the unrehearsed chaos. Classic stuff, everyone loves a good sing-a-long to a bit of GREEN DAY.
So after this I assumed the night to be over and headed out to the damp London streets to hand out some black and white photocopied bits of paper otherwise known as fliers. However, when I heard some thundering drums and squeeling guitars, notably ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ I felt the need to venture back inside to witness some classic rock. I finally left to the sound of various members of FIREAPPLE RED on stage again accompanied by some friends which later turned into a bit of a METALLICA shred-fest. A top night if ever there was one!
Mike
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