Phinius Gage, Brighton Centre
***This show was at the Freebutt, Brighton***
The last couple of years has seen Brighton’s PHINIUS GAGE escape from their seaside residings and tour virtually every town and city in the country; resulting in them becoming leaders of the pack with regards to the U.K.’s skate punk scene by taking over the lead from the likes of 4ft FINGERS and CONSUMED. I couldn’t get to the London launch show of their second album at the Garage but the opportunity arose for me to head down to the coast to check out the band’s home-town release party at the ever so more intimate Freebutt.
After spending three hours in a service station on the M23 I wasn’t particularly up for a show in a packed smoky venue, but fortunately once I got inside I was met by a warm atmosphere and my mood was lifted. I didn’t get a chance to check out any of the support bands or even find out who they actually were so my apologies for slack journalism, but the night was purely all about the headlining act.
There’s nothing like seeing a band play their hometown in front of friends and locals in a tiny little venue so as you can imagine the atmosphere was great and everyone seemed pumped and up for a good time, the band included. PHINIUS GAGE took to the stage and delivered a powerful and convincing set but anyone who has seen them play recently will know that comes as standard with PG anyway. This set was perhaps one of; if not the best I’ve seen them perform however. I’m not sure what it was, as the band are always tight and always play a decent selection of songs, but they seemed on fire tonight and the thirty minute set seemed to fly by quicker than I would have liked.
What I’ve always admired about PG’s shows is the way in which they deliver their set comprising of often of social-political songs without preaching or making you feel like you’re in a brainwashing ritual - it does make such a refreshing change to hear a band with a message and not have to cringe at the obligatory ‘fuck-Bush/Blair/G8/whatever else is cool to hate’ sentiments that get thrown around with little or no conviction in an effort to seem socially aware (rant over).
Another good thing about tonight’s set was that equal importance was placed on the classic PG tracks from ‘More Haste…’ not that new songs weren’t played because they were and very well too, but the double-time assaults of ‘Think for Yourself’, ‘Fire’s Burning’ and ‘Timmy’ still sound as fresh and biting as they did a couple of years ago. The only omission from the set was the fantastic ‘Truth about lies’ which I think is a stand out track on ‘The Feeling Something’s Wrong’. Also, a mention must be given to stand-in guitarist Ben (from Random Heros) who seemed to fit in more than comfortably in his axe-welding and backing vocal roles.
PHINIUS GAGE are a class live act and, to be honest, I’ve not ever seen them play a bad set and it’s this sort of consistency which is seeing them become increasingly popular day by day, you can even get their merch from the Smash Hits website!! The band are touring through most of April with American ska crew STREELIGHT MANIFESTO, you’d be well advised to check them out if you haven’t done so already.
-Mike
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