Mad Caddies, Manchester Academy
Today’s ‘Note to Self’ : Never change trains merely because the one you were going to get is running 5 minutes late. You may just end up on the railways version of a cross country bus. I never knew so many shitty rural villages existed between Sheffield and Manchester!
That aside, the Academy was found, Rise Against and the Larry Arms were chatted to, and the lights were low, ready for the beginning of the 2003 Fat Wreck Chords tour, featuring Pink and Black’s THE FLIPSIDES, Chicago’s whisky soaked punkers THE LAWRENCE ARMS, melodic hardcore perfectionists RISE AGAINST and brass led skankers, MAD CADDIES. What with the gig being a sell out, the kids being in high spirits and four great bands on the bill, what more could you ask for?
Female-fronted THE FLIPSIDES were the band to open the gig. Looking a little like a 50’s high school band, with a bassist who reminded me of a punk Greg Proops, they blasted out their pop tinged, power chord punk rock with attitude to a gathering crowd of mildly bewildered ska fans. Their recent debut, ‘Clever One’, passed by pretty much unnoticed, and you can kind of see why when they play. While there’s heaps of charm, tons of melody and chucky power chords ahoy, it’s all been done before, and most probably by someone a lot better. Enjoyable, but not particularly inspiring (6.5)
Well, it could only get better, and with Brendan and Chris joining the party, it did. THE LAWRENCE ARMS are a band of complete contradictions. From the gravely, whisky soaked vocals of Brendan to the sweet falsetto tones of Chris, they’re certainly not one trick ponies. From the blistering sing a long that is ‘Porno and Snuff Films’ to the driving ‘First Eviction Notice’, The ‘Arms don’t fail to disappoint. Why people felt the need to start a pit during the slower songs, I have no idea, but this didn’t detract from the performance, luckily. However, the fact that you could barely make out the guitar or vocals didn’t help at all, and this dragged them down a little. Still, never ones to disappoint, I’m sure they will be welcomed back with open arms next time they hit these shores (7)
We’ve had poppy punk, emo-tinged punk rock and with ska to come, so in keeping with the genre explosion that is tonight’s gig, a bit of melodic hardcore wouldn’t go amiss. And who better than the finest purveyors of the sound, RISE AGAINST? From the moment the first chord is ripped from the guitar, a pit explodes for the duration of the entire set. Playing a set with equal numbers of old and new, the likes of ‘1000 Good Intentions’ stand up wonderfully next to newer material like ‘Black Masks and Gasoline’ and the anthemic ‘Like The Angel’. Tim, when not playing guitar on the newer numbers, goes absolutely berserk on stage, and his two mini speeches regarding the ‘war’ on Iraq and being yourself in the face of being told what to do go down a treat with the gathering throng. While in the wrong hands, this kind of material sounds preachy and contrived, Tim and the rest of the band sound so earnest and passionate that you cant fail to be impressed. Finishing with the storming ‘Six Ways Til Sunday’, The Academy 2 is theirs for 40 minutes, and no one can touch them. (9)
It was down to everyone’s favourite Dixie land/ska/reggae/pop punk band the MAD CADDIES to finish off the night. The majority of people in the venue were here to see them, and they knew it. Curiously, they seemed to play a lot of their songs at ¾ pace, including ‘The Gentleman’ and the fantastic ‘Macho Nachos’, which meant they lost a little something that made them so special, but nevertheless, the hour long set was a rapturous one. The whole of the Academy seemed to be dancing to the likes of ‘Leaving’ and ’10 West’, and after ‘All American Badass’ had escaped from the PA, they played a 2 song encore and scuttled off into the night. (8)
A packed venue, 4 very talented bands, 1 meteoric melodic hardcore performance and a wonderfully upbeat ending to the evening courtesy of Chuck and friends. What more could you ask for?
Ross
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