Twin Atlantic, The Skints, Zebrahead, Set Your Goals, Northlane, Comeback Kid, Counterparts, Capdown, Save Ferris, Broadside and Can’t Swim will join the likes of Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday and more at the festival which takes place in Leeds, Hatfield and Birmingham, from the 26th to the 28th May 2018. More acts will be announced soon.

It should be noted that next year will see the Hatfield site expand to Hatfield Park due to outgrowing its previous home at the University. Tickets are available now and cost either £49 or a £55 option which includes entry into the afterparty. They will be available here.

MAY 2018
26 LEEDS City Centre
27 HATFIELD Hatfield Park
28 BIRMINGHAM NEC

Depending on your sources, this may or may not be the very last show the iconic CAPDOWN plays…ever. Whilst it’s only a mere six months since we raved about the Milton Keynes’ outfit’s return to the London live scene, it appears that the ride is over again, at least for a while. What better way to celebrate then than with the band’s biggest headline show to date?

Before Camden’s Koko venue starts to fill-up though, there’s the small matter of a matinee show across the street at The Purple Turtle. For ska-punk fans, this particular murky Sunday has an all-dayer feel to it.

Opening a very long day is Filaments frontman JONNY ONE LUNG who takes the one-man-and-his-guitar approach to acoustic, rabble-rousing punk. It’s a provoking and quality performance from a man working double-time today.

Former Lightyear-man CHAS PALMER-WILLIAMS takes over next and delivers a set of acoustic punk ditties and anecdotes with all the seriousness of a Lady Gaga outfit. The result is a humorous, if somewhat confusing to some, 25 minutes or so.

TYRANNOSAURUS ALAN impressed with their debut album ‘Campaign’ last year and today continue with a live performance that is energetic, fierce, and goes straight for the jugular. The Medway ska-core outfit (reminiscent of The Flaming Tsunamis and Beat the Red Light at times) still has some way to go, but this performance reeks good things to come. Oh, and human pyramids and stage-diving at four in the afternoon? Yes, please.

Milton Keynes’ other skacore four-piece ANTI VIGILANTE continue to make bounding leaps – this afternoon’s performance is slick, proficient, and crowd-pleasing to say the least, and as the band heads into the studio with Peter Miles to record album number two next month, you can expect good things from them in the future.

A pre-maternity leave DIRTY REVOLUTION closes-out the opening portion of the day. The Cardiff reggae-ska-punkers continue on fine form, providing the sizable crowd with fan-friendly tracks delivered in an enjoyable atmosphere. A rare outing for album track ‘Firing Line’ gets a bonus point.

Over to Koko…

THE JB CONSPIRACY opens the second part of today’s double-bill to an impressively swelled crowd. The Guildford outfit (performing tonight as an eight-piece) is readying a long overdue new album and tonight’s performance acts as a suitable bridge for getting there with a few newbies sliced into the standard ‘This Machine’ tracks.

For his second set of the day, Jon Fawkes leads THE FILAMENTS through a quick-paced set of what is probably best described as politically-charged street-punk with horns. The likes of ‘Bastard Coppers’ still go down a treat from the recently reformed troupe.

With any luck, the next time Punktastic writes about THE SKINTS, the band will have released an eagerly-anticipated second album. Tonight the band continues to cement its position as one of the best live acts in the country, with a solid set (albeit too short for our liking) of flavoursome reggae. We’re guessing that tonight’s headliners, as well as everyone else in attendance, know how good this band is.

So, cometh the hour, cometh the CAPDOWN. Having never made it quite to these heights first time around, it’s somewhat fitting to see somewhere in the range of 1,400 people watching the band. In terms of performance, there’s not much to set this apart from shows earlier this year; an energetic band giving it its all, even if it’s all isn’t quite to the levels it once was, with a crowd giving everything back. There’s sweat pouring from Koko’s every architectural orifice, and regardless of the purpose for those 1,400 people being here (be it nostalgia or a chance to see a band that influenced just about everybody in today’s scene), tonight’s show bears down as the perfect closer – whether it be career closer or just a chapter ending. A quality bookend to a long, but ultimately pleasing, day.

ALEX HAMBLETON

Brixton sextet SKETS [3/5] have obviously read the manual on supporting Capdown. Play hard and fast. The South London outfit impresses with a noisy set punctuated with attitude. It?s punk rock by way of hardcore with the odd smattering of upstrokes; unpolished and firm.

On tonight?s bill, CLAYPIGEON [4/5] along with Random Hand probably owe the most to Capdown in terms of influence. Tonight the London quartet are tight, dealing from the Punktastic-approved debut album ?Time Won?t Cease?. Machine gun quick lyrics, big heavy licks and frantic ska strokes make the band an immediate crowd pleaser and lend to a performance that continues to endorse the band in a positive manner.

CHIEF [4/5] may be taking forever to release second album ?Apply Within? (next month on Household Name, honest) but the newly reshuffled Liverpool quintet still kick it live. The band?s politically-charged melodic hardcore spurts out into the nooks and crannies. A heavy dose of new material suggests good things to come from the album, while the energy on stage is infectious – real fist-in-the-air stuff.

DIRTY REVOLUTION [3.5/5] continue to develop and impress with new material. Tonight a brand new song is aired, a number that is reminiscent of ?Feel The Fear?, the incredible calypso/samba number. Add to this the likes of ?I Love Reggae? and ?Failure To Communicate? and you have a set that sits well with the ska fans and appeases the Dirty Revolution fans. More new material post haste, please.

For a second night in a row RANDOM HAND [3/5] graces a Camden stage but tonight it?s a little withdrawn. Having been band-of-the-night the evening before, a very truncated set means they don?t even get 30 minutes tonight. The result is an audience left panting for more. Still, in a short period of time the band manages to ignite the room, energy discharging at a tremendous rate from frontman Robin Leitch, and again, new song ?Three From Six? sounds sharp and striking live.

With a five-band prologue out of the way, CAPDOWN [5/5] arrive on stage to a welcome that would befit the second coming of, well, Capdown. Kick-starting the affair with ?Unite To Progress? and ?Keeping Up Appearances?, the MK quartet barrel their way into a set that well and truly harks back to the turn of the Millennium. ?We?re going to play some old stuff for you,? remarks frontman Jake Sims-Fielding. Old indeed, for the only song aired tonight that didn?t originate from the band?s first two albums (?Civil Disobedients? and ?Pound For The Sound?) is the aforementioned ?Keeping Up Appearances?.

Complaints won?t be heard from the capacity crowd though, just screaming, cheers, crowdsurfing, dodgy stage-dives, and the slick slapping of bodies coming together.

The band may not be as young or fit a decade on, but it?s impossible to deny that their performance is still impacting and impressive. To be honest, Capdown could have come out, muddled through three songs, departed and still been adored. To their credit though, there?s a hell of a lot of hard work going on here and every iota of applause is earned.

Song-wise you can checklist the set: ?Cousin Cleotis?, check. ?Strength In Numbers?, check. ?Faith No More?, check. ?An A-Political Stand For Reasons?, ?The Neverlution?, ?Pound For The Sound?, you get the impression. And then there?s the predictable but insanity-inducing closing pairing of ?Bitches And Nike Shoes? and ?Ska Wars? that just take things to another level. Forget the clich‚s, it?s not quite like the band never went away (the onstage panting gives that away) but it is a joyous return that has everyone in attendance (and a fair few who missed out) talking, both of the past and the future.

Nostalgia or not, Capdown still pack an almighty punch. With sweat dripping from the ceiling and a 500-strong crowd in front gasping for breath, the band take leave, but only for a couple of months this time around. Next stop, a July tour and festival season.

ALEX HAMBLETON

All photos by JOSEPH DUNCAN

Paul: Why choose Slam Dunk to start again?
Boob: Well it’s not so much starting again as it is playing again. Ben just rang me, asked if we were up for playing. We’ve worked with him for the best part of ten years, been to Slamdunk when we’re up that way after shows or on days off on tour, tell you the truth it’s a wonder we’re not barred! He’s always been a big supporter of the band and the UK scene in general. He’s trying to build something up, independently and organically and above all I really think he loves it. I reckon if he’d rung before my birthday it would have been a no though. Also it’s the 10th anniversary of Civ Dis, pretty much to the day, we’ve been split up about 3 years and it just feels right.

Paul: Is this definitely a one-off with just the two shows and nothing else or can we expect more dates and/or new music?
Boob: When we split up I really thought we’d never play again as Capdown, it just felt that life was moving on and that it was done. I think it took playing together to make us realise how much we all enjoy and miss playing those songs. Also I think it is kind of history for us now, we have moved on, it’s something we look back on fondly and with pride. When the band split up it had partly defined who we all were for a big part of our lives, we’ve played together since 15, some of us even longer. I know I felt pretty precious about it all. I think when it finished we were caught up wondering what life would be like, worried about missing how things used to be. Now it’s over and we’ve all moved on it’s something we miss and know we enjoy, so why deny ourselves? We’ll see how these two gigs go, we won’t ever write together as Capdown again, and we’ve got no plans to play any other shows. Maybe one day we’ll have to do a couple more to satisfy the withdrawal symptoms, I’m giving up smoking so withdrawal has been playing heavily on my mind recently!

Paul: Does it feel weird that, despite being one of the biggest bands in the ‘scene’ at the time, you’ll be playing at Slam Dunk in front of kids who a) maybe never heard of you before and b) were possibly still in nappies when you first started out as a band!
Boob: Yeah that could be weird. I just hope that people will take the time to come party with us, its great to play to people who haven’t heard you before, if anything it will spur us on to “proper have it”, although we have no intention of doing anything other than that. I’ve certainly become more aware of my age, recently turning 30. I’m not too up to date with the “scene”. I have got rid of my dreads and currently sporting a side parting, probably not cool but it looks good in my Volvo. I hadn’t really thought about that, you reckon there’ll be bingo, and travel rugs there? Oh yeah we need a Stairlift to the side of the stage, must speak to Ben about that…

Paul: Just rewinding a bit, why did you choose to call it a day in the first place? Did growing older and having children make the realities of being in a touring band that bit harsher?
Boob: Yeah, growing older, having kids, being sick of some aspects of being in a band. Jake wanted to study and be home more for his family. Creatively I think we were writing, trying to change our sound as we grew older and felt it like we were trying to bring people with us, which kind of led to us subconsciously compromising what we wanted to do. For at least the first half of Capdown we were the same age as, and grew up with our audience, then younger people got into the band and we started to develop our sound it just seemed people wanted textbook ska punk, although we love the music we made we weren’t going to mass produce music we didn’t want to make just to sell records or be “successful”. I think happiness and success for us all is being true and doing what we want to. We started making mash up music because we like lots of music; it was us trying to include things we like into our own sound. It was never a sub genre of itself to us, to me conscious music, community and creating is what it’s all about. Not fashion, cliques or “I’m more punk than you”. A lot of the more popular recent stuff seems to have more in common with misogynist 80’s cock rock than any inkling of making new music or writing material that challenges and inspires others… just an opinion.

Paul: Do you feel you were as influential to the UK scene at the time as you seem to have proved to be?
Boob: I think there was a lot of other bands and people who were all involved in an amazing time for punk in the UK. There were bands just before us who never got the recognition they deserved who were influences on us King Prawn, Imbalance to name a couple. Never really thought about being influential other than people saying that to us, generally people in the UK scene have been really good to us. It’s something people say to us which is always flattering, especially when you like the music they make. Or people say “Capdown got me into punk rock” or “I met my wife at one of your shows”… those ones are cool too. As to when we are/were/if we were influential I have no idea. I guess Civ Dis is ten years old, still sells. Randomly popped up in yours and others “Best Albums of the Last 10 Years” (including the bloody NME! I’m sure they slated it when it came out.) its just nice people still listen, introduce new people to it, buy our records, we’re very privileged to have had the time we did together, the people we worked with, the whole scene was awesome. I hope to be a good influence for my son, that’ll do me nicely.

Paul: There were loads of bands at the time – Adequate 7, The King Blues, Five Knuckle – that seemed so tight knit. Do you think that ‘scene’ is as strong now as it was then? Are there any bands around now that excite you as much as some of the bands from the early 2000 HHN-era?
Boob: I really don’t know, there is certainly a community of good people making good music on their own terms. That’s been the nice thing about the couple of gigs we’ve done with This Contrast Kills, going to gigs again, hearing new bands. I just think that the scene is so fractured, that might not be a fair analysis as I’m not as involved as I used to be. To be honest that was such an exciting time of my life and I have so many good and hopefully life long friends that came from that scene that nothing will compare for me, although I’m sure people before us and after us feel the same, and rightly so.

Paul: As a pre-MySpace band, do you feel you may have been even more successful in today’s environment?
Boob: I’m really not sure. I think we would have been just as bad at answering messages. I’m sure you know Paul, opening an inbox of 400 messages and not knowing where to start. In the early days of Myspace etc we were so busy playing, writing and recording that the last thing you would want to do is spend the rest of your time typing about yourself…just occurred to me that’s exactly what I’m doing now. Maybe I should log on to Myspace as I’m on a roll.

Paul: As a band do you feel ‘Civil Disobedients’ is your best album?
Boob: Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… yes and no… most exciting maybe, best I don’t know, certainly very proud of it. Think it was great fresh ideas, played like a load of excited kids who can’t believe someone is paying for them to record! As an example of how fresh it was even to us Ska Wars was written in the two days we had playing the record to Lil and Kafren HHN before we recorded. Those two days of “pre production” were paid for by Jake busking with his sax outside Farringdon tube station with Tim doing laps in his car and every time shouting out “you got enough yet slag?” They were the days. I wish we’d taken more time over Pound for the Sound as I think that was an important record for us. I think its true of a lot of bands that you get your whole life to write your first record and then suddenly your doing your second, you’ve been on tour for 260 odd days that year and there’s a couple of months to get writing. It’s played well and sounds really tight, got some of my favourite bits on it. But it could have benefited from us not being in such a rush to release it and get on the road again. Wind Up Toys I know was too different for a lot of people but I’m really proud of it, new ideas, played really well, sounds big, sounds different thanks to Mr Hibbitt. I think to record anything other than that record would have been dishonest of us. I think loads of people thought it was an attempt to go more mainstream, I disagree I think it was about us stretching ourselves and growing up. That record took along time to write, record, fund and then we looked at a lot of cool labels, but when we started looking at contracts they just didn’t sit right with us. By the time it came out the ideas didn’t sound as fresh as they did when it was written. If it’d been released a year or two earlier peoples opinions may have been different. I do suggest people re listen to it, there is probably more influences on that record than any other, they are just more subtle. That’s about as objective as I can be I’m afraid, subjectively Civ Dis probably is my favourite that has as much to do with the time of my life as anything else though.

Paul: When you played Slam Dunk Festival a few years ago in Leeds when it was outdoors in Millennium Square, there was a fair bit of criticism that you had slowed down the songs. Was this intentional? Did you think that was a fair reaction?
Boob: If I remember correctly that was a hella windy day, we had a really weird sound on stage, I don’t remember not enjoying it but people have good days and bad days. That does seem to be when we were permanently told we’d slowed. To be honest that’s what I mean about Civ Dis being played “like a load of kids….” some parts of that record could have been better with more space less pace, some of it was perfect on pace. It wasn’t so much intentional as I think we just found the right tempos for the music we’d written, it’s a shame that was often after we’d recorded them. A lot of that is probably my fault though as I was always the one saying faster, louder, harder! If you really listen to our earlier stuff you can tell it’s all a bit too quick for the ideas to come out properly. Also people are entitled to their opinions.

Paul: Looking forward, how did This Contrast Kills start? What influences the band?
Boob: TCK is me, Keith and Tim not wanting to stop making music. Keith started writing / producing soon after Capdown and came to me and Tim with a couple of ideas. We loved it and started getting involved. It was really weird because most of the bass lines and all the drums he’d written sounded like me and Tim playing them anyway! In contrast to Capdown (excuse the pun) we’re spending most of our time writing and producing together on computers this time. We have most of an album in progress and the whole EP was recorded before we’d even jammed live together. Guess we’re trying to avoid mistakes we’ve made in the past. It’s really fun and we’re just getting on our feet in a live sense, a bit weird at first playing new music without Jake to jolly everyone into action. I guess we’ve been spoilt though from our years in Capdown, we were always so lucky to have enjoyed an amazing fan base and live gigs. We’re loving the music again, writing with no one expecting anything of us, getting to experiment with synths a lot more. It’s kind of electronica rock stuff, focusing on the songs and hooks. Someone said to me “Foo Fighters and Pendulum arguing about how to play disco”. We call it disco shit. It’s not really disco though as much break-beat-techno-rock I’m getting lost trying to describe it, you’ll have to listen. The EP is kind of demonstrates the progression of our sound from what we used to do and ends up in a new direction. There’s a load more mostly finished songs waiting for us to have the time to get ready to play live. Keith’s lyrics and vocals are awesome, I think it’ll get better with time as well as we’re all still adjusting to this new experience. That’s why we thought we’d just do a low key release and some shows with friends; we’re still playing, tweaking and learning with it. We’ve got a load of production and synths stuff coming off a laptop at the moment although it could all be played live. We’d probably need 5 or 6 of us and we just want to keep it simple, easy to organize and easier to decide what we want to do… Get back to the 3 of us having fun again. If it goes well then we’ll get some more people involved. We already have some great people in mind that we’d love to work with.

Paul: What happened to The Maccalites?
Boob: The Maccalites was, and is, what it turned out to be…. Which is what it became after it started. It was the Maccalites and we were all well happy. Hopefully we’ll actually play a gig, do a record or at least have dinner together in the next 10 years or so. Still some of the best barbeques I’ve ever had in my life.

Paul: If you could change anything about the Capdown experience, what would it be and why?
Boob: More time on Pound for the Sound, less time getting Wind Up Toys out. Should’ve got back out to Japan again, that was amazing. Going to America, should have done that even if it had killed us, all bands die anyway. To be honest I wouldn’t change anything, you need to be able to regret things to learn, people who say “no regrets” I just don’t believe. Regrets are different to wanting to change the past, you can regret stuff and change the future for the good. I probably wouldn’t have met my wife-to-be, had my son, met some amazing people and spent my time making music and touring with my best friends in the world.

Sorry for the epic answers, Happy 10th Birthday Punktastic, you share it with Civil Disobedients, we’ll do cake at slamdunk.

PT: So welcome back to Brighton. It’s your last ever tour – how’s it all been going?

Boob: It’s been really good, it’s been emotional in places but it’s been happy days, and we’ve had a lot of friends out to see us around the country so it’s been good fun.

PT: Have there been any points over the last 2 weeks where you’ve thought ‘maybe we shouldn’t stop doing this’?

Boob: There have been a couple of moments, but I think everything happens for a reason. Things have run its course, and however nostalgic and sentimental you feel, and however much you miss people and certain things by being the band, there are things you don’t miss as well.

PT: With a career spanning a decade, countless gigs and tours, what have been the highest and lowest points of your time in Capdown?

Boob: High points – Japan. Reading & Leeds festivals, this one year we did the Radio 1 stage when it was bigger than it is now, and that was just insane. Low points – our van blowing up multiple times. There’s been loads of scary times on tour when really serious things happen in people’s personal lives and that, and you just have to pull together. There was a time before Jake’s son was born and we thought everything had gone horribly wrong, and it was just gnarly days on tour and we wanted to get the fuck home.

PT: You’ve played with hundreds of bands over the years; many of them acclaimed UK acts. Who have been the best for you to tour with?

Boob: There are two or three things when you play with a band you need to remember. There’s how much you like their music when you play with them, and how nice they are as people, and whether they’re arsey towards you or whatever.
There are a lot of British bands that we’ve got close long-lasting friendships with and that reminds you why you’re doing it. Douglas from back in the day, Fiveknuckle and the Adequate 7 boys.

PT: No mention of The King Blues?

Boob: Ah, The King Blues – passing the torch. We played Brighton about 8 months ago and the King Blues played before us, and Keith and me were just like ‘Oh, shit the bed. They’re a really good band, that’s what I used to feel, and that’s what I used to love’. They’re the first band in a long time that has played before us where we’ve thought we had to lift our own game! They’re a band that can do it as good, if not better than us.

PT: You’ve often been regarded as a ‘gateway’ band. You’re seen as the defining band of the skacore genre. Is that something you agree with?

Boob: We’ve always taken a lot of flack, and we’ve always wanted to do the things the way we wanted. Sam from Get Cape said to us that he saw what we do and thought ‘if those guys can go and play gigs to people, then why can’t I?’ He started getting on the train and getting on the buses and just playing his stuff, and look where he is now. That’s almost nicer than someone saying ‘I play music because I love your band’ or ‘you guys were the soundtrack to my teens’. It means more when people say ‘you’ve gave us the belief to go and tackle stuff. One thing we’ve always done is we’ve always had a go.

PT: Over the years, the ska scene has wavered in popularity as more popular and fashionable music scenes have over taken it. How did that affect the way you approached your band?

Boob: Haha, I bet there’s a summer of ska next year now we’ve broken up! No, we’ve never thought about jacking stuff in because of money or scenes, or fads, it just seems like the right time now. We’re all going through different stages of our life and everyone wants to do different things. Carrying on now would always be a compromise for someone. When you write your music bearing in mind that you’ve already got an audience, it’s a strange thing that not a lot people go through. It’s nice to write music and think I don’t care if anyone likes this.

PT: Your final show will be in your hometown of Milton Keynes on the 9th. Have you got anything special planned?

Boob: The aftershow! The gig’s less of a focus haha. It’ll be amazing to play because there’ll be all our close friends there. The Milton Keynes show is a purely selfish thing to finish up the tour. Because we’ve always played outside of Milton Keynes, we’ve got so many close friends around the country, so we thought we’d go see those people again, and go see the country again, and play some old thrash shit we haven’t played for years and not worry about how it’s perceived. The last show is all about getting our boys together and getting really hammered! I don’t think there’s any shame in that!

PT: So what happens now? What does the future hold for you guys? Will you still be involved in the music industry after the demise of Capdown?

Boob: I think we all want to keep doing music, whether we’ll do it together or not. Tim has started writing and jamming with Simon, the original Snuff guitar player. Simon’s playing keys, which he can’t play and that’s fucking hilarious! I really want to do something else, something I can get my teeth into, definitely. There are so many things about being in a band that you enjoy, and one of them for me is the drive to accomplish something. It’s great to be part of something where you can say ‘WE did this’, not ‘I did this’. I didn’t do any of that shit [in Capdown], WE did.

PT: Well it’s been great having you guys in our lives for the last decade. Any final words?

Boob: Capdown has been such a massive part of our lives and we’re all so proud of it. Just thanks for giving us the support to carry on. It’s never been a financial thing for us; it’s been a case of ‘oh my god people like what we do, that’s amazing’.

Andy R

PT: So welcome back to Brighton. It’s your last ever tour – how’s it all been going?

Boob: It’s been really good, it’s been emotional in places but it’s been happy days, and we’ve had a lot of friends out to see us around the country so it’s been good fun.

PT: Have there been any points over the last 2 weeks where you’ve thought ‘maybe we shouldn’t stop doing this’?

Boob: There have been a couple of moments, but I think everything happens for a reason. Things have run its course, and however nostalgic and sentimental you feel, and however much you miss people and certain things by being the band, there are things you don’t miss as well.

PT: With a career spanning a decade, countless gigs and tours, what have been the highest and lowest points of your time in Capdown?

Boob: High points – Japan. Reading & Leeds festivals, this one year we did the Radio 1 stage when it was bigger than it is now, and that was just insane. Low points – our van blowing up multiple times. There’s been loads of scary times on tour when really serious things happen in people’s personal lives and that, and you just have to pull together. There was a time before Jake’s son was born and we thought everything had gone horribly wrong, and it was just gnarly days on tour and we wanted to get the fuck home.

PT: You’ve played with hundreds of bands over the years; many of them acclaimed UK acts. Who have been the best for you to tour with?

Boob: There are two or three things when you play with a band you need to remember. There’s how much you like their music when you play with them, and how nice they are as people, and whether they’re arsey towards you or whatever.
There are a lot of British bands that we’ve got close long-lasting friendships with and that reminds you why you’re doing it. Douglas from back in the day, Fiveknuckle and the Adequate 7 boys.

PT: No mention of The King Blues?

Boob: Ah, The King Blues – passing the torch. We played Brighton about 8 months ago and the King Blues played before us, and Keith and me were just like ‘Oh, shit the bed. They’re a really good band, that’s what I used to feel, and that’s what I used to love’. They’re the first band in a long time that has played before us where we’ve thought we had to lift our own game! They’re a band that can do it as good, if not better than us.

PT: You’ve often been regarded as a ‘gateway’ band. You’re seen as the defining band of the skacore genre. Is that something you agree with?

Boob: We’ve always taken a lot of flack, and we’ve always wanted to do the things the way we wanted. Sam from Get Cape said to us that he saw what we do and thought ‘if those guys can go and play gigs to people, then why can’t I?’ He started getting on the train and getting on the buses and just playing his stuff, and look where he is now. That’s almost nicer than someone saying ‘I play music because I love your band’ or ‘you guys were the soundtrack to my teens’. It means more when people say ‘you’ve gave us the belief to go and tackle stuff. One thing we’ve always done is we’ve always had a go.

PT: Over the years, the ska scene has wavered in popularity as more popular and fashionable music scenes have over taken it. How did that affect the way you approached your band?

Boob: Haha, I bet there’s a summer of ska next year now we’ve broken up! No, we’ve never thought about jacking stuff in because of money or scenes, or fads, it just seems like the right time now. We’re all going through different stages of our life and everyone wants to do different things. Carrying on now would always be a compromise for someone. When you write your music bearing in mind that you’ve already got an audience, it’s a strange thing that not a lot people go through. It’s nice to write music and think I don’t care if anyone likes this.

PT: Your final show will be in your hometown of Milton Keynes on the 9th. Have you got anything special planned?

Boob: The aftershow! The gig’s less of a focus haha. It’ll be amazing to play because there’ll be all our close friends there. The Milton Keynes show is a purely selfish thing to finish up the tour. Because we’ve always played outside of Milton Keynes, we’ve got so many close friends around the country, so we thought we’d go see those people again, and go see the country again, and play some old thrash shit we haven’t played for years and not worry about how it’s perceived. The last show is all about getting our boys together and getting really hammered! I don’t think there’s any shame in that!

PT: So what happens now? What does the future hold for you guys? Will you still be involved in the music industry after the demise of Capdown?

Boob: I think we all want to keep doing music, whether we’ll do it together or not. Tim has started writing and jamming with Simon, the original Snuff guitar player. Simon’s playing keys, which he can’t play and that’s fucking hilarious! I really want to do something else, something I can get my teeth into, definitely. There are so many things about being in a band that you enjoy, and one of them for me is the drive to accomplish something. It’s great to be part of something where you can say ‘WE did this’, not ‘I did this’. I didn’t do any of that shit [in Capdown], WE did.

PT: Well it’s been great having you guys in our lives for the last decade. Any final words?

Boob: Capdown has been such a massive part of our lives and we’re all so proud of it. Just thanks for giving us the support to carry on. It’s never been a financial thing for us; it’s been a case of ‘oh my god people like what we do, that’s amazing’.

Andy R

Firstly, apologies must be given to the JB Conspiracy for not being able to cover them in this review. By the time you had finished playing, I had only just arrived at London’s ULU, due to it being the hardest venue to find EVER. Even with a map.

That said, upon my arrival at the Union, The Steal were just getting their set underway. Considering the band feature ex-Captain Everything drummer Rich Pheonix, I fully expected nothing short of excellence from the Kingston-based foursome. Sadly though, their nostalgic brand of hardcore wasn’t suited to tonight’s venue, and they only came across sounding muddled. Nevertheless, many-a-punk was skanking away on the dancefloor, and the crowd generally seemed to appreciate the performance.

By comparison, Howards Alias are on a completely different level. Mark the words of front man Matthew Reynolds; “Give it about two years, we’re going to be massive”. After tonight’s performance, there’s absolutely no reason why he shouldn’t be so self–assured. Their RX Bandits-esque brand of ska-punk just seems to WORK tonight, and there’s not a person in the building who would disagree. The band leave the stage all too early, but not before we get a lesson in how to dance like a sex-deprived money from the band’s lead vocalist.

So that just leaves us with Capdown. Touring in support of their critically-acclaimed third album, ‘Wind Up Toys’, their live act is flawless as always, and when you combine that with their massive popularity, the question begs to be asked, ‘why the hell aren’t they playing a better venue than this?’ Regardless, it’s a fun-packed hour and a half to follow, with vocalist Jake Sims-Fielding leading the crowd in many, many a singalong. Apparently incapable of standing still, he bounds back and forth on stage sometimes with saxophone in hand, sometimes without, yet all the while commanding his crowd like an army. Airing material from their new album, as well as throwing in many old favourites, notably ‘Ska Wars’, and ‘Pound for the Sound’, Milton Keynes’ finest are as fresh, accurate and downright brilliant as ever, and every bit deserving of the acclaim they’re currently receiving. Here’s to hoping 2007 is the year their appeal becomes more recognised.

Andy R

www.myspace.com/capdown
www.myspace.com/howardsalis
www.myspace.com/thesteal

But there’s one thing a promoter cannot legislate for – and that’s the weather. And although a dark, cold day can be compensated for by bringing the rock, if the wind is a-gusting you’ve no chance – as this gig proved. As soon as any music eminated from the PA system, the wind took it away from the back of the venue and closer to Bradford than Leeds, spoiling the sound for anyone who wasn’t stood less than 10 rows back in front of the stage. As a result, many of the bands sounded worse than they probably should have done, leading to the immense feeling of boredom as muffled band followed muffled band.

I only caught the last two songs of hellogoodbye, but their synth-pop sound suffered in the wind, leaving the vocals about the only thing you could hear. The dressed-up characters at the end proved one of the day’s highlights though. (6) The Hush Sound are pretty fun on record, using Greta’s sweet vocals as a secret weapon. But sadly they come across as a bit lost on a big stage and, following the days recurring theme, their sound simply gets lost as soon as they start playing. The older tracks get a warmer response than the newer ones, but on the day THS are boring and insepid. I have a feeling they’d be better in a smaller venue. (4)

Capdown, for me, were the biggest disappointment of the day. I’ve never been a huge fan, but over the years my respect for them has grown a lot. However, for some reason the band have slowed down all their older songs, losing the urgency that originally set them apart from the pack. And the new songs? Well they just don’t sound like Capdown at all, which again comes across as a bit pointless because the band are themselves and sound like no-one else. However, just two songs in and I’m left wondering if Hundred Reasons have come on early because the sound is very generic indeed. Again the band suffer from the wind carrying the sound, but after five songs I’ve had enough and queue for some food. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt as I didn’t know the new songs, but in my eyes the new version of ‘Ska Wars’ was a disappointment. (4)

Ditto Hundred Reasons. Again I’ve never been a huge fan, but they may have been a little out of place on a bill like this. The older songs inspire the days first singalong, but the newer tracks don’t stand out at all. Another band that came across as boring, again I think I managed to stomach a few songs before the ice-cream van became more appealing. (4)

Thursday are the days first great performance. Mixing new songs with a greatest hits selection, Geoff Rickley’s boys are the first band to really get to grips with the sound issues and the size of the stage. ‘Understanding In A Car Crash’ sounds immense, while new single ‘5, 4, 3…’ also gets a warm reception. It says a lot when the fifth band of the day are the first to get the juices flowing…(8)

I like The Academy Is… on record. I quite liked them when I saw them in a smaller venue earlier this year too. But their enthusiasm and energy isn’t transformed on the bigger stage and I’m not sure why. William Beckett is the campest frontman around, looking like a cross between Gerard Way and Russell Brand, but even his hip-shaking and pelvic thrusting cannot inspre a rather quiet and cold crowd into life. ‘Attention’ and ‘Checkmarks’ sound better than the rest, but having seen the band before I know they’re capable of better. And if ‘The Fever’ is what we can expect from full-length number two, then The Academy Is… are on the verge of a break through…(6)

Everyone loves Fall Out Boy. There are kids, students and even parents in the crowd and all are singing along by the time FOB bounce onto the stage. Patrick’s voice is ropey during the first few songs, but it sorts itself out by song four. All the ‘hits’ are included and there are more spin kicks and stage jumps than at a Kiss concert. To be honest, it’s typical Fall Out Boy fare with the biggest drum riser you’ve ever seen. The problem is, with the bass non-existant in the mix the sound is even weaker than most bands on the day, so not even Pete Wentz’s constant backing screams can beef up proceedings. Unsurprisingly ‘Dance, Dance’ and ‘Sugar We’re Going Down’ get the best responses, but although you cannot fault the band’s energy, Pete’s scripted comments between songs are cringeworthy and the band seem no more than a collection of musicians playing songs – not once does Patrick speak to the crowd, other than to sing. I’m not suggesting there are problems in camp FOB, but they look less like a band and more like a set of travelling entertainers. I like this band, don’t get me wrong, but even a fan like me was bored by the end of the set…(5)

paul