CITIZEN FISH, AOS3, NECK & OFFBEAT HEROES
Ah my first visit to the Underworld since it became a non-smoking venue. I was intrigued and concerned about the smell and wafts of food and pee were exuded at random intervals making it a bit old peoples homey, which was apt due to the fact that it was an old age crusty gig and a half.
First up were Offbeat Heroes injecting some fast pogo ska-core mentality on those who were not outside finishing Special Brew and last fags (you were allowed outside for a smoke via a hand stamp for those of you wondering). Apparently this lot were from Evesham part of our lovely country currently underwater. As for the bassist, lucky he wasn’t trapped at home as he would have been swimming in circles with a broken leg and spent the set sitting on a chair but managing to play without any problems. Songs like ‘Happiness’ were the stuff of summer free festivals but seeing as we have neither a summer or any free festivals anymore the dark and dingy below ground venue had to do the job. The audience’s spirits did not seem dampened and the music was an infectious saxophone enhanced brew citing the likes of The Beat, Radical Dance Faction and the good old Tottenham AK47’s (does anyone out there remember some of these bands)? Having said that they finished with a number called ‘AKA 47,’ peace out!
I hadn’t a clue who Neck were but it was quickly evident they were Oirish begorrah, well in fact a London-Irish psycho Ceilidh band. They had a lass on whistle, a guy on violin and the sound of pure Jamesons running through their veins. After being disappointed by the Dropkick Murphy’s a couple of weeks ago this lot refreshed the parts that… well you know the rest, they were basically excellent. They took the piss out the Scottish habit of drinking Buckfast with an amusing number called ‘Hello Jakey’ and got everyone moving to the front and joining in with the insane drunken party atmosphere they had created. Luckily I had not let the side down and was suitably pisshed by now. The singer strapped a banjo on, there were two on stage now were they going to duel? Trad Irish Cajun anyone? This was so fast my head span, my britches burst and my goat gave birth! Members of the group were playing from the dance-floor and sales of Guinness shot up at the bar. Their interpretation of Anarchy In The UK really had to be heard to be believed and this was a great set by a band who are every bit as good an energetic as The Pogues.
Having basically left with those free festivals it has been 13 years since we last heard from AOS3 and this was a welcome blast from the past that’s for sure. They had a projector on the wall of the Underworld providing a tripped out accompaniment to their heady dubby tunes. It was obvious that many in this audience remembered the group and it was busy with people dancing to the excellent ‘Armchair Anarchists’ hmmm the sentiments behind that kind of make me feel guilty and the well placed “1234 we don’t want your fucking war” chant at the end brings back a somewhat dodgy misspent youth, which kind of brought the next song ‘Scary Times Are Never Dull’ to mind. But it was rapid skank action that was necessary and also trying to not pour cider down my strides and drink it, the guy in the pit with a large rucksack on didn’t help and a few of us politely told him to leave. You could almost smell the skunk in the air, silly me I forgot of course you couldn’t. ‘It’s A Jungle Out There’ well I was lost in this psychedelic stew and no doubt will be catching this lot again soon, another 13 years is far too long.
Quick history lesson for the non punkers out there. 3 bands all interconnected by members and lead singer Dick Lucas are; The Subhumans (best Anarcho punk band in the world check out The Day The Country Died. 1st new studio album in 11 years imminent) Culture Shock (more reggae and ska enthused this now inactive band split in 1989 after inadvertently causing a riot at The Fulham Greyhound when 3 times the venue capacity turned up and tried to get in. Onwards And Upwards is their classic album) Citizen Fish formed from Culture Shocks ashes and tonight was the first time I had caught them in ages.
I had asked Dick if he was going to stand still for a second and let me take some photos before the gig. He laughed but luckily I managed the drunken sway must have helped my balance at the time. It was really a case of ‘hey ho lets go’ as they funked it all up and burst into ‘Feeding’ I realised as the set went on that I need to fill the gaps as I only have 2 of their albums and didn’t recognise quite a large part of this set. Not that this spoilt the enjoyment in the slightest and one thing that really makes this lot stand out somewhat uniquely is the enthusiastic trumpet playing. The lyrics are obviously going to have a message behind them and tackle all important themes ‘Social Insecurity’ being a case in point. At the time though everyone was too busy busting moves and spilling beer to really give a damn the place was well and truly kicking off and the venue had really filled up by now. ‘Back To Square One’ was actually a new one from split record Deadline with Leftover Crack. I really would like to hear ‘Clear Channel (fuck off)’ from that one especially at the Mean Fiddler. The only thing that I regretted was that they didn’t play ‘Traffic Lights’ a personal favourite but they did do ‘Sink Or Swim’ for one of the encore songs and it was lucky that the threatened storms didn’t hit as we would all have been swimming home (and no doubt sinking). A great night all round, now get your lugholes to the following and check some of these fine bands out.
www.myspace.com/citizenfishofficial
Pete Woods
LONDON UNDERWORLD 22/7/7
‘Every Day’s St Patrick’s Day’ indeed.
www.myspace.com/aos3
www.myspace.com/neckireland
www.myspace.com/offbeatheroes