It’s been quite a year for Fucked Up, with their second full length, their Matador debut, being released only a few months back, to pretty much unanimously warm praise from all spectrums of the music press. Rightly so, its the sound of the most progressive hardcore around today, and successfully fuses the more experimental aspects of the epic masterpiece ‘Hidden World’ and ridiculous ‘Year Of The Pig’ single, with their more accessible work, the earlier 7″s.
I had seen them three times before this, and the levels of performance have not diminished as their profile has grown. They are still going strong, never failing to impress and there’s evidently plenty more left in terms of the bands energy and vigour for playing live, which should see them continue to move in exciting directions, all the while putting on amazing, incendry live shows. Basically they are a really exciting band, and that’s why me and my girlfriend went to see them despite not really having the money to. She came down from Leeds for it, but she’s more hardcore than me.
The support choices were interesting to say the least, with neither support act being really easily linked to the kind of music Fucked Up make. Whilst not necessarily a bad thing, I don’t hold out much hope for first band, Let’s Wrestle, as I had seen them once before, almost a year ago, and wasn’t really a big fan then. For the first few songs here little changes, as I’m not really enjoying their set. However after a little while I warmed to them. I found I actually enjoyed them more and more as their set continued. The vocals still grate with me slightly, but overall, Lets Wrestle aren’t too bad. They have a song called ‘I wish I was in Husker Du’ which is pretty admirable and gives an idea of the kind of sound they go for, just they are like a not as good version. This is not exactly the most damning of criticism though really. I haven’t checked them out on record either, and I suspect they might be quite good, but this is obviously a complete guess.
They are greeted by a largely apathetic response from the 20/30 people that have actually turned up early, and as far as audience participation is concerned, this doesn’t really improve as the room fills up. They don’t seem too happy, although their anger does make for a few amusing comments, particularly in calling the biggest cretin in the room out (although more on him later). I think I would probably need to see them one more time to fully make up my mind one way or the other, but they managed to change my opinion from a firm ‘no’ to a ‘quite good actually’ in the half hour they played.
If you like Anti Flag etc., or the idea of ska-infused punk with acoustic guitars sounds appealing to you, you are in The King Blues, or have heard them and thought they were even decent or better, you might not want to read this next bit.
I’m sure they are very nice people and they might make people happy. They might even have great intentions in forming the band, but I find them pretty odious. The music itself is pretty boring, turgid and unimaginative really, leaving me not just cold, but fucking freezing. Add this to the fact that the singer switches between a hyperbolic ‘Norf Landan’ accent, and a sort of Jamaican style of singing suggests that they are trying a bit hard to convey a certain image. Oh and he plays a ukulele. I thought their use pretty much died out with George Formby, but alas I was wrong. Anyway, Ukuleles are shit, sound shit and look stupid, and should only be used if you have a beard and are fond of singing about crayons, whilst wearing a knitted Christmas jumper.
The whole performance is all painfully ‘right on’ as well. You can bet that probably at least half the band are from privileged background but get a kick out of being, like, SOOO left wing, and everyone in the crowd are clearly middle class NME reading kids. I mean there’s nothing wrong with being left wing and middle class, but when the political aspect is played upon to this extent it just seems a bit cringe worthy, and pointlessly anti authoritarian, in a way that’s been done many many times before, and with perhaps more relevance than The King Blues manage. Much of what they are about you would be hard pressed to argue against, but it’s all rather predictable, and not really worthy of much other than perhaps a nod. Add this to the expensive clothes the singer seems to be wearing, and the idea of this band being from a squat, and making a backdrop from an old sheet seems more like it’s a conscious image choice, rather than anything more sincere. Things get downright silly when the guitarist takes it upon himself to put his fist up in the air, in ’solidarity with the people of Greece’. Oh come on… isn’t it all just a little bit embarrassing?
It’s not 1976 anymore, and simple, GCSE standard political rants don’t really hold the weight, nor the necessity or feeling of vitality that they once did, and unfortunately for them, The King Blues are pretty much the antithesis of the movement that took place 30 years ago. All that you glean from the songs is exactly the same as what you would from reading The Guardian or seeing any two a penny punk band in your local scummy pub and it’s not really delivered with any more panache that you would expect from a signed and hyped band playing the Underworld. It’s not particularly rebellious to say this kind of thing anymore, and it doesn’t feel half as exciting as I imagine punk used to. It’s no longer impressive to have read ‘The Communist Manifesto’ and you can buy Che Guevara t-shirts in Primark. We live in a different time, and bands need to recognise this to have any effect.
Half the people chanting and singing along as well are doing so mindlessly, which is as damaging as people following right wing rhetoric blindly. Just because it happens to align with my personal views more, doesn’t really make it anything other than over earnest left wing propaganda. Sure their heart is in the right place, but The Clash made left wing music that incorporated reggae influences, but that was 30 years ago, and they didn’t use acoustic guitars. And The Clash were good.
Finally after what seems like an age, Fucked Up take to the stage, in front of a curiously made up crowd. It seems to be a mixture of people who regularly attend hardcore shows (though not as many as you would expect) people whose only and first foray into this type of music has come tonight as a result of NME coverage(without wishing to go on about it, although Pink Eyes does read from it onstage, to a few boos, to which he replies ‘oh you know you read it!’) and older blokes, who I’m not sure why they are there, but whatever, its nice to see a bit of variation and serves as a testament to the diversity of the music the band produce. This fairly unfamiliar clientele however don’t act any different to what you might expect, and as usual Fucked Up deliver a crazy show, always teetering on the edge of descending into insanity, although perhaps they get closer to tonight than when I’ve seen them before.
Playing about 10 songs in all, Fucked Up feature a mixture of songs from Hidden World, a Christmas one, ‘Police’ and half of the new album ‘The Chemistry of Common Life’. I can’t stop listening to ‘Son the Father’ at the moment, and it starts the show in the perfect vein, with explosive energy positively buzzing from the band and around the venue. ’Crusades’ is still the highlight in terms of audience participation, which the entire set isn’t exactly short of, despite not being quite what I was expecting/am used to. One of the members of the crowd takes it upon himself to take off every item of clothing he came in with and stage dive, which leads to audible groaning from those unlucky enough to be near him at the time. There is also a ‘kid’ in the crowd who is absolute wankstain. Despite, as I later found out, being 21 years of age, he and his mates take it upon themselves to act like a bunch of excitable kids, who have travelled to London for the first time and managed to get hold of a bottle of vodka. Seemingly forgetting that most people are there to see Fucked Up, rather than him, he does his level best to get on the stage constantly, among other things, including breaking the guitarists lead. Basically he is a twat of the highest order and the show would have benefited from his absence. He also chooses to punch my aforementioned girlfriend, and although thinking he was a kid, I did my best to strangle him, before being pulled off. (Although I wish I had done more to assert my manliness, or lack thereof)
Despite this, it was generally a decent atmosphere, and as Fucked Up shows always are, a lot of fun. It was also satisfying to see Naked Kid take out Annoying Kid, to which Pink Eyes/Damien responded with ‘did that just happen? I believe in miracles.’ Annoying kid also gets Damien’s arse cheeks around his face, although I can’t help feeling that it’s the least he deserved. Without wishing to dwell on this anymore though, that’s the last I shall say on the matter.
As with the other times I have seen them, there’s the curious juxtaposition of front man Pink Eyes being a crazy fat beardy bloke, and the relatively serious, always impressively tight, remainder of the band. This strange conflict of personality is interesting to observe, it’s almost as if the band, just pretends he is not there, this curious set up seems to create a feeling of tension which in turn translates into more excitement. Despite this it’s a pretty cohesive performance as a whole, and as much as it confuses, it also amazes.
The stuff from the new album maintains the more experimental aspects of Fucked Ups music, pushing the boundaries of modern hardcore, and it’s strange to see how this and other factors have affected their fan base. They continue to sell out shows here despite this constant evolution, and the fact they play here very often, almost on a monthly basis. They seem to be almost a token hardcore band for some, but that’s simply an authentication to their genre spanning and wide appeal. Their shows always were quite diverse in terms of audience, but it seems lighter on the kind of people I’m used to seeing at hardcore shows in London, and I’m not quite sure why that is, they certainly have enough monster riffs to keep the most mindless hardcore kid happy, but challenge the ones who like a bit more alongside it.
Not enough people knew the words to Nervous Breakdown which they play as a sort of encore, and that was probably the most disappointing part of the entire show, supporting my view that the more regular hardcore show attendees chose to give this a miss. It does, however, result in a stage invasion and plenty of subsequent diving off it, with those who do know the words screaming along into whatever microphones can be found, basically making it one of my favourite endings to a set ever. I pretty much lost all sense of order. I believe a term for this is ‘losing my shit’, which I think pretty much sums up my reaction. Fucked Up fucking rule.
Let’s Wrestle- 6.5/10
The King Blues- 2/10
Fucked Up- 9/10
good review, fucked up were awesome and that kid got what he deserved. shame about the king blues review, don’t see why you wrongly assuming their middle class means they shouldn’t be political? while its your opinion whether you find it exciting or not, their politics are definately relevant and real. felt the same about lets wrestle, warmed to them but still only OK.
I tried to get away from the criticising them for being middle class and political, but obviously i probably didn’t do it enough! I just think the way they go about the politics doesnt really leave much room for subtlety of self awareness. Maybe i’m wrong and maybe they all are traditional ‘working class heroes’ but i doubt it. You can obviously be middle class and political (thats clear given that most of the people running the country are such) but i just think their approach as being revoloutionaries etc. just lends itself to being a bit cringeworthy, and i feel like im being misled in a way. If you see what i mean?
Anyway, thanks for the kind words about the review, and cheers for questioning what i said. It’s nice to know people read what i write and then think about it themselves.
im in the pictures LOL
Umm yeah it was a fucked up gig what the fuck did you expect!?!? “everyone stop dancing and appriciate the music”, they’re not fucking coldplay.
Firstly, my brother and me came to see fucked up for the first time not knowing what it would be like, as you might of guest him and me set the standard to every gig we go to, and fuck me theres a lot of them! OUR FIRST TIME IN LONDON, Ha that made me laugh, 50 gigs and 4 festivals in 2008 so relax.
secondly, i dont like vodka, get your facts straight.
thirdly, we dont intend to hit girls just an eye-for-an-eye, she kicked him, she got one back. She kicked me so i headbutted her, one back. was funny you trying to punch me, it was fun wasn’t it!
and by the way, kids?: im 19 hes 21
aslo you didnt need to put that into your article, whats that got to do with music????
It’s kind of funny in a way, you managed to contradict yourself in the space of two sentences.
‘What did you expect, it’s a Fucked Up gig?’
‘My brother and me came to see fucked up for the first time not knowing what it would be like’
I say kind of funny… it is until i remember how you are both cretins.
You say you set the standard, and i’m not going to argue with you. Just the standard you set is one of ‘being a complete twat and making a fool out of yourself in a room full of people, and making the band, and everyone in attendance hate you.’ You might not remember it all, but if i was you, i’d be fucking embarassed.
Theres a difference between dancing, reflecting the agressive nature of the music, having fun etc. and being a cunt. Obviously difference is a bit beyond you and your brother. Pushing into girls, hitting them, hitting random people in the crowd, getting on stage at every oppertunity, being a general wanker, and seeming forget that a) theres other people at this gig and b) they didnt come here to see you prance about like the bellend that you are, or be hit in the face by your flailing arms, probably constitutes crossing that line.
In terms of ‘getting my facts straight’ i’ll apologise. Maybe you don’t like vodka, and maybe you are 19 and 21. In which case, well done. I will say this though, if you act like a 14 year old, look like a 14 year old, and drink too much, it might cause people to assume things. Maybe consider that in the future? and the fact that you wear the amount of gigs you went to last year as a badge of honour, is in the words of alan partridge ’saaaaaddd’ and in the words of me, ‘proof that you are an utter cunt.’
And in terms of hitting girls, for one, i know for a fact that you were not kicked by my girlfriend. You were running into people like the twat that you are, and pushed into her. This caused her to push you back. You for some reason found this unacceptable, despite your previous behavoir and took it upon youself to headbutt her. Thats what happened, and it proves exactly the kind of person you are. Even with your side of the story, on what planet is headbutting a girl a justifiable response to a kick? Despite being about four foot tall, you probably have enough physical strength to withstand a kick without sustaining crippling injuries. You bunch of fucking cowards need to not only lie to try and justify hitting a girl, who had not done anything near enough to deserve it, but you also kicked me, then ran away… and when i saw you outside, try and lick my arse by complimenting my backpack of all things. i regretted not actually hitting you at the gig but i thought as you were acting like a kid, you were one and it wasnt actually fair, but subsequently i regret it a bit more. Nevermind though, keep acting the way you do and eventually you’ll get what is coming to you.
At the end of the day, you could ask every single person in the venue that night, who was the biggest wanker on display… and they all would pick out you or your brother. Your response to this signifies a typical lack of understanding of reasonable people, that you also displayed at Fucked Up. I know you probably have been to London before, you might want to try acting like it in future rather than the excitable shortarse you came across as the other week. You are an immature little cunt.
Oh and i put it in there because my ‘article’ is about the gig in general, and unfortunately, you chose to make yourself unavoidable. And its my blog and i’ll do whatever i want, so suck it.
Cheers cunts.
Jesus Christ i thought that dude who keopt going on stage was about 14 or something FFS! He certainly looked/ acted like he was. Other than that it was a great fucking gig although i dissaprove of your comments about The King Blues!