This is the first live review I have posted on here in about 6 months. So it is somewhat apt that I would resume with Government Warning, one of the finest hardcore bands around today. Thinking about it I’m not sure why that would be any more apt than any other band, but fuck it, opening sentences always suck. A couple of shows in recent weeks have rivalled it, but this was without doubt one of the best shows I’ve been to all year.
It took me about 6 hours to get down from Norwich for this, and the same on the way back. Getting there required me getting a bus from my house to the train station, at the train station getting a 2 hour train to London, then getting a tube to Victoria coach station, before finally getting the coach to Brighton. It was a fucking horrible journey and I didn’t get enough sleep either the night before the show, or the night after. I must say thanks to the promoter Ralph for not only putting on the show in the first place, but for allowing me to sleep on his sofa, in his living room with members of both Government Warning and Wasted Time. Living the high life and shit aint I? I had only committed myself to going to the show a few days before, despite having planned on it for as long as I knew about it. I therefore had to plan out the night before how best to get down there with a minimum of fuss, find somewhere to stay, and not run out of money.
One the way down I also puked within about 15 minutes of being on the coach, much to the dismay of the girl I was sitting next to. The thing is though, national express coaches are too hot, they have leather seats, and it’s impossible for me to ever be comfortable on a coach seat unless I can put my feet in the aisle, thanks to my freakishly long but sleek, slender, supple legs. And I was sitting in the window seat. Due to this sickness I spent around 10 minutes leaning up against the wall in the toilet, which smelled pretty bad, trying to catch a breeze through an air vent and puking up the contents of my stomach, which at that point was limited to water and bile. The rest of the journey was comparatively ok, but I think the only thing I said for around half an hour was a pathetic, comedic ‘oh god’… I find people’s reactions to their own misfortune are often funnier than the misfortune itself. Anyway, I’m becoming aware that I’m wittering on so I’ll start talking about what you came here to read. The show. Was it worth it? Fuck yeah! Even though I had to go to the show on my own, I was physically knackered when I got back and my wallet felt just as bad, it was a great show.
The venue itself is a small community hall just down the road from Brighton train station. I think it is more often used to hold yoga nights and shit, but it’s perfectly suited for this kind of gig. It was rammed before the end of the first bands set, full of distros, and there was a genuinely pleasant atmosphere about the gig. I wish all shows could be like this, and although I can’t speak for Brighton as a scene, I hope the kids/old geezers around there really appreciate the cool venue that they have, and the fact they can get bands like Government Warning to play. Incidentally GW had originally not planned to come over to the UK at all, so this show is a testament to the will and good work of the promoters and those who made it happen.
I think this kind of show is the closest I’ll ever get to experiencing the kind of setting for a show the kids got to go to in early 1980’s America- although thankfully there was no need for MDCesque police hating here. This feeling I think was enhanced by the fact that all the bands featured, to varying degrees took a good deal of influence from the early American Hardcore scene, without sounding like pale imitations.
First up were Hello Bastards, who were added to the bill as a replacement from Violent Arrest, who were unfortunately unable to play. Hello Bastards play an aggressive band of politically motivated (surprisingly for the genre!) crustie d-beat. Personally my foray into this kind of genre doesn’t really go that far, I like Crass, Conflict, Discharge and some stuff like Tragedy etc. but to a point I find it can often lapse into being quite samey (feel free to switch off now as a result of that). This is true of Hello Bastards; it’s not really anything I haven’t heard before. But they play a high octane set, full of aggression and energy and it’s played well enough to make it a worthwhile exercise. Of course there’s the air of peachiness about it, which tends to shut me off to an extent… as for the most part bands like this preach to the converted whilst those who might need to take notice just wonder what they said/describe it as just noise/aren’t there at all (most likely). But musically speaking it’s not a bad way to start at all.
The Shitty Limits are one of those bands where you can see their influences as clear as day, but they combine them all to make something almost unique. They just released their debut LP (although it wasn’t out at this show) and if it’s anything like their 7”s it’s going to be one hell of a record. One of the best punk/hardcore/whatever you want to call them bands in the UK without a doubt, I can pretty much guarantee that the new album is great without having heard it, if their performance here is anything to go by. I already gushed over them last time I saw them, and I stand by everything I said then, probably with even more conviction. The perfect blend of garage, punk and hardcore that is just so much fun live. It’s fast, loud; just the right amount sloppy and they have a front-man who reflects this mood and energy perfectly, storming around the floor maniacally. This was excellent, really set the tone for the next two bands and pretty much justified the journey on their own.
Wasted Time sound just like you might expect a Richmond band on Grave Mistake to. It just so happens that the sound in question is pretty awesome. Things really kick off for these, turning up a notch even from the excellent and receptive reaction The Limits got. It’s clear there are plenty of people here who have been waiting too long for this band to come over, and they react appropriately. The floor becomes a heaving, sweaty, beer soaked mass of kids, surging from one side of the room to another. They cover a Poison Idea song too, although I can’t remember which one, which serves as a good reference point. Retreading the same sort of territory as Government Warning or Cloak/Dagger, but as with both bands, Wasted Time add their own flavour to a familiar recipe, preventing any boredom from creeping in. The sense of urgency and vigour with which they rattle through the set belies the fact they are on a huge tour and the lack of sleep they’ve probably had.
The quite frankly massive in every way singer sounds almost desperate- I’m not sure if that’s the right word but it’s the only way I can describe it, such is the intensity of his vocals. Occasionally they snap from frantic fast slabs of old school hardcore into slower dirge like parts, but this just serves to increase the power for when they really get going. I’d not really checked these out so much, at least not to the extent that I had Government Warning, but I was seriously impressed, and by all accounts they gave them a real run for their money as best band of the night here. They have a new LP out which, if the 2 EP’s and the evidence of tonight is anything to go by, will be almost essential. Awesome.
Finally Government Warning take to the stage and any fears which may have lingered about whether this show was worth the expense in terms of travelling and money disappear. I thought things had kicked of for Wasted Time, but this was something else. Probably one of my favourite US bands, I had waited ages to see these, and despite being the only UK date of a mammoth European tour, there was no way I was missing out. By this point the room is full to burst, and I think there were people from all of the country down for the show. Government Warning sound like all my favourite bands from the 80’s rolled into one, but are far from being a simple rip off band. They are more like the reincarnation of bands like Zero Boys, Adolescents, Battalion of Saints, The F.U’s, Reagan Youth… and they are fucking great. They are actually surprisingly tight considering the line-up here is very much a makeshift one, the bass player switched to guitar around 3 weeks ago and they have a new bassist playing here. Singer Kenny opens proceedings by saying he is going to take it easy, a makeshift bandage adorning his suspected broken hand. Within about 10 seconds of saying this, he drops to the floor from the stage and mid song is hit by what can only be described as a wrestling spear. So much for taking it easy.
This doesn’t affect his vocals, or not noticeably so, as they are suitably bratty and snarling, helping to elevate the level that this band operate on even higher. For much of the rest of the set he spends his time out of harms way, but that doesn’t stop those at the front from running around like bellends, me included. Playing a mix of stuff from the two 7”s and ‘No Moderation’ alongside tracks from brand new LP ‘Paranoid Mess’ and an upcoming EP, all sounding great … as well as a cover of ‘No Class ‘ by Reagan Youth, they race through an awesome set, with everyone screaming along with every song, this is a triumphant performance (as much as that sounds like something a cretin like Piers Morgan might say on Britain’s got Talent), with band and crowd alike uniting in one shambolic, messy and fucked up harmony. Not only do Government Warning have the songs, live they take on a whole new lease of life, leaving pretty much everyone there screaming for more when they try and finish. This is to an extent successful as the band play a couple more, including another cover, this time by Vile- one of the most infamous bands of the 1980’s hardcore scene. On this kind of form, even that doesn’t seem like enough. Hopefully they come back soon, because seeing a brilliant band like this at a great show really highlights the shittiness of other gigs I sometimes go to, and how more gigs SHOULD be. Brilliant, and worth nearly bankrupting myself for, great bands, a great atmosphere, a great venue, all in all, a perfect night.
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