The gig ticket On Saturday night (3rd August) I went to a great gig at Club 85 in Hitchin; the bill contained four acts, No Fear of Falling, Dr Nasty, the legendary Bleach Boys and the headliners Chron Gen.
No Fear of Falling was a band of young lads (school age if you ask me, maybe sixth formers) that kicked off the evening; the band was followed by Dr Nasty, a ‘punk poet’ who recited his debauched material from the stage.
For me, the show really got rolling when the Bleach Boys took to the stage!
On the subject of the band, and just in case you don’t know, the Bleach Boys is a four piece outfit and the members are all capable and experienced musicians. It might be punk music but Mark (guitar), John (bass) and Rob (drums) play their instruments will skill and flair. The band was formed in the seventies and has been going ever since (and still with two of the original members), has got records quoted in Record Collector and has a legitimate claim to be in the punk music hall of fame. The band members all have proper jobs, families and commitments but fit the gigs in too because they enjoy themselves and have a laugh.
I’ll admit that I am a fan, I like these guys and I like the humour and irreverence that peppers their fast-paced tunes.
The Bleach Boys set was 15 songs long and included some of my favourites;
· “Chloroform”
· “Weirdo”
· “Nuclear War”
· “Slapper”
· “Stocking Clad NDS Bitches”
· “Move it” – a punk tribute to Cliff Richard
Whilst the venue was packed and the audience was close to the stage and enjoying the first few songs, no one was actually ‘dancing.’ Fortified by three pints of Guinness, I decided to get the mosh going myself. I took to the floor and for a short while was on my own, but completely undaunted. God knows what I looked like (an idiot for sure) but then again I didn’t care; I was having a great time.
Fortunately it wasn’t long before some other souls were ‘brave’ enough to join in as well. At one point I borrowed the microphone from Matt, the singer, and suggested that some of the crowd joined me for a foxtrot (to be honest, I may not have been quite that polite in my form of address).
The ensuing argy bargee was really good fun although I sustained some cuts and bruises and at one point my watch was torn from my wrist (fortunately rescued from the floor before it got trampled on – I subsequently fixed it on Sunday morning).
Even now parts of my body would suggest that I have been fighting but then again, to the untrained eye, a mosh does rather look like a brawl!
I am too old for this kind of nonsense and really should know better but it was great to be on a night out, to have a few beers, to listen to some excellent music and all with the knowledge that for once I didn’t have to drive home! I also took some satisfaction from still possessing the fitness/stamina to ‘perform’ (the term is used loosely) for song after song without collapsing or needing medical attention.
That observation brings me on to Chron Gen. This band, like the Bleach Boys, was active in the late seventies and had released singles and an album that did well in the independent charts; the band was therefore possessing of genuine punk authenticity. I had never seen Chron Gen before because to be fair, it was dissolved in 1984 and at that point I was still too young to be on the gig scene. The band got back together in 2013, hence the opportunity to see it now.
Interestingly Chron Gen was a Letchworth band and the Bleach Boys a Hitchin/Baldock band so geographically very close but apparently the bands had only ever played on the same bill twice before.
Now back to medical attention; Chron Gen, as headliners, pulled in a crowd that had an average age that reflected the band’s heyday (particularly given that the 29 year sabbatical would have made attracting new followers a bit of a challenge). That meant that some of the fellas that wanted to mosh for these guys were older than me by a five to ten year margin. I realised why some of the new to the floor ‘dancers’ had held off from joining me for the Bleach Boys – risk of heart attack! There was a lot of extra weight heaving around and the owners were surely managing their exposure/risk levels!
Still I can’t be complacent either; after the Bleach Boys, I topped up my fluid levels (with water not Guinness) and kept out of the fray for the first couple of Chron Gen’s songs to recover from my earlier exertions.
The surviving (for some haven’t) members of Chron Gen looked to be in fine health and played well and were enthusiastically received. The ‘dancing’ was lively throughout the band’s set and an encore was also demanded.
By the time the night was over I was knackered but in good spirits. I was soaked with sweat and not exactly looking, or smelling for that matter, my best.
As I walked through Hitchin afterwards, I reflected for the first time that week that I was hot but not at all bothered. Trussed up in a suit for work during the preceding days I had slow cooked in London and sweated through my shirt or been thoroughly rained on in Milton Keynes – these events had annoyed me; the gig though cheered me up no end, no better way to get a sweat on than by earning it in a mosh pit (well aside from sex of course)!
What a great night!
The Bleach Boys next play at the Horn in St. Albans on the 25th August – day two of “Hornfest” and it’s free to get in on the Sunday so no excuses not to go! The band is scheduled to play at 4:30pm. Unfortunately I’ll have to miss that gig but you don’t have to. Put the date in your diary now and start looking forward to it.
Chron Gen gig dates are published on the band’s website, visit now and plan a trip out.
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No Fear of Falling was a band of young lads (school age if you ask me, maybe sixth formers) that kicked off the evening; the band was followed by Dr Nasty, a ‘punk poet’ who recited his debauched material from the stage.
For me, the show really got rolling when the Bleach Boys took to the stage!
On the subject of the band, and just in case you don’t know, the Bleach Boys is a four piece outfit and the members are all capable and experienced musicians. It might be punk music but Mark (guitar), John (bass) and Rob (drums) play their instruments will skill and flair. The band was formed in the seventies and has been going ever since (and still with two of the original members), has got records quoted in Record Collector and has a legitimate claim to be in the punk music hall of fame. The band members all have proper jobs, families and commitments but fit the gigs in too because they enjoy themselves and have a laugh.
I’ll admit that I am a fan, I like these guys and I like the humour and irreverence that peppers their fast-paced tunes.
The Bleach Boys set was 15 songs long and included some of my favourites;
· “Chloroform”
· “Weirdo”
· “Nuclear War”
· “Slapper”
· “Stocking Clad NDS Bitches”
· “Move it” – a punk tribute to Cliff Richard
Whilst the venue was packed and the audience was close to the stage and enjoying the first few songs, no one was actually ‘dancing.’ Fortified by three pints of Guinness, I decided to get the mosh going myself. I took to the floor and for a short while was on my own, but completely undaunted. God knows what I looked like (an idiot for sure) but then again I didn’t care; I was having a great time.
Fortunately it wasn’t long before some other souls were ‘brave’ enough to join in as well. At one point I borrowed the microphone from Matt, the singer, and suggested that some of the crowd joined me for a foxtrot (to be honest, I may not have been quite that polite in my form of address).
The ensuing argy bargee was really good fun although I sustained some cuts and bruises and at one point my watch was torn from my wrist (fortunately rescued from the floor before it got trampled on – I subsequently fixed it on Sunday morning).
Even now parts of my body would suggest that I have been fighting but then again, to the untrained eye, a mosh does rather look like a brawl!
I am too old for this kind of nonsense and really should know better but it was great to be on a night out, to have a few beers, to listen to some excellent music and all with the knowledge that for once I didn’t have to drive home! I also took some satisfaction from still possessing the fitness/stamina to ‘perform’ (the term is used loosely) for song after song without collapsing or needing medical attention.
That observation brings me on to Chron Gen. This band, like the Bleach Boys, was active in the late seventies and had released singles and an album that did well in the independent charts; the band was therefore possessing of genuine punk authenticity. I had never seen Chron Gen before because to be fair, it was dissolved in 1984 and at that point I was still too young to be on the gig scene. The band got back together in 2013, hence the opportunity to see it now.
Interestingly Chron Gen was a Letchworth band and the Bleach Boys a Hitchin/Baldock band so geographically very close but apparently the bands had only ever played on the same bill twice before.
Now back to medical attention; Chron Gen, as headliners, pulled in a crowd that had an average age that reflected the band’s heyday (particularly given that the 29 year sabbatical would have made attracting new followers a bit of a challenge). That meant that some of the fellas that wanted to mosh for these guys were older than me by a five to ten year margin. I realised why some of the new to the floor ‘dancers’ had held off from joining me for the Bleach Boys – risk of heart attack! There was a lot of extra weight heaving around and the owners were surely managing their exposure/risk levels!
Still I can’t be complacent either; after the Bleach Boys, I topped up my fluid levels (with water not Guinness) and kept out of the fray for the first couple of Chron Gen’s songs to recover from my earlier exertions.
The surviving (for some haven’t) members of Chron Gen looked to be in fine health and played well and were enthusiastically received. The ‘dancing’ was lively throughout the band’s set and an encore was also demanded.
By the time the night was over I was knackered but in good spirits. I was soaked with sweat and not exactly looking, or smelling for that matter, my best.
As I walked through Hitchin afterwards, I reflected for the first time that week that I was hot but not at all bothered. Trussed up in a suit for work during the preceding days I had slow cooked in London and sweated through my shirt or been thoroughly rained on in Milton Keynes – these events had annoyed me; the gig though cheered me up no end, no better way to get a sweat on than by earning it in a mosh pit (well aside from sex of course)!
What a great night!
The Bleach Boys next play at the Horn in St. Albans on the 25th August – day two of “Hornfest” and it’s free to get in on the Sunday so no excuses not to go! The band is scheduled to play at 4:30pm. Unfortunately I’ll have to miss that gig but you don’t have to. Put the date in your diary now and start looking forward to it.
Chron Gen gig dates are published on the band’s website, visit now and plan a trip out.
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