The Bleach Boys and The Horn - a gig review 24/03/13
The Bleach Boys’ first gig of 2013 took place on the 21st March at the Horn in St Albans. The band was the penultimate act on a four spot agenda. The first band ‘Dead Cities’ was good fun, the second band ‘Hazard’ was rubbish (all the punk attitude; too many musical errors), the headlining act was ‘The Inner Terrestrials’ - the first four songs were enough to convince me to go home. The fusion of punk and reggae/ska just didn’t work for me at all!
The Bleach Boys, a punk band that traces its heritage all the way back to the seventies, put on a polished performance that stole the show in my opinion.
The Bleach Boys brand of punk is brash, cheeky, irreverent, fast paced and good fun. Some songs that were played during that evening have titles that evidence the band’s outlook include; Psycho Semtex Sex, Wake up Wako, Guantanamo Baby, Shithead, You Cant, Nuclear War, Chloroform, Kill All Celebrities and We’ve Got The Bomb (and we’re going to use it). Politically correct, this outfit most certainly isn’t!
On many occasions, over many years I have seen this band packing the pub/club gig scene and headlining the evenings. Last Thursday though the band was part of an agenda that had been badly promoted and as a result the atmosphere at the Horn lacked the energy I am used to finding at BB gigs. The audience that came to see the headlining band either wasn’t present or prepared to engage in the normal moshing antics I have become accustomed to over the years.
Matt the singer did his best to liven up the place but to little avail, which was a shame.
To be clear, the band wasn’t listed on the posters for the gig, or on the Horn’s internet ticket selling operation or on the tickets themselves. The Bleach Boys’ agenda slot was presented as being taken by ‘Ministers Dead’, apparently the singer Matt’s other band and one that I (and I guess many others) have never heard of. There wasn’t a single skinhead or anyone with a Mohican hairdo in the audience, which is unusual!
Regardless of the lethargy in the audience, the band performed with energy, enthusiasm and accuracy. The 30 minute (or so) set kicked off at 9:30 and I was enthralled from the first to the last chord.
The gig was a good springboard for the band’s 2013 campaign; from a personal perspective, the time at the Horn went by too quickly for me and my appetite wasn’t satiated – as such I can’t wait for the next opportunity to see the Bleach Boys in action (and headlining, the slot where the band should be)!
If you aren’t familiar with the band or its work, iTunes is the place you should go. You can even download the legendary ‘Four Cyclists of the Apocalypse’ album, which is very hard to find on CD. On that delightful release you’ll find ‘Stocking Clad Nazi Death Squad Bitches’ and ‘She’s Not My Wife (she’s my slapper)’ and these are laugh out loud tunes that no punk music collection should be without!
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The Bleach Boys, a punk band that traces its heritage all the way back to the seventies, put on a polished performance that stole the show in my opinion.
The Bleach Boys brand of punk is brash, cheeky, irreverent, fast paced and good fun. Some songs that were played during that evening have titles that evidence the band’s outlook include; Psycho Semtex Sex, Wake up Wako, Guantanamo Baby, Shithead, You Cant, Nuclear War, Chloroform, Kill All Celebrities and We’ve Got The Bomb (and we’re going to use it). Politically correct, this outfit most certainly isn’t!
On many occasions, over many years I have seen this band packing the pub/club gig scene and headlining the evenings. Last Thursday though the band was part of an agenda that had been badly promoted and as a result the atmosphere at the Horn lacked the energy I am used to finding at BB gigs. The audience that came to see the headlining band either wasn’t present or prepared to engage in the normal moshing antics I have become accustomed to over the years.
Matt the singer did his best to liven up the place but to little avail, which was a shame.
To be clear, the band wasn’t listed on the posters for the gig, or on the Horn’s internet ticket selling operation or on the tickets themselves. The Bleach Boys’ agenda slot was presented as being taken by ‘Ministers Dead’, apparently the singer Matt’s other band and one that I (and I guess many others) have never heard of. There wasn’t a single skinhead or anyone with a Mohican hairdo in the audience, which is unusual!
Regardless of the lethargy in the audience, the band performed with energy, enthusiasm and accuracy. The 30 minute (or so) set kicked off at 9:30 and I was enthralled from the first to the last chord.
The gig was a good springboard for the band’s 2013 campaign; from a personal perspective, the time at the Horn went by too quickly for me and my appetite wasn’t satiated – as such I can’t wait for the next opportunity to see the Bleach Boys in action (and headlining, the slot where the band should be)!
If you aren’t familiar with the band or its work, iTunes is the place you should go. You can even download the legendary ‘Four Cyclists of the Apocalypse’ album, which is very hard to find on CD. On that delightful release you’ll find ‘Stocking Clad Nazi Death Squad Bitches’ and ‘She’s Not My Wife (she’s my slapper)’ and these are laugh out loud tunes that no punk music collection should be without!
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