SKURVI + SPUN* VOLCANO & THE ERUPTIONS + KNOCK OFF + EMERGENCY BITTER – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 5.5.18
Brighton’s very own loveable punk louts Skurvi got together 10 years ago and 165 gigs later, they are still going strong.
Skurvi say that their inspiration for starting the band was their love of cheap booze, cheap laughs and punk rock. You can tell that they are inspired by the likes of Peter & The Test Tube Babies, the Cockney Rejects and Cock Sparrer.
The original line-up featured Jimmy (of Radio Reverb fame) Skuri (vocals), Liam (bass and bv’s), Perry (guitar and bv’s) and Jacques (drums). Tonight at the Prince Albert near Brighton Railway Station, the band were reunited one more time as Jacques was back in the fold, but for only one song ‘Brits On Holiday’.
Current dummer Craig kindly gave up his seat so that Jacques could have a go. I suspect that the audience will remember this for quite some time as Jacques, ever the showman, decided to strip off down to his (Skurvi) pants. No doubt the ladies present were ogling his fit bod!
The band delivered a really decent 16 song set filled with anthemic sing along punk ditties that would keep any self respecting geezer bopping until he dropped.
The venue was packed and had a great punk atmosphere, by that I mean friendly banter and sarcasm. This was mirrored by all four bands on tonight’s shindig.
If I had to choose Skurvi’s outstanding tracks on the night, then the final two ‘Skinhead’ (By Default) and ‘Her’ were corkers as well as the aforementioned ‘Brits On Holiday’.
Their full setlist was:
‘Snatch Squad’, ‘Work’, ‘Alright’, ‘Three Cheers’, ‘Drunken Nights’, ‘Better Way’, ‘She’s Coming’, ‘Shut Up’, ‘Till We Die’, ‘Brits On Holiday’, ‘Geezer’, ‘Football’, ‘Skum Rises’, ‘Wanting More’, ‘Skinhead’, ‘Her’.
More on Skurvi here https://www.facebook.com/skurvi/
The other three punk bands on the bill were Spun* Volcano & The Eruptions, Knock Off and Emergency Bitter.
First up on the evening were a 5-piece vintage punk outfit hailing from in and around the Kingston area of London, known as Emergency Bitter.
The bands personnel are Ferret (vocals) (surely not named after his physique), Joe (guitar), Alb (bass), Rob (guitar) and Phil (drums). It was pleasant to see a band made up of guys of varying ethnicity and ages all getting it together for the love of punk (beer etc etc).
I have to honestly say that the guys were totally brilliant and I really need to see them perform live again. I was so enamoured with their tunes that I purchased both of their CD albums the 2013 debut ‘CiderFootballPunkRock’ and the latest ‘Ciderfects’.
Their 13 track set was all killer and no filler and all tunes can be found on both albums.
The setlist reads:
‘Wake Up’, ‘Hate Me’, ‘Punk Rock Saved My Life’, ‘Sold My Soul’, ‘Made In Britain’, ‘Daytime Drinking’, ‘Silver Spoon’, ‘Old Rosie’, ‘My Life’, ‘Never Growing Up’, ‘Square Peg’, ‘F*uck The B.N.P’, ‘CiderFootballPunkRock’.
Find out more from Emergency Bitter here: https://www.facebook.com/bitterpunk/
After a mere 15 minute turnaround, we were off again, with the second punk act, namely a hard-hitting loud trio from Watford known as Knock Off.
These mature guys – Andy T (vocals/guitar), Andy C (drums) and Lozz (bass) – formed the band only five years ago and I would say that they take their influences from the UK punk scene circa 1981, which was very heavy and full of Oi! bands. Knock Off have a raw powerful sound and their repertoire is inspired by football, anger, disillusionment at a country going down the pan and life in general. Having said that, there is the odd sprinkling of humour in their set.
Knock Off play what I would call proper punk and I enormously enjoyed their set too – but oh noooo pants – I failed to bring out enough cash to buy their CD’s – what a muppet!
The only slight hiccup from their terrific set, was the fact that they actually forgot how to play their song ‘Football Beer & Punk Rock’. So we had just the 30 seconds of that – rather amusing really. Their best track was their final tune ‘Jack The Ripper’.
The full setlist reads:
‘The Hunted’, ‘Are You Offended’, ‘This Ain’t No Love Song’, ‘You Sold Our Glory’, ‘Warriors’, ‘80’s TV Cop Shows’, ‘Football Beer And Punk Rock’ (30 seconds), ‘C.*.N.T’, ‘Fingers To The Bone’, ‘This Is Who We Are’, ‘Jack The Ripper’.
Check out more from Knock Off here https://www.facebook.com/knockoffpunkband/
Yet another 15 minute turnaround and we are off again. This time it’s the turn of Spun* Volcano & The Eruptions.
This 5-piece hail from Nottingham and one thing is for sure, there’s no way that you will ever forget if you have seen these guys play live or not as the portly singer ‘Mr’ Volcano was sporting a safety pinned mask in the style of a punk Kendo Nagasaki, along with a spiked leather jacket with punk badges affixed and strangely just boxer shorts!
Yes indeed we were in the realms of vintage comedy punk here, but I would suggest mixing it in with elements of The Exploited and you have it. Again, they were a great band. So that was all 4 bands on the night were excellent! Now that rarely happens at a gig. A most memorable night, I would say.
Of the ‘Volcanoes’ 11 song set, I would say that I enjoyed ‘Crossfire’ and ‘Gatecrash’, but the outstanding one was ‘You’re The Bastard’.
More on their Facebook page HERE and you may wish to also check out the familiar face in Dirt Box Disco. Find out more here https://www.facebook.com/dirtboxdisco/ and here http://www.dirtboxdisco.co.uk/
Setlist:
‘Sh*t Generation’, ‘Sellotape’, ‘Hanging Round The Shops’, ‘Ram Raid’, ‘Crossfire’, ‘Teenage Teenagers’, ‘XR3’, ‘Gatecrash’, ‘Nobhead’, ‘DNA Failure’, ‘You’re The Bastard’.
