BAD MANNERS + TWO PINTS + AKA THE SYNDICATE – CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON 12.12.22
You could safely say that the Sussex wintry nights were closing in and the thermals were well and truly on. Christmas was rapidly approaching and what better way to celebrate the fact than to join Buster Bloodvessel (the Bootboy Santa) and Bad Manners on their annual Brighton Xmas knees-up at the Concorde 2.
I had been to see the Neville Staple Band at Chalk’s ‘Rock Against Racism’ gig the night before, so my Ska-ometer was running at peak performance.
From the moment I saw Bad Manners on ‘Top Of The Pops’ as a youngster performing ‘Lip Up Fatty’ with Buster cutting a rug with some truly boisterous moves, I knew I was hooked. My younger brother didn’t buy many records, but I do specifically remember him buying the ‘Can Can’ single at the time and playing it on a loop in his bedroom.
The 2 Tone Ska explosion was well established at this point and even though Bad Manners were never signed by the label, in my mind they were all part of the party (They did appear on the 2 Tone ‘Dance Craze’ film though, which is getting the re-release treatment on DVD/Blu-ray very soon).
The band of school friends originally formed in 1976 in North London and it didn’t take long for them to make a name for themselves. They were most popular in the early 1980s and were regular guests on the mighty kids TV show ‘Tiswas’ which would forever cement their memory in many a school kid’s mind (including my own).
They spent a grand total of 111 weeks in the UK chart from 1980 to 1983 and their hits include the likes of ‘My Girl Lollipop’, ‘Lip Up Fatty’, ‘Special Brew’ and many more Ska classics from that golden era. We sure were in for a treat tonight and we were all looking forward to Buster handing out our presents in the form of his Ska-wrapped anthems on this December to remember.
First up tonight were a local Ska collective who go by the name of ‘AKA The Syndicate’. The idea for the band came from band member Gary Knight in 2019 who decided to create Ska/Punk and Reggae tunes with like minded individuals during lockdown.
Their songs have enjoyed many ‘Likes’ on YouTube and feature various guest musicians and vocalists from many already established Ska bands on the gig circuit at the moment. One song called ‘Hands Up (Who’s Coming With Me?)’ even featured Roddy Byers (aka Roddy Radiation from the Specials) on guitar duties.
They came onstage and launched straight into their song, ‘Two Sides To The City’ which set the stall out for the night ahead. Infectious and catchy soul grooves were on offer and Laura Betts sang her heart out. There must be a big interest in the band as the hall was already three quarters full at this point in the evening.
Tonight however, was a night cursed with illness, and the first casualty was band collaborator Clara Byrne from local Ska heroes ‘Dakka Skanks’ who I was looking forward to seeing perform onstage tonight. All was not lost though, as Laura Betts more than ably sang ‘I Got Your Soul’ and hit those soulful notes effortlessly.
It didn’t take long to notice that this seven-piece band were good players and all of this was glued together by Gary Knight on the keyboards. Aaron ‘Two Tone’ Malone was also missing in action for his vocal rendition of a song, but he was otherwise disposed and expecting a baby (well, his wife was).
The band ended their set with the song in question, ‘Hands Up (Who’s Coming With Me?)’, which is a very well-meaning song against knife crime and violence. The crowd were won over and were indeed waving their hands in the air (waving them like they just ‘did’ care). It was hard to believe that this was the band’s third gig to date, but I imagine they will get many more gig offers to come.
Band members tonight were:
Laura Betts – vocals (also of The Skatonics)
Gary Knight – keyboards
Sean Williams – sax (also of The Beat G.B)
Bob Dear – drums
Jamie Yates – trumpet
Simon Peet – guitar
Jamie Franklin – bass
Aka The Syndicate setlist:
‘Two Sides Of The City’
‘More Bad News’
‘Waiting For Monkey’
‘Overview’
‘Shake The Tree’
‘Average Man’
‘I Got Your Soul’
‘New Revolution’
‘Save It’
‘Hands Up’
By this time of night, the Christmas ales were flowing and the Egg Nogs were getting knocked back, all in preparation for the next act who were to go by the catchy name of ‘Splodgenessabounds’. Unfortunately, their frontman Max Splodge was also ill tonight so the remaining members of the band (three members of the Bad Manners band) got onstage anyway and played some of the song’s chosen by Max, and others that the guitarist, Tom Massey enjoyed playing. They also went under the name of ‘Two Pints’ which was an obvious Splodge reference to one of their biggest hits.
First off, they launched into ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ by the Ramones (of course) which got the crowd bopping immediately. The second song was a Tom Petty song which I thought was a strange choice, but it also seemed to go down well with the audience. Tenpole Tudor’s ‘Swords Of A Thousand Men’ also got an airing followed by Sham 69’s classic ‘Hurry Up Harry’ which got everyone singing “We’re Going Down The Pub” in rowdy unison (I wasn’t singing mind you … I was driving).
The singalongs hit fever pitch when an Oasis song was performed and they ended with a cover of Splodge’s very own anthem, ‘Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please’ (complete with technical guitar solo). Well, I’m certainly not a cover version fan, but this band did the warm up business and the crowd were lapping it up. Well done to the band who had to quickly dust themselves off and play with the headliners tonight.
Band members tonight were:
Tom Massey – guitar/vocals
Lee Thompson – bass
Mark Hamilton – drums
A short break later and Bad Manners ran to the stage armed with guitars, drum sticks, keyboards and various brass instruments to big applause (and the odd chant of “Oi!”) from the packed room gathered here tonight.
The band quickly launched into an instrumental intro (‘Echo 4-2’) and Buster came onto the stage to chants of “You Fat Bastard” from a boisterous crowd. ‘This Is Ska’ was the first song followed by their hit single, ‘My Girl Lollipop’ which had the audience jumping around and singing along as if their lives depended on it.
Buster literally got the crowd jumping with a bit of mass crowd participation during ‘Feel Like Jumping’ followed by my personal favourite, ‘Lorraine’. The band were tight and obviously having a whale of a time. The horn section were constantly larking about and having fun and I especially remember saxophonist Adrian trying to put the trombonist off during his solo, by attempting to take a selfie of them both.
Buster was great with the crowd too and gave us many a flash of his trademark enormous tongue to keep the punters happy. ‘Walking In The Sunshine’ was also played, followed by a couple of instrumentals which Buster dedicated to their original Harmonica player, Winston Bazoomies who sadly passed away earlier this month.
When Buster came back to the stage, he led the crowd into a sing-a-long in the form of ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ which really lends itself to a Ska beat believe it or not, and left everyone with grins on their faces. I love the song ‘Inner London Violence’, so I was really glad they played this tonight.
As the set was drawing to an end, they played a rip roaring version of ‘Wooly Bully’ and the Ska classic, ‘Special Brew’ which left people shouting for more. A few minutes later and it was encore time which kicked off with ‘Don’t Knock The Baldheads’ (originally by Headline) and another one of my favourite’s, ‘Lip Up Fatty’ which got the room to boiling point and at this point my Ska-ometer was off the scale.
I think 90 per cent of the room was dancing tonight and it was a great way to defrost themselves after such a cold evening on the seafront. It was a great sight to see everyone doing the ‘Can Can’ during the last song along with the band. Buster said his goodbyes and said he was suffering from ill health himself, but was happy to be playing gigs again. He was on top form I must say, and long may he continue entertaining us, as he and his energetic band did tonight.
By this time, a great festive time was had by all and we were safe in the knowledge that Buster Bloodvessel and his band of Merry Men dished out the rocksteady goods with all the trimmings. The sleigh bells (and my ears) were ringing so it was time to head back home and get the mince pies out before retiring to our yuletide mangers. This is Ska indeed.
The band tonight consisted of:
Buster Bloodvessel -vocals
Lee Thompson – bass
Tom Massey – guitar
David Edwards -kKeyboards
Mark Hamilton – drums
Adrian Cox – sax
Tony Rico Richardson – sax
Colin Graham – trumpet
Stuart Garside – trombone
Bad Manners setlist:
‘Echo 4-2’
‘This Is Ska’
‘My Girl Lollipop’
‘Feel Like Jumping’
‘Lorraine’
‘Fatty Fatty’
‘Walking In The Sunshine’
‘King Ska-Fa’
‘Red River Ska’
‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’
‘Just A Feeling’
‘El Pussycat’
‘Ne Ne Na Na Na Nu Nu Nu’
‘Inner London Violence’
‘Skinhead Girl’
‘Don’t Be Angry’
‘Wooly Bully’
‘Special Brew’
(encore)
‘Don’t Knock The Baldheads’
‘Lip Up Fatty’
‘Can Can’
www.facebook.com/badmannersofficial
