One of the best ever gigs that I attended in my 45 year gigging history was held at the Lyceum in London on Sunday 24th May 1981. It featured no less than five heavy punk bands of the time and in performance first order were the Anti-Nowhere League, Chron Gen, Anti Pasti, The Exploited and Discharge!
To give you some idea of what it was like, the headliners Discharge rattled through their 25 song set in a mere 50 minutes! So you know that it was fast! All the bands released their own bootleg tapes of this infamous ‘Apocalypse Now’ gig and you can listen to Discharge’s performance HERE.
Discharge were originally formed back in 1977 by Terry “Tezz” Roberts and Roy “Rainy” Wainwright. They are often considered among one of the very first bands to play hardcore punk. While the band had substantial lineup changes over its history, the core members over the early 1980s, when the band produced its key recordings, were Kelvin “Cal” Morris (vocals), Tony “Bones” Roberts (guitar), Roy Wainwright (bass), and Terry Roberts (drums).
The band’s music is characterized by a heavy, distorted, and grinding guitar-driven sound and rawly shouted vocals, with lyrics on anarchist and pacifist themes. The band’s first album in 1982, ‘Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing’, went to number two on the UK Indie charts and number 40 in the UK Album Chart. In the early 1980s, the group had a number of singles and EPs placed in the top 10 of the UK indie charts, including the 1981 EP ‘Why’ and the 1982 single ‘State Violence State Control’.
After 1982, the addition of guitarist Peter “Pooch” Purtill brought significant thrash metal crossover elements to the band. In the 1990s, the band released several metal-influenced albums, which alienated some of the original fan base. In the early 2000s, the original line up was reunited and they released a self-titled album using the 1980s musical style. Discharge’s music influenced hardcore punk, thrash metal, crust punk, grindcore and various extreme metal subgenres. The most well-known thrash metal bands covering Discharge songs include Metallica, Anthrax, and Sepultura.
Thankfully Discharge have now announced an appearance at the ever popular Con Club in Lewes on Sunday 29th October and will be supported by Brighton based Crust/Hardcore Punk band Constant State Of Terror. Discharge last played at the same venue back in 2021, read our review HERE. The forthcoming event has been organised by Bristol based Death Or Glory Promotions who certainly know a thing or two about this style of music as they also run a record shop.
Purchase your Discharge tickets for the forthcoming Con Club, Lewes gig HERE.
More info on Discharge HERE.
