SKIDS + SPEAR OF DESTINY – CHALK, BRIGHTON 14.12.24
For a few glorious years between 1978 and 1981, Scottish art punks Skids were riding the crest of the new wave. With three singles in the UK Top 20, including 1979 Top 10 hit ‘Into The Valley’, three charting albums, and frequent TV appearances, they were big news. Skids, sometimes styled as ‘The Skids’, formed in Dunfermline in 1977, and were based around the songwriting partnership of singer Richard Jobson and guitarist Stuart Adamson. Their debut EP ‘Charles’, self-released on the No Bad label, picked up airplay from Radio One DJ John Peel, which in turn scored them a local support slot for The Clash, and the band signed a record deal with Virgin in 1978.
Stuart Adamson left in 1981, going on to have further success with his new band Big Country. Richard Jobson persevered with a fourth album, ‘Joy’, featuring contributions from guest musicians, but the change in musical style was not well received and the band split the following year. A series of reunion gigs took place in 2007 to mark 30 years since the band’s formation, and as a tribute to Stuart, who sadly died in 2001. Since then Skids have recorded new material and re-established themselves as a popular live act. The current tour is to mark the 45th anniversary of second album ‘Days In Europa’, and is a busy schedule for the current lineup. Tonight’s show at Chalk in Brighton’s Pool Valley, promoted by AGMP, is the 24th date since the start of the itinerary at Bedford on 6th November.
We’re treated to a blistering set, described below, by Spear Of Destiny, who have joined Skids for this tour. The stage is re-set for the headliners, dominated by a massive backdrop similar to the original album artwork for ‘Days In Europa’. The image, showing an Olympian being crowned with a laurel wreath, was based on the cover of the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics guide, an association that was sufficiently controversial in 1979 for the album to be briefly withdrawn and reissued with a different sleeve.
An intro recording of skittering electronics heralds the arrival of Skids, who take the stage to a huge cheer and launch into ‘Animation’. The current lineup has been stripped back to a four-piece, with a young player called Connor Whyte taking over guitar duties from Bruce and Jamie Watson, who have left to concentrate on their roles within Big Country. The band are all clad in black, with Gil Allan house right on bass, and Nick Hernandez behind the kit, the kick drum badged with the album imagery. Vocalist Richard Jobson is very much the focus of attention, looking in great shape and bounding around the stage with astonishing energy. His rather stylish sleeveless black gilet reveals impressively muscular arms, suggesting the traditional rock ’n’ roll excesses might have been eschewed in favour of a more fitness-oriented lifestyle. It’s a cracking start to the set, with Nick laying down a long lolloping snare roll and Connor pulling some cool shapes whilst replicating the classic chiming guitar sound. The crowd join in with the chanted hook. ‘Thanatos’ is bristling with nifty stabs and pushes and a wonderfully expansive descending progression. Scudding kick drum drives the air-punching classic ‘Charade’. Connor is doing a splendid job with the dancing licks of the solo, with Gil’s bass run closely following its ascent up the neck.
It’s been a lively start, with Richard addressing the audience whilst getting his breath back. He tells us his usual spiel is “two songs in and you’re f*cked,” but “tonight it’s three songs!” I suspect our hero has plenty more energy in the tank, though he is already glistening with the sweat of honest toil. He’s quite the raconteur, regaling us with an amusing anecdote about meeting Diana Ross when recording ‘Top of the Pops’, performing ‘Working For The Yankee Dollar’, an album single that reached the Top 20 in late1979 and whose lyric seems even more relevant now. For tonight’s rendition the gilet is sensibly discarded. There’s an impressive bounce underway in the crowd, and an enthusiastic take up of a chanted call-and-response section that includes an updated lyric that is less-than-complimentary about the current US president-elect.
A devoted fan at the front points out to Richard that ‘Pros And Cons’ has been missed out from the written setlist. “Thank you, you anorak,” the singer responds warmly, before correcting the omission. ‘The Olympian’ is a particularly bouncy number, its vocal briefly interrupted by a failure of the radio mic, though a member of the tech crew is quick to provide a wired alternative to use whilst the fault is rectified. ‘Masquerade’, introduced by Richard as his “favourite Skids song”, was a non-album single that reached number 16 in the UK singles chart, and things are getting pretty lively in the crowd. ‘A Day In Europa’ is the last track played from the album whose anniversary is being celebrated, and it’s a cracker with a superb riff and some thumping drums.
“The Skids would never have played again if it wasn’t for U2 and Green Day doing a cover of one of our songs,” Richard admits, introducing ‘The Saints Are Coming’, originally the lead track of a 1978 EP. The cover version was a charity single in 2006, released in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and brought Skids’ work to the attention of a wider and younger audience. Equally iconic is the bass intro and guitar riff of ‘Into The Valley’, the band’s biggest hit. Note taking is abandoned as I bounce along as vigorously as my old legs will stand, punching the air and shouting out the “Ahoy! Ahoy!” hook. At the song’s thunderous conclusion there’s a rather charming reprise, with Richard conducting unaccompanied community singing, loudly embraced by the delighted crowd.
There’s more banter introducing ‘TV Stars’. Apparently the Brighton audience are “sophisticated progressive people” as we have so far resisted the urge to shout “Albert Tatlock” all the way through the gig. The singer self-deprecatingly describes the number as “the worst song in the history of rock ’n’ roll”, though of course it’s rollocking good fun. A warm tribute to Stuart, introducing ‘Circus Games’, the last song they wrote together, is lightened by Richard’s joking admission of how jealous he was of Big Country’s success.
There’s a sort of pre-encore, with the Australia-themed ‘Hurry On Boys’ and ‘Charles’, the title track of the EP that started it all back in 1978, before the band members actually leave the stage. They return, to rapturous applause, with a blistering cover of ‘Complete Control’, in homage to the huge influence of The Clash when the band were first starting out. This rightly goes down an absolute storm, with plenty of lively dancing in the crowd. Connor, who has played a blinder replicating Stuart Adamson’s distinctive guitar sound, has no problem whatsoever with Mick Jones’ iconic solo, executed whilst pulling the coolest of shapes. Richard Jobson, supposedly “f*cked” after three numbers, is still bounding around like a jumping jack.
This has been a superb and hugely enjoyable set, and I’m very glad I caught it. Clearly, there’s more to Skids than just the singles, with their albums definitely worth revisiting.
Skids:
Richard Jobson – lead vocals
Connor Whyte – guitar, vocals
Gil Allan – bass, vocals
Nick Hernandez – drums
Skids setlist:
‘Animation’ (from 1979 ‘Days In Europa’ album)
‘Thanatos’ (from 1979 ‘Days In Europa’ album)
‘Charade’ (from 1979 ‘Days In Europa’ album)
‘Working For The Yankee Dollar’ (from 1979 ‘Days In Europa’ album)
‘Pros And Cons’ (from 1979 ‘Days In Europa’ album)
‘The Olympian’ (from 1979 ‘Days In Europa’ album)
‘Masquerade’ (a 1979 single)
‘A Day In Europa’ (from 1979 ‘Days In Europa’ album)
‘The Saints Are Coming’ (from 1978 ‘Wide Open’ EP)
‘Into The Valley’ (from 1979 ‘Scared To Dance’ album)
‘TV Stars’ (from 1979 ‘Into The Valley’ single)
‘Circus Games’ (from 1980 ‘The Absolute Game’ album)
‘Hurry On Boys’ (from 1980 ‘The Absolute Game’ album)
‘Charles’ (from 1978 ‘Charles’ EP)
(encore)
‘Complete Control’ (The Clash cover)
‘A Woman In Winter’ (from 1980 ‘The Absolute Game’ album)
There’s heavyweight support tonight from Spear Of Destiny, who made their own foray into the UK charts with 1987 Top 20 single ‘Never Take Me Alive’. Based around the songwriting of Kirk Brandon, the band formed in 1983 following the breakup of his previous outfit ‘Theatre of Hate’. There have been numerous personnel changes over the years, amassing an impressive catalogue of 15 studio albums. The current lineup includes Adrian Portas, who has played guitar with New Model Army and Sex Gang Children, and Craig Adams, long serving bassist with The Mission. Phil Martini is on drums, and Clive Osborne adds saxophone.
To my delight, the band comes on to an intro recording of the theme from ‘The Sweeney’, complete with the Thames TV station ident at the start. I think I might just be in the target age group here. I’m pleased to report that Kirk still looks in fine shape, his hairstyle seemingly impervious to the ravages of time. He’s slinging his distinctive guitar, a semi-acoustic made by Alan St Clair, and I’m standing close enough to see that the fret markers spell ‘Kirk’ in runic letters. Adrian is a tall figure, house left, wrangling impressive lead from a particularly low slung Gibson Firebird. Across the stage, Craig sports a wide-brimmed hat and is grinding some thunderous low-end from a 5-string Music Man Stingray Special, and Clive has alto and tenor saxes ready to go. Phil’s kit is house left, set up next to the headliners’, and whilst playing he bears a slight resemblance to David Bowie’s Ziggy-era drummer Woody Woodmansey.
Opener ‘Land Of Shame’ is an impressive start, with glowering chords and wailing lead, and a big chanted backing vocal. There’s a nifty false ending to usher in more fretboard acrobatics over a rather satisfying descending progression. ‘Rocket Ship’ builds to a pleasing stomp, and I really like the glam racket vibe of ‘Rainmaker’, with plenty of thumping toms. Military-style snare introduces ‘Young Men’, with chiming lead and a superb vocal hook, and I’m interested to hear a more recent track, ‘Waster’, with its chugged guitar.
Kirk lives in Brighton, and introducing ‘Playground Of The Rich’ contrasts the wealth and privilege of the city with its flip side, although his comparison is slightly trumped by a punter shouting out “I live in a f*cking caravan, mate.” The singer offers to buy him a pint later. The number builds from a slow start, and Clive, who has been waiting patiently for a while now, gets to deliver an excellent sax solo over some driving floor tom. The hit, ‘Never Take Me Alive’ builds steadily from a quiet start, and Craig is generating some seismic low-end playing bass chords through ‘Prison Planet’, for which Kirk briefly switches to a Telecaster. Two enthusiastic audience members near the front are shouting out requests, which are each met with a firm “No”, before launching the excellent ‘Soldier Soldier’. The singer instigates a singalong during ‘World Service’, which takes a while to get going but is very impressive when it does. The fine set concludes with ‘Liberator’, a big dancey chant-along piece that really gets the audience moving. This has been a brilliant start to a most enjoyable evening’s entertainment.
Spear Of Destiny:
Kirk Brandon – vocals, guitar
Craig Adams – bass, vocals
Adrian Portas – guitar, vocals
Phil Martini – drums
Clive Osborne – sax
Spear Of Destiny setlist:
‘Land Of Shame’ (from 1987 ‘Outland’ album)
‘Rocket Ship’ (from 1985 ‘World Service’ album)
‘Rainmaker’ (from 1984 ‘One Eyed Jacks’ album)
‘Young Men’ (from 1984 ‘One Eyed Jacks’ album)
‘Spirits’ (from 1999 ‘Radio Radio’ EP)
‘Waster’ (from 2022 ‘Ghost Population’ album)
‘Playground Of The Rich’ (from 1984 ‘One Eyed Jacks’ album)
‘Never Take Me Alive’ (from 1987 ‘Outland’ album)
‘Prison Planet’ (from 1997 ‘Religion’ album)
‘Soldier Soldier’ (from 1988 ‘The Price You Pay’ album)
‘World Service’ (from 1985 ‘World Service’ album)
‘Liberator’ (from 1984 ‘One Eyed Jacks’ album)
kirkbrandon.com/spear-of-destiny
