Sham 69 in Falmouth

I was back in Falmouth on Saturday for the Sham 69 gig at the Princess Pavilions. I was a student at the art school during 81/92 but don't remember this venue at all. The first time I ever visited this place was last year but it has a great atmosphere, is well-organised and the sound quality is good. (Photo from Sham 69 official website)

Support was from Distortion UK and The Surgeons. Distortion UK were just a bit too much thrash-metal band and disjointed for me but they can certainly play. And don't lack energy - I never thought I'd hear a faster version of Motorhead's Ace of spades but I have now. The Surgeons are a long established local punk band.I reckon they improve with hearing and they certainly went down well. Frontman Pete Kliskey said one song had already been performed in a support set for Sham 69 at a Penzance punk fest back in the 70s.

Sham 69 did not disappoint. They rocked. And the appreciative crowd responded in kind.

The set reminded me what great songs Sham 69 have. They’re not too Oi! and their performance confirmed what I’d suspected for a long time – these guys can really play. The yobbishnness that they attracted all those years ago hid this fact for too long.

And – in a way that’s sad but true – their songs are just as relevant as ever, rousing chants from the terraces where (apparently) two teams of eleven men kick around inflated pig’s bladders for amusement. (They ought to get out more.) Sometimes I get the feeling the pig in question might have been a member of Her Majesty’s law enforcement agencies but if there was any menace it was not aimed at you or me but them – them that get one over on us, the perpetrators of the greatest cockney ripoff.

For me Questions and answers is simply a great song.

My mate Gary said that he’d tried to see Sham 69 on six previous occasions. Out of five of those six, Jimmy Pursey didn't show up and the gig was cancelled. On the sixth occasion, Gary said the crowd were keen (at last) to hear some of Sham 69's hits played live and were shouting out "Breakout!" and "Hersham Boys!"

Pursey’s response was, "We're Sham 69! We don't do requests!"

And they didn't.

That's not how to please the crowd.

But that was then and this is now.

As guitarist Dave Parsons put it in an interview with the NME, “Sham 69 have left Jimmy Pursey on the eve of their 30th anniversary. The band had become increasingly fed up with Jimmy's lack of interest in playing live and continually letting down both promoters and fans by pulling out of gigs at the last moment."

Pursey has now been replaced by Tim V. Sham 69 can now be relied on to turn up and play everyone's favourites. Pursey may have been a charismatic front man but so is Tim V, with his Johnny Rotten spiked blond hairdo and Millwall football shirt. I don't know what he did before he became Sham 69’s front man but he’s just right and got on his soap box about knife crime just before delivering a heartfelt version of If the kids are united. He fits in as well as Paul McLoone has fitted into The Undertones – which is to say seamlessly - and the crowd was definitely pleased, which may not have happened as much in the past.

If you can accept that middle aged men in their late forties mean we’re going to live to 90 at least, then you can accept that such old gits can still rock and sing about The Kids. Their message meybe tempered by experience but there’s no sense of irony in Sham 69 performing Borstal breakout – more a sense that they actually did it and had a good time doing it.

The kids were definitely united last Saturday. And so were their mums and dads.

And it was good to see Gary and Julie again. We were trying to remember the last time we'd seem each other at a punk gig. It must have been - ooo - last week when we saw Stiff Little Fingers in Plymouth.

A band to watch - The Eyelids

I was very impressed by Stiff Little Finger's support act in Falmouth. Dave said he'd seen them before last year when they supported The Damned in Falmouth. Dave's like that. He's so committed he arranges his holidays to coincide with his fave bands touring. Anyway, The Eyelids are a female four-piece outfit who play paired down spooky psychobilly punk. I think this stuff sounds easy to do but have a strong suspicion it isn't. I'd heard of The Eyelids before because I'd stumbled across their MySpace page and they're already World famous in Cornwall but wasn't sure if they played my sort of stuff.

I am now. They definitely do. I reckon the double bass gives them a USP - a unique sound proposition. It's certainly very distinctive and I reckon the four of them have really got something. Kelly's got a great voice, Michelle has to be one of the smiliest drummer's you'll ever see while she blats out complicated rhythms, Josie's guitar is suitably spooky and Louise's bass is sublime - altogether malicious.The drums and bass sweep you along like you're Piglet and The Eyelids are Tigger. They've been favourably compared to The Cramps and sound like Catholic High School girls going bad in the graveyard. But in a good way, y'know?.

The Eyelids are gigging extensively throughout the peninsula and the sub-continent this autumn and doing some recording.

Don't give them too clean a sound, though, Mr Sound Engineer. You need that live feeling to get The Eyelid's scary psychojilly sound right. just let me know when you've got some MP3s to buy.

Stiff Little Fingers rock Falmouth

Stiff Little Fingers played in Falmouth last Saturday (15th August) and of course we went to see them. As hardcore fan Mr Larcombe says, "It's worth going up to Bristol to see 'em because they're consistently so good." He's right, too, so I met up with the usual suspects of Gary and Dave outside the Princess Pavilion in Falmouth at 2000 hrs. Julie, who has at times expressed a fondness for Cliff Richard, came along, too. Gary has persuaded her that The Stranglers are a great live act and after hearing so much about SLF she had to see what all the fuss was about.

As Jake said to us that night, Falmouth is a long way west but I hope the reception they got will see Stiff Little Fingers down this way again soon. Dave was on holiday from Gloucester and looked fit and tanned despite camping in Cornwall for a fortnight. Mr Larcombe and Julie were staying in a guest house across the road and took three minutes to walk to the venue. I had travelled the furthest from Liskeard but was staying with my family in Goonhavern that weekend. It was so much easier than driving up to Bath or Bristol and back the same evening.

The tour shirts looked good, though - USA, New Zealand, Australia, Belfast, Falmouth.

I have many happy associations with Falmouth. I was a student at the art college from '81 to '82. Also, some of my forebears had houses, photographic shops and art studios down there. One would burn his photographic shops down for the insurance but his son founded the volunteer fire brigade so we're about even. And Stiff Little Fingers are still burning.

Julie was quite impressed. I don't think the crowd knew when to shout "Do-do-do!" or "Go for it!" as well as we seasoned Fingers fans did but they were definitely enjoying themselves. But they didn't play for long enough! All too soon it was time for the final "Alternative Ulster." I wish they'd found time for "Listen", another of my favourites.

Afterwards, as I walked back to my car (I'd parked opposite the art college) I fell into conversation with some other concert goers. They saw my old leather jacket and grinned, shouting "Fingers?" to which I replied in the affirmative.

"When they came on," one said, "I thought, oh no, they're past it but then they started to play and I was blown away." (For those of you who don't already know, Fingers come on after the rousing intro of "Go for it" and then blast you with four high octane songs). "Man, they were unbelievable! I love Old Skool stuff!" We shook hands and parted complete strangers but the best of mates, united by a common experience and an appreciation of the power of Guitar and Drum.-

(Picture of Ian leaping into the air courtesy of Tractor Boy)