Chaplin’s, Cellar Bar, Boscombe
DIY punk is thriving in the UK, just look at the variety of bands performing throughout the many original venues across the country. Punk will never die; it just diversifies, branching out with many different influences that are bestowed upon it. Tonight we have a coming together; a feast of such bands who are at the start of a 19 date UK-wide “Abuse Your Confusion” tour, headlined by the Coalville clowns Kid Klumsy.
Everything starts exceptionally early at around 7pm (for Chaplin’s that is) and I confirm recent OMA recipient Conrad is at his station and wide awake for the night ahead of twiddling buttons on his legendary analogue desk. Tonight’s opener and compère is a colourful character called Mr. Badaxe who does his best to offend everybody in the place with some quite explicit, near-the-knuckle comedy routines. With his out-of-tune electric guitar he takes short pot-shots at the likes of Liam Gallagher, Telly Tubbies, Cliff Richard and Paula Yates; along with a selection of famous paedophiles. His controversial shock tactic causes some laughs amongst the audience and a few people join in with his pound shop humour. He even shocks us by telling the crowd he was the reason Marc Bolan died in a Car Crash. He also throws out bags of dog poo he has collected from the streets of Boscombe into the crowd. Certainly a performer I will never forget without a doubt, even if some of his material is a bit extreme.
The first proper band of the evening are The Mad Badgers; the three of them are not Mad, and none of them are badgers, but they do know a good tune or three. The Midlander’s today are celebrating the release of their new album Punk Soup and the Cellar Bar crowd are fortunate enough to get to hear some of the tracks from it. With their Ska/Punk stylings and upbeat positive enthusiasm, they kick off with “Anxiety Society”. The track features some predictably hard-hitting and relatable lyrics. As they move through their set the crowd really warm to their friendly nature and infectious tunes full of social commentary. These include the rather bouncy “Fight to Survive”, along with nature-related tune “Worms” and “King of The Streets”; a track about rats with wings, the urban pigeons.
5-piece Bitchin’ Hour arrives on stage and immediately grab our attention, with their forthright words and brash attention-grabbing style. We are treated to tracks from the band’s debut album Screams In A Bisexual Panic; which feature a host of powerful subjects that cover just about everyone in the room’s own experiences. Leonie on lead vocals tells of a terrifying situation she had when they last played in Bournemouth, she was attacked and I and the rest of the audience applaud her gall in returning here. The girls entertain with some nice twin-guitar, alternatively styled melodies; along with some hard hit rhythms alied to Leonie’s powerful commanding vocals. Tracks including “Take a Bullet”, “Viper Woman” and “Daddy AF”, which is dedicated to their “sexy dads” tour mates Kid Klumsy. The one thing about this band is that they all clearly love being on stage together and the infectious enthusiasm radiates from the stage to the audience.
Next up all the way from bonnie Scotland is VND or for their full title “Visceral Noise Department”. These guys really inject some high momentum into proceedings with plenty of pent-up energy thrown into their performance. Early on in their set they invite three-quarters of Kid Klumsy to join them on this small stage, to help out on vocals for the rather splendid “Sarajevo”. By the looks of the chemistry and friendship these bands already have, this tour is going to be an absolute corker as it rolls across the country. VND show themselves to be fine purveyors of guitar skills, with their songs weaving in and out of a host of different influences. At one point the guitarist and bass player swap instruments, to further show their diversity. Tracks like the unique “Don’t Be That Guy” and “Olympic Gold in Mental Gymnastics” about having a shit time at school provide plenty of great entertainment, with the guys showing off their significant creative abilities that the Cellar bar crowd all seem to appreciate.
Local band Meat Sweats know this venue very well with Kim – Bass, Jim – Guitar/Vocals, Paul- Drums and Steve – Guitar (showing off his in his brand new Adidas trainers) getting a warm welcome as they take to the stage. They kick off with one of their newer numbers “Distraction”, showing off their fine alternative stylings. With tracks from their debut long player “Good For Nothing” including “Do It”, “Watched” and the delightful “Selfie”, the band fill the dancefloor full of enthusiastic souls. These guys all have a real passion for their music and always deliver whenever they play and are a very welcome addition to any gig.
Tonight’s headliners though from Leicestershire way think nothing of jumping in their van to drive hundreds of miles to a gig. They have played this town quite a few times over the past couple of years, gaining themselves quite a following. The four-piece inject lots of humour into their performance and don’t take themselves too seriously, clearly, it’s all about having a good time and being surrounded by like-minded friends. The larger-than-life frontman Weab leads from the front delivering some fine vocals; while ably backed by Fatwig on drums, Ali on bass and Carl on guitar. Tracks about Boobs, Growing Up, Bullying and the pitfalls of touring with a Slob dedicated to Fatwig’s sleeping habits. The packed Cellar bar laps up all this band have to offer and they are indeed welcome to bring their unique brand of fun Punk into this town whenever they wish.
They end with possibly their most popular track “Revolution” and the guitarist, while still playing; takes a stroll through the packed crowd, before giving the guitar to The Mad Badgers lead singer who continues to play the track from the front row. This ends a fantastic night with an amazing and eclectic selection of acts. Tonight was just the first night of this “Abuse Your Confusion” tour and I wish all the bands well as it progresses further around the country.
Though the Live music ends here for the night, Rock Regeneration’s very own DJ ‘Big Ross’ is on hand to keep the party vibe going through to the wee small hours with a selection of banging tunes.
Set-Lists
Kid Klumsy
Coconut
Mr Rightman
Love Is
Don’t Count On Me
Boobs
Grow Up
Slob
Bully Bullied The Bully
Revolution
Meat Sweats
Distraction
Do It
Winding Up Bigots on Social Media
Good For Nothing
Watched
Selfie
VND
Sarajevo (With Kid Klumsy)
Don’t Be That Guy
Violence Behind The Eyes
They Called Me a Distraction
Olympic Gold in Mental Gymnastics
Bitchin’ Hour
Tooth & Nail
Take a Bullet
Viper Woman
Heartbreak Monday
Time To Burn
Daddy AF
The Mad Badgers
Anxiety Society
Jaded
Fight To Survive
Haunted
Washing Machine
I Fucking Hate Ska
Worms
King Of The Streets
Dinner Date
Unbreakable Friend
Videos
Links
https://www.facebook.com/officialkidklumsy
https://www.facebook.com/meatsweatsbmth
https://www.facebook.com/visceralnoisedepartment
https://www.facebook.com/B1tchinHour
https://www.facebook.com/TheMadBadgers
https://www.facebook.com/Badaxeban
Article & Media by David Chinery (Chiners)
Pictures by Matthew Rayner
