999, Reptilehause, The Bleach Boys.

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. 14th November 2008.

Continuing their policy of bringing the best of old skool punk to Bedford, Upbeat Promotions tonight welcome another pioneering band of that time. 999 formed back in 1976 and the three founder members Nick Cash (vocals, guitar), Guy Days (guitar, vocals) and Pablo Labritain (drums) are still going strong. They are, of course, joined by the recent recruit Arturo Bassick (bass). He only joined some twenty years ago! With limited line-up changes, the band have also been a consistently working unit during these past thirty two years. Again they buck the trend on bands from that era as they continue to write new material. Judging from tonight's performance it sits well with the older stuff. Touring both in this country and extensively abroad takes up a large chunk of their time, and with last years ‘Death in Soho’ album to promote, there seems to be no let up in 999's agenda.

The band are back at Esquires for the first time since 5th August 2000. A steady turn out raise a cheer as the old punk quartet appear on stage. Nick does most of the chat between songs. He is both reminiscent and amusing. They rapidly fire out ‘Hit me’ and ‘Inside out’. The latter is about the homeless on the streets of London. It's a plight that Nick has a great deal of time and sympathy for. It is a moment for reflection. The first taste of the newer compositions arrives with ‘Give me the World’ and then ‘The System’. The lyrics have bite and a fast drivin' authentic punk sound. I am particularly taken with the poignant ‘The last breath’. It is topical as it tells of the appalling knife crime that Britain is plagued with at this time, obviously seen through the eyes of these world-weary middle-aged gentlemen. Fists were probably more relevant when 999 were starting out.

As well as the recent songs are digested, it's the well worn classics that the nostalgia buffs have come to enjoy. These folks are here to remember 999 of their youth, echoing back perhaps some life defining moments they experienced. Nick puts it more bluntly "Come on. Lets travel back in time!" as ‘Feelin' Alright with the Crew’ arrives. Although the crew tonight is Bedford and not the band's original Southall mates. Nick, sensing the atmosphere, ups the ante as he encourages everybody to "step back in time". The rather cheesy punk ditty that is ‘Lil red riding hood’ is a song that Nick recalls former radio 1 DJ Tony Blackburn playing, because unfortunately "most of 999's songs were banned" by the station.

With the set drawing to a close, it was time for the quartet's triple whammy as ‘Emergency’, ‘Nasty, Nasty’ and ‘Homicide’ bring out all the punk sneers. With that, 999 leave the stage with the crowd baying for more. The band return for a two song encore, of which their debut single ‘I'm Alive’ finishes the evenings entertainment.

Supporting are, firstly, Leighton Buzzard trio REPTILEHAUSE. They put together a hard hitting short set, beginning with the almost anthemic stadium rock sound of ‘Take my Breath Away’. I enjoyed the rather relevant ‘Eco-town’, which as vocalist Kip tells us is an idea "that this silly government is trying to impose". "It's bollocks!" he defiantly adds. The lyrics also make me smile as they sing "Why don't you shove it Mr Brown, We don't need no eco towns"! A great song that makes so many valid points of this current issue. The rich and loud applause at it's end shows that everybody here is of the same opinion.

THE BLEACH BOYS follow. A fast punk set that includes novelty song titles such as ‘Kill all Celebrities’, ‘She's not my Wife, she's my Slapper!’, and bizarrely ‘Who's Nicked my Bicycle?'