Anti-Nowhere League, The Tendons, The Smoking Hearts .

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. 11th June 2005.

It was Andy Warhol who famously said back in the sixties that everyone will enjoy fifteen minutes of fame. However, back in 1982 THE ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE enjoyed a six month period of intense infamy when they were deemed by several tabloid newspapers as the most offensive group in Britain and a danger to modern society.

There is no such moral outrage in 2005 as the boys bring their 25th Anniversary tour to Bedford, and a good turn out of punks (both young and old) came to witness whether the 'League could still cut it live.

Unfortunately, for me these nights of witnessing bands that I first saw as a young teenager are almost without exception cringe-worthy. I still feel Punk was about youngsters kicking down authority and not giving a f**k, so although it was great to hear the oldies such as 'Streets of London', 'People' and 'So What', I was left with the nagging feeling that The Anti-Nowhere League belong to a part of my long distant past.

Amongst the support acts were Bedford's finest, The Tendons, who continue to turn out old skool punk in their own interminable style, aided and abetted by a few of their very own 'guest stars'.

The Smoking Hearts opened proceedings, and with such numbers as 'Blood Money', 'Those Graves Won't Rob Themselves' and 'The Crime we Live' they offered a blistering and lively start to the evening.