Saturday 9th June 2001, Bedford Esquires.
'Milton Keynes locals, Graveltrap, took the stage to commence the night's proceedings and immediately kicked into their energetic set which included favourites such as 'Kickin' Chickens', 'Yet Again' and even a cover of Blink 182's 'Aliens Exist' thrown in for good measures. Melodic powerchord based riffs and mellow vocals made for a catchy taste of 'I Against I' style pop/skate punk and the band were far from boring onstage. However, they were generally not appreciated by the crowd and with the exception of a small moshpit forming towards the end of the set, the 'old school' punks and metallers which formed a high percentage of the crowd did not seem impressed. There was barely even an applause after each song. Despite this great lack of crowd support, and the fact that they were the opening band of the night, Graveltrap kept their heads up high, refused to be dispirited and turned out play an impressive yet somewhat derivative set.
Mr. Harvey J. Lester Jnr
Unfortunately, The Tendons could not make tonights performance, which they would have had to play as a three piece due to an unfortunate incident with a bouncer and one of the band members. However, upon arriving at the venue I discovered that they had split up! R.I.P. the Tendons, but Jon should be back with a kickass new band soon... They were replaced by the unique and hugely popular Anti-Product, who yet again demonstrated that there's no such thing as a bad Anti-Product gig.
The band arrived on stage to their usual grinding industrial samples, decked out in luminous paint, and proceeded to batter the audience with their extreme pop-metal. If there is any kind of reference point, imagine a mix of The Wildearts on the drug-fucked Ebdless Nameless album and Clam Abuse, the side-project of their frontman Alex Kane and Ginger. Bizarre sing-along choruses and an unrivalled live delivery made the unlikely combination work very well, especially the insane posturing and stage presence of frontman Alex Kane. Coming across as a modern Iggy Pop he hung off the light fixtures and even ran amidst the audience during their final song. Brilliant.
Any band would have difficulty following up anti-Product, but if there is a band that could do it, it is Sick On The Bus. Launching staright into a barrage of hyperfast thrash punk, the band didn't let off the assault until the end of the gig, just standing onstage in classic metal/punk guitar poses. Their songs are catchy, yet brutal and fast, and inspired one of the most vicious moshpits I've seen in Esquires for ages! Jon, formerly from The Tendons joined them on stage to sing "All Over Again", and demonstrating his stage presence and ability as a frontman, making me wish he'd get that fucking new band started as soon as possible. The new songs they played, along with the usual favourites, were excellent, and they even finished off with a speeded-up cover of Motorhead's "Bomber"! This is what punk is all about - fast, anarchic music that makes you want to move, that is a passionate statement against the establishment, which seems to have been forgottent by the so-called pop punk bands. So... An excellent gig overall, even with the disappointing cancellation of The Tendons (R.I.P.)
Peter Burov