Saturday 22nd December 2001, Bedford Esquires.
As I came into Esquires to watch the ska-punk final I couldn't fucking recognise anyone! In many ways that is a good thing - it shows that the scene has got much larger very recently, and it's not only the old regulars that go to the club anymore. There was a really vibrant, feelgood atmosphere, with everyone seemingly forgetting their problems and having a fucking great time.
New Road kicked the night off in very very fine style. In fact, they ended up being the winners of the final to everyone's surprise. The new bands that have been coming out lately are often surprisingly good at even their early gigs. New Road had it all - a good frontman and good songs. The only problem that I could see with their set was the vocals, which were often not melodic enough for the music they played. They did get a decent moshpit going, which re-appeared for every band after them.
The next band was Santa's (Satans?) little helpers Manboob. Fronted by Santa himself, with a full crew of punk elves. The band delivered their usual set of standard ska-punk, with a christmas song thrown in. They did not really move enough on stage though - lil' Joe from borderline was the only one that moved properly. Manboob need to deliver a more original sound, and improve their live performance - they're tight enough, it's just they don't show enough attitude on stage. Still, it was a fun enough set.
I had expected great things from Borderline tonight, but something seemed seriously wrong. For one, the sound wasn't all that good, and Joe didn't do the vocals as well as usual. Fo some reason the youthful intensity that Borderline had at past gigs just wasn't there tonight. I don't know why, I would have thought that playing a ska-punk final would have encouraged them...
Peanukle had to play a set without their horn section who were away somewhere, but that actually worked to their advantage - this was the best set they'd done for a fucking long time. Not as good as when they just started out, but a very violent and energetic set anyway. Belsen was a great frontman as usual, and it was obvious that the band has had a lot of live experience. They did all seem a bit jaded though, without the huge enthusiasm of the new bands playing tonight.
Not exactly ska-punk, but kinda punk anyway, Groindog headlined tonight. Stripped down to a standard band lineup without the odd instruments and two vocalists that they used to have, the band seemed to have lost a lot of their original appeal. They played all their old "hits" but they ended up sounding like average punk songs, instead of the original and unclassifiable music they used to play.Those songs were still catchy though. The response was nowhere near what they used to get even a year ago, but they haven't played Esquires for so long it's hardly surprising, what with the huge influx of new blood into the scene as rock is getting popular again. Overall, this was a fun night out, although some of the bands did not deliver the best sets they were able to. The grand final should be kickass tho
"Russian" Pete Burov