GBH - Pontypool, Hog And Hosper - 3rd May 2013 Print E-mail Written by Johnny H Thursday, 16 May 2013 03:00 “And now the end is near….” GuntysThe first of two nights of Punkfest 2013 here at the Hog And Hosper, this is the most fitting swansong for a venue I’ve grown to love over the last few years. That’s partly because I’ve never actually seen GBH before other than in the cavernous surroundings of the Olympia in Blackpool where it was like an unaired punk rock edition of Name That Tune trying to pinpoint the songs being cranked out thanks to that venue’s infamous aircraft hanger sound, and of course it’s also because this is the last but one gig before we wave bye bye to the Hog. So as I lift a can of Stella in celebration of The Guntys taking to the stage/raised floor area, nothing other than truly happy memories of encounters with the likes of Ricky Warwick, LA Guns, Dirt Box Disco, Diamond Head and Scabies & James fill my horse head. So what better way to send the venue off into the sunset in true style than with two nights of punk rock debauchery? Thankfully this is something that Abertillery trio The Guntys specialise in, and their brief set, leaning ever more towards the politically charged end of things, is filled with disenchanted anthems such as ‘When The Brick Stops Swinging’ and ‘Height of Stupidity’, Both dedicated to Tory prime ministers old and new had the already filling dance floor screaming along. It is their set climax where they are joined onstage by This System Kills frontman Pig for a run through of Anti Pasti’s ‘No Maggie Thatcher And No Government’ that almost brings the roof down though. Fuck ‘Ding Dong’ this is the true anti-Thatcher song delivered by people who really do mean every word of it. Vendettas 2 Hailing from the Rhondda just a few Valleys away, The Vendettas are too young to remember John Major never mind Horrible Hilda, so their furious take on punk rock is more about the music rather than the politics. Think what Phil Campbell’s grandchildren might sound like playing Zeke covers, and you won’t be a million miles away. ‘Heartbreaker’ whilst being introduced as a slowie dedicated to the couples in the house is the exact opposite, ripping the skin from your face with its intensity. Likewise ‘Dirty Secret’ and ‘Killing Machine’ (dedicated to the band’s beloved Cardiff City) seek and destroy all comers sending the crowd into an early climax of beer soaked sweat drenched fun. Fellow Uber scribe Darrel Sutton had warned me not to miss these purveyors of filthy dirty ’Bad Taste’ rock ‘n’ roll, and he was once again bang on the button. So to paraphrase old Squidward McPoopshute, make sure you too check out The Vendettas because they are “fucking choice!” BlatoideaThese types of multiple band line ups always tend to throw up one surprise package and tonight that honour falls to Blatoidea, who deliver a set of stinging Sicilian streetpunk by way of London town. Looking almost exactly like the eighties version of tonight’s headliners the quartet even had someone near me complaining that after paying £10 he would have expected one original member to be in GBH, and the comparisons don’t stop there either, as tracks from their ‘Infected’ album like ‘Alive’ speed past in two minute blasts of punk rock fury ala the Midland maniacs in their prime. Singer/guitarist Manu might conduct his stage banter in a second language but at times he actually reminds me of a ‘Total 13’ era Nicke Borg, which is a comparison that I don’t normally give away lightly. Okay they might have overstayed their welcome a bit playing a set of songs that no one other than the few clued in people stage front really knew but the impression they left had punks flooding to the merch stand to pick up CDs and T-shirts, myself included. Whilst I’m on the subject of T-shirts I really do have to mention that when I pay £10 for a shirt I don’t expect to get it home to find it is an iron on transfer. But that’s exactly what the GBH ‘Perfume And Piss’ shirt I picked up tonight was, and what was otherwise as perfect a headline set as I’ll see this year this really left sour taste in my mouth I can tell you. GBH ColAnyway back to the gig and kicking off with ‘Unique’ from the aforementioned Hellcat released return to form; Colin, Jock, Ross and Scott were certainly on a mission tonight, that being to mix the old with the new and send the Hog off with a gig that will be remembered for many years to come by those of us lucky to be in attendance. Of the old we got all of the ‘Leather Bristles Studs And Ache’ EP in its entirety and almost in its expanded Captain Oi CD version sequence too albeit for a ferocious run through of ‘No Survivors’, Big Women’, ‘Sick Boy’, ‘Give Me Fire’ and ‘Hellhole’ before ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’, and ‘City Babies Revenge’ were called back to close the set with Stooges fave ‘I Feel Alright’. The other newbie of the main set ‘Kids Get Down‘ gets dedicated to Blatoidea, with Colin not missing the band’s striking resemble to his band’s younger selves, whilst the recently deceased Jeff Hanneman also picked up an earlier song dedication. It’s this link to thrash metal that actually got me into GBH in the mid eighties, when for nights on end me and my mates would sit and watch the VHS of ‘Live At Stoke-On-Trent 1983’ on constant loop, marvelling at just how intense four guys could be on a stage. Losing none of that intensity here tonight the set closing blast of ‘Maniac’ is a schoolboy ending for yours truly, finally sending everyone out into the street well past the witching hour. If tonight really was the final curtain for the Hog And Hosper as a live venue then Sam and her crew have left most of us at URHQ with many happy memories of what can be done with a relatively small venue and a lot of ambition, however it also paints the harsh picture of reality of what punter apathy and the current economic climate can mean when you are trying to run a business. Unfortunately I couldn’t make the second night of this two day send off (which was headlined by Vice Squad) but this was the perfect way for me to say goodbye to a venue that really did do it their way. To visit the GBH store on Amazon - The Punk Singles 1981-84
http://www.uberrock.co.uk/gig-reviews/9-may-gigs/8091-gbh-pontypool-hog-and-hosper-3rd-may-2013.html
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