A special evening with a band who don't intend to stop playing
Saturday 14th March saw us travel to The Northcourt Live – a decent-sized venue in Abingdon on the outskirts of Oxford – which has a friendly welcoming atmosphere and a separate lounge sports bar that was perfect for pre-gig drinks. Leaving the car park to scout the venue, I was greeted by awesome Urban Commandos guitarist Chris Lisle, who was pleased to see I’d made it there from London.
We headed into the lounge bar as it was early and doors weren’t until 7pm. As our drinks were being poured, we were greeted by the legendary singer of Urban Commandos and performer extraordinaire, John Allan. We had a catch up and he told us about his football team Newcastle who were on the large screen, and we also chatted briefly about his upcoming surgery, which is why this may well be their only gig in 2026, supporting Sex Pistols Exposé tonight…
The first band on was NVS. Lots of catchy covers, and a set list scribbled on the reverse of a reserved table paper… cheers Nev! Their guitarist and singer Joe plays bass as Sid Envious in Sex Pistols Exposé. They got the audience warmed up as more people arrived.
Initially, the room seemed a little emptier because the Urban Commandos (John Allan – vocals and theatrics, Brian Pinchin – bass and bv, Chris Lisle – guitar and bv and Doug Dunn – drums) were getting ready to take to the stage. The DJ was churning out the punk anthems that you’d expect from Human Punk as more people arrived. Suddenly I looked up and Johnny Allan was on stage giving the audience a series of “are you ready for it?” purposely deranged stares. He was wearing his trademark hospital gown as if he’d just escaped from an asylum of yesteryear.
Before we knew it, we were drawn into the world of the Urban Commandos with opening numbers ‘Kevin the Geek’ and ‘Original Sin’. John had a series of brief tales about many of their songs, and most of them are true.. except for the one about Brian. What’s that you ask? Well, you’ll find out if you see them live!
Two cracking numbers followed, ‘Lost Generation’ and ‘Living with An Angel’, a reference to John’s wife who was his rock when he got a serious health diagnosis, and is once again, along with his family and friends, there for him for the long tough road ahead. The song had plenty of airtime from Griff Griffiths on his Drive Time radio show, (now on Rock Radio UK).
We were also treated to a couple of new songs, called ‘Friday Girl’, and ‘Running with the Devil’.
Apparently, Urban Commandos are working on a new album. We were told it will have old favourite ‘Looney Tunes’ on it which isn’t on ‘Art! Terrorism’ or their other two available releases.
Picking up the pace with lots of on and off stage performance from John, we ended with three favourites… ‘Tony Manero’, a fictional character who looks like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, ‘Jimmy the Bank Robber’, and their theme song ‘Urban Commandos’. There were more songs on the set list, but the allotted time for the Sex Pistols Expose meant that Urban Commandos had to end on that high. I expect the band were glad to get off stage and enjoy a few pints watching Sex Pistols Exposé!
When Urban Commandos are back gigging again, you don’t want to miss them!!!
Check out their album ‘Art! Terrorism’ HERE
Main Photo Credit / All Photos and Videos: AVRIL COELHO
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