The punk stalwarts celebrate their 45th birthday in fine style!
Happy 45th birthday, Desperate Measures! The London-via-New-Zealand punks may have emerged in more innocent times, but the songs have aged well, and remain – sometimes depressingly – lyrically relevant for the current state of the world. Last record ‘Sublime Destruction’ was one of our favourites of 2024, and with a new album on the horizon, it’s clear that their inner fire burns more brightly than most after all these years.
Sicilian quintet Semprefreski hit the ‘go’ button the second they hit the stage, and rarely pause during their gloriously relentless set of Ramones-paced melodic hardcore – all in Italian, no less! Indeed, the likes of ‘Stai Ancora Con Quel Pirla’ and ‘Vieni Con Me Bambina’ make us wish we had a better handle on the language, if only to sing along, but the sizeable crew of their compatriots in attendance ensures that frontman Paolo has plenty of vocal backup. They deservedly whip a small pit into action, and their closing cover of ‘The KKK Took My Baby Away’ is a smart, inclusive move. A great start to the evening.
Bournemouth crew The Mistakes have stage presence to burn; all tattoos, low slung guitars, a last-gang-in-town vibe, and no end of enthusiasm for what they do. They deal in a raucous blend of punk and rock n’ roll, with the early brace of ‘Heathens’ and ‘Think It Over’ quite rightly getting more than a few arses shaking down the front. The latter is quite possibly the greatest song that Rancid never wrote, and later in their set, ‘Life’s Too Short’ emerges as a carpe-diem anthem to rank with the best of them. Superb stuff, and your listening homework is their recent ‘Die Laughing’ album.
“Who hates their fuckin’ parents?” asks Desperate Measures frontman Eugene, with a knowing grin, before early favourite ‘Generation Gap’. He’s at his fist-pumping, ceiling-punching, microphone-throttling best this evening, and his band – drummer James, guitarist Calle and bassist Phil are no slouches either. Guest vocalist Kit Swing and guitarist Gaff join them for a couple of numbers, and they sound fantastic. Older songs from back in the day are introduced with stories of their inspiration (the anti-police ‘Agony’), and slot in just fine among newer efforts like ‘Back To The Rats’ (complete with Charlie Harper anecdote!) and a particularly venomous ‘Seven Sisters’.
It’s all dispatched with the ease and good humour of a band who know they’re among friends tonight. They close with a trio of covers; their standard romp through The Stooges’ ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, a furious version of Sham 69’s ‘Borstal Breakout’ and an equally vitriolic ‘No Government’ that would make Anti-Pasti proud. Here’s to whatever the future may bring for Desperate Measures, but in the meantime, after 45 years, they can rest assured that they sound pretty damn great in the here and now.
Main Photo Credit / All Photos: LOUISE PHILLIPS
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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