San Diego's finest make a triumphant return to London!
Ooooh boy, this one has ‘special’ written all over it. Crash your car into a giant beehive and you wouldn’t create half the buzz that Rocket From The Crypt have in Camden tonight. Celebrating 30 years of their seminal ‘Scream, Dracula, Scream!’ album, it’s one of only five shows the band are playing this year – and the only one outside their native US. Fans have travelled from all over the UK – and further – to be here tonight, and as the merch queue snakes its way around the floor of the sold-out Electric Ballroom, the sense of anticipation is palpable.
The Computers are dressed for the occasion in suits and – like the headliners – are true showmen. The likes of ‘Disco Sucks’ and ‘C.R.U.E.L.’ were met with a somewhat mixed reception upon their release back in 2013, but tonight, in the live setting, they sound great – like a meeting of minds between Elvis Costello and The Hives. Plus, they can’t really fail with a frontman like Al Kershaw; few other vocalists would be willing to organise a wall of death with themselves (and their guitars!) in the middle, all in the name of entertainment. Hey, what is it that they say about suffering for your art? They fully deserve the cheers and applause from the early birds, but ultimately we’re here for one band only.
Rocket From The Crypt take the stage in shiny shirts, to a heroes welcome, and blast straight into an opening salvo of ‘Middle’, ‘Born In ‘69’ and mega-hit ‘On A Rope’. Take that, that and that! Quite rightly, the crowd goes nuts; descending into a sweaty, bouncing, slam-dancing mess that can’t be faulted for stamina or camaraderie. We’re all stoked to be here, and as iconic frontman John ‘Speedo’ Reis reminds us, they’re just as pleased to see how strong our devotion to his band is after all these years. We’re in great hands – not that we ever doubted it.
Listen, there are few greater thrills in modern punk and rock n’ roll than witnessing RFTC in full flight, with those riffs ten times as powerful as on record, the drumming utterly relentless (thank you Mr Ruby Mars!), and the horns blaring triumphantly. Oh, and of course, Speedo as the ultimate master of ceremonies. Truly, the likes of Elvis, Chuck Berry and all those early rock n’ roll heroes are looking down and nodding in approval as the band rip through the majority of the aforementioned ‘Scream…’ and a handful of other cuts – with an electrifying ‘Straight American Slave’ and an adrenalised ‘I’m Not Invisible’ hitting their targets dead centre.
Sure, they’re all noticeably grey around the temples, but who cares when the songs remain as potent as ever, and are played with all the verve and energy of a band half their ages? As they bring the encore to a suitably celebratory finish with ‘Come See, Come Saw’, it occurs to us that, despite the lack of any new songs, tonight’s set feels not as much like a nostalgia trip as a reminder that we could do with a few more bands like RFTC. Do they even make them like this anymore? Gig Of The Year by a country mile – and good luck to anyone who fancies their chances of wrestling that crown away for themselves.
All Photos: ALEX GOOSE
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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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