It’s the beginning of January and that means it’s the annual Resolution Festival at the iconic 100 Club on London's Oxford Street.
Marking the start of a plethora of gigs this year celebrating the 50th anniversary of UK punk, Resolution Festival has already had sets from the likes of Discharge, The Members and Varukers. A special Sunday matinee show billed as ‘A Day for Raye’ is a fundraiser for The 100 Club’s long standing head sound engineer, who is sadly terminally ill with cancer. Headlining the gig are the Steve Ignorant Band supported by Mork n Mindy.
12.30 on Oxford Street and there is already a decent sized crowd waiting to gain access. Down in the venue, it doesn’t take long for the place to fill up in anticipation for support act Mork n Mindy. There’s a solitary laptop resting on a flight case at the front of the stage which is soon engulfed in never-ending dry ice under the subdued lights.
Through the haze, two figures emerge to reveal the least surprising news of the day that the support band are really Sleaford Mods. With Andrew Fearn on laptop duties, singer Jason Williamson is the centre of attention as he parades across the stage with his antagonist twitches and jabs in the air. The minimalistic but hypnotic beats of ‘Kebab Spider’ flood the basement venue whilst Jason’s East Midland’s abrasive brogue captivates the watching crowd.
‘T.C.R.’ is an early highlight followed by the poppy delights of ‘Mork n Mindy’. ‘I Don’t Rate You’ and ‘Megaton’ echo recent PIL only with more relevance. In contrast to James’ kinetic energy, Andrew bops away to the beats throughout with only sporadic moments of arm waving. Finishing with the polemic ‘Jobseeker’ and ‘Tweet Tweet Tweet’ it’s been a cracking performance and well received by all there.
Steve Ignorant is no stranger to the 100 Club and he’s back with his band to run through the Crass back catalogue. A pivotal part of the anarchist punk movement, Steve and the rest of Crass brought politics kicking and screaming to the disenfranchised with furious vocals, ferocious guitars and ever adventurous distorted soundscapes. Crass may be no more but their songs still remain relevant today.
Joined by Pete Wilson on guitar, Peter Rawlinson on bass, Jay Bagnall on drums and the remarkable Carol Hodge on keys and vocals, Steve has assembled a fantastic band to reinvigorate the songs for the twenty first century. The opening rally of ‘Heard About Too Much’ and ‘Do They Owe Us A Living’, with their unrepentant attacks on the system, are glorious as ever with Steve and Carol’s vocals sparring against each other.
The wondrously short ‘G’s Song’ is followed by the brilliant ‘Bata Motel’ and ‘Systematic Death’ with Carol taking the lead. I’ve seen Carol numerous times over the years, either as a solo artist, with her band, or more recently on stage with the Wildhearts, but this is my first time seeing her as part of Steve’s band. Carol has an amazing voice, and it is great to hear her operatic vocal gymnastics on this material.
Behind Steve and Carol, the rest of the band provide a relentless backing with rasping guitars, tumbling drums and soul pounding bass lines. There’s no nice rock n roll cliches here, only dirty in-your-face musical ventures that torment your ears.
Steve’s confrontational vocals on ‘So What’ gradually build up to its angry conclusion as he prowls the stage. Carol returns for ‘Shaved Women’ with her impassioned yelps battling with Pete’s scratchy guitar before a timely ‘The Gasman Cometh’ reminds us how past horrors are still relevant as the far right gains more power across the world. The pounding drum intro of ‘Chairman of the Bored’ is as brutal before slowing down for the vitriolic showdown. ‘Darling’ sees Carol at her most playful as her vocals reach new heights with the frequent changes of pitch.
‘Punk is Dead’ may have been recorded way back in 1978, but Steve reminds us that our punk is still around, compared to the punk of the 70s. ‘Berketex Bribe’ starts with a deceptively melodic premise before tearing off into a glorious triad against conformity.
‘Big A, Little A’ is followed by ‘Nagasaki Nightmare’ and the epic ‘Bloody Revolutions’ with both Steve and Carol playing to their vocal strengths to bring the song to its incendiary conclusion. Having thanked Jeff, the 100 Club team and Sleaford Mods, the band finish with ‘Banned from the Roxy’ going back to the start of the Crass catalogue much to the crowd’s delight. It’s been a quality afternoon out in London.
Fifty years ago, there can’t have been many people who thought that punk rock would be revered as a musical genre and that the political music of bands such as Crass would (sadly) still be relevant in the twenty-first century. However, as long as there is still injustice in the world, then the legacy of Crass with the likes of Sleaford Mods and Meryl Streek taking up the mantle, it will not be forgotten.
Main Photo Credit / All Photos: IAN LADLOW
Videos: TWIGLETBOY (Sleaford Mods) & SEAJOHNSTER (Steve Ignorant Band)
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