15 years of Vive Le Rock? This calls for a celebration - a loud one!
Memo to ourselves; get the Vive Le Rock crew drunk and make them spill the secrets to their longevity, because we could probably learn a thing or two. In an age where traditional print journalism is on the ropes, they’re not just surviving, but thriving, and today they’re throwing a punk rock party to celebrate their 15th anniversary. On entering the Islington Academy at 5pm, it’s heartening to see the place already at least half full, and with a bill of this quality, so it should be.
As ever, Split Dogs vocalist Harry is a swirling, twirling, hair-shaking force of nature; they literally cannot stay still, and if that’s what it takes to deliver raw blasts of punk n’ roll like ‘Be A Sport’ and ‘Precious Stones’ as furiously as they do today, then more power to them. No-one here can ignore them, and it’s high time the wider world caught up. You get the sense that they’d all be going crazy down the front for their own songs if they didn’t actually have to, y’know, be onstage to play them, and as it is, there are quite rightly some stirrings in the pit towards the end of their set. Superb stuff.
“We ain’t got much time, so let’s not fuck about, eh?” That’s the singer/bassist of Knock Off, who initially struggle to match Split Dogs’ explosive start to the evening. The crowd are onside from the start, though, and ultimately they triumph with some no-nonsense, melodic UK82-style street punk tunes – plus an everyman sense of humour. They’ve clearly taken a few cues from tonight’s headliners, and boy, do they have a way with a terrace-chant chorus. ‘Football, Beer And Punk Rock’? Bring ‘em on!
There’s a wonderfully dark undercurrent to Desperate Measures’ songs, and as they kick off with an explosive ‘Back To The Rats’, it’s clear that they’re on rabid form today; vocalist Eugene at his sneering, confrontational best, and new guitarist Mauro clearly already very much part of the family. They give it their all throughout their set, and there’s a surprise in store at the end, namely, a souped-up cover of ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ with a bunch of guests – including Janus Stark frontman Gizz Butt on guitar. If you haven’t checked out last year’s ’Sublime Destruction’ album yet, then for goodness sake, get a move on; it was one of our 2024 favourites.
Great stuff so far, but what we really need is someone to grab the evening by the scruff of its neck and beat the shit out of it! Maid Of Ace do exactly that – and then some. The Hastings quartet are probably long since sick of the early Distillers comparisons, but it has to be said that the likes of ‘Disaster Of Noise’ and ‘Nostalgia’ are the kind of raw ‘us against the world’ anthems that Brody Dalle’s crew would kill to have written. They go straight for the jugular; barely pausing for breath between songs, and for the second time tonight, we wish we didn’t have to close our eyes to imagine the hundreds-strong seething pit that MOA so richly deserve. Annoyingly, not the biggest British punk rock band, but one of the best, for sure.
We were very happy to discover that secret guests ‘The Human Punks’ are none other than Ruts DC! We’re big fans here at Punktuation, and we’re pleased to report that they continue to do justice to the memory of the original Ruts whilst also forging ahead in fine style – as evidenced on a groovesome mid-set newie/oldie dub reggae brace of ‘Born Innocent’ and ‘Jah War’. Drummer David cheekily acknowledges his band’s advancing years, but the songs and spirit remain as vital as ever, and an incendiary finale of ‘Babylon’s Burning’ rams this point home emphatically.
Vocalist Colin McFaull of Cock Sparrer is also grateful to us for sticking around for “five fat old bastards”, although perhaps it’s not surprising when just about every other person here is sporting a ‘Sparrer t-shirt. Our favourite of theirs is ‘Because You’re Young’, which of course they play, and it sounds amazing. Complaining that there’s no great art or nuance to what Cock Sparrer do would be like complaining that your ice cream is too cold; both live and on record, these guys are as unpretentious as they come. They write ultra-catchy songs, and play with them with maximum conviction, and that’s most likely the secret as to how they’ve managed to stick around for over half a century (eep!). Crowd and band feed off each other’s energy, and a closing ‘We’re Coming Back’ damn near brings the house down.
Thanks to Vive Le Rock for having us along for the ride, and for putting together a great 15th birthday gig. Here’s to the next 15 years!
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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