UK Subs/Skaface Claw/Gaywyre @ Bar Bodega Wellington 22 Oct 2009

Missed the UK Subs the previous night in Palmerston North so went to the Wellington show at Bar Bodega. First band up were Gaywyre, who other than a Discharge cover were very much in power metal mode. A song or two sound either like Helloween or Iron Maiden with shrill squeals that were sometimes used when the singer spoke.



Above pic: Gaywyre

Next in line were Skaface Claw. They'd been a three piece the previous few times I'd seen them. This time they had a different drummer and were playing as a five piece with a keyboard and sax player. Their ska punk went down a treat.

Below pics: Skaface Claw







After a short break headliners UK Subs took the stage and Charlie Harper and Nicky Garret move around the stage like they were at least half their age.
The subs played most of their well known songs like "Warhead", "Stranglehold", "Rockers", "C.I.D." etc. Punkfest being during the weekend brought in extra punters and the crowd was reasonably large.

Below pics: UK Subs







Here's a youtube version of "Warhead" from the show. Warning: The sound quality is similar to the average live tape from tape trading days and will provide nostalgia for some and annoyance to others as it should be.

UK Subs (talking with Charlie Harper) and Wellington show review

First up an informal conversation with Charlie Harper in Palmerston North.


Charlie Harper in action at Valve in Wellington, New Zealand. Pic by me.



STO: How's the New Zealand tour been going?

Charlie: It's been fairly good. The South Island was nice. Hamilton was really quiet with only 20 people and it's fairy quiet here too. There were only twenty tickets pre-sold.

STO: Who are your favourite punk bands/artists at present?

Charlie: Iggy Pop, Siouxie and The Banshees and The Damned. As far as the American stuff goes I've come to appreciate Social Distortion over the years who slowed down when all the other hardcore bands sped up and Bad Religion.

STO: Who were your favourite punk bands back in the day?

Charlie: X-Ray Spex and Vice Squad. It's a real shame now half Vice Squad want to be a metal band and half of the band want to be a punk band so they alienate both the punks and metallers nowadays and Becky Bondage now goes to her mother's place to eat meals because she can't afford to buy them herself. It's really such a shame when they could be something big.



STO: Do you think punk will be big again?

Charlie: These things go in waves. There was a huge wave of American punk during the nineties and we got a lot of people at our shows in California but really California was the only place in the states that was really good for us attendance wise and it still is that way.

STO: Who are the most famous people you've met?

Charlie: Johnny Rotten and Sting. We toured with Sting and someone wanted us to leave the tour but he made sure we stayed.

STO: What's your favourite UK Subs album?

Charlie: Endangered Species

STO: Whose your favourite football team?

Charlie: Chelsea. I heard they won 4-3 today but didn't get to see the game.


Next day I travelled to Wellington to catch the UK Subs at Valve where the sound is much better. Around the corner Norwegian black metal band Immortal were playing and the queue waiting for them was full of white pride/swastika head tattoos. The band were charging $80 for door sales. I guess some people value this black metal. I've never even heard them.

First band up at Valve was Co-exister. Death/black metal and grindcore does pretty much zilch for me. I guess the fact that they're nearly an all girl band makes them more interesting than most. They'd probably had gone down better with Immortal's crowd.



Next up were Auckland band, Last Orders who have been around since the 80s and have an eighties sound reminiscent of the Circle Jerks at times. Could have done without the guy from the crowd saying the Immortal crowd had more idea how to have fun to all the audience especially since I suspect there were less support bands at that show. Here's a clip of one of their songs at Valve.



Vicious Rumour from Napier came on next and were great. Their stage presence was good when I saw them at Punkfest in October but has improved a thousand percent since then. People rushed forward when they played, thankfully sparing any come closer speech. Here's Vicious Rumour supporting the UK Subs at Valve.



Next on were the UK Subs who were the band everyone had come to see.
I managed to film the band while they were playing Warhead and I'm happy with the way it turned out.



They played for 60 minutes inluding the encore in Wellington and in Palmy they played for 70 minutes. I'm really happy I got to see them twice.

UK Subs/Dead City Rockers/Bali Bombers Bar Mode March 20th 2008

Got to this one early and met and talked with Charlie Harper from the UK Subs who is a down to earth guy. The Bali Bombers impressed me again with their punk assault arsenal of loud guitar and great fast drumming. Unfortunately due to the size of Bar Mode and the usual lack of people at the venue the sound wasn't great. Here's a Youtube clip of The Bali Bombers



Up next where the Dead City Rockers who are Goat Fucking Nun Rapers alter-ego band or vice versa. They certainly like The Misfits a lot.





UK Subs came on and all the people waiting outside came in. Charlie Harper puts a lot of frontmen over half his age to shame. His years of experience shine through while he is on stage. Nicky Garrat's guitar playing was as faultless as entertaining and so were his flying scissorkick jumps. The drummer and bass player were great too. I don't really like Bar Mode as a venue as it is far too big for a lot of bands soundwise. It may have been better with a lot more people there. Only twenty tickets were pre-sold and roughly seventy people turned up.