PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
I’ve always believed that it is vital to review and support up and coming talent whenever I can. Tonight at The Skerries in Bangor, North Wales I witnessed four solid reasons why I continue to do it. I also took the opportunity at this gig of chatting with Mike & Andy from Crapsons. The filmed interview with be published shortly in it’s entirety.
I was really impressed with The Skerries. A small traditional pub at the bottom of the longest high street in Britain (one mile top to bottom). The back room where the bands perform is large enough to hold a decent crowd and project great sound, but also small enough for the place to fill up quickly.
Dilation were the first to entertain us. With the stage littered with pink Flamingos, all of which were called Richard, it was obvious what sort of a set we would be witnessing here. With Dilation, it’s not so much about the music, but about the dry sense of humour this five piece band share. It takes something special to have all members of a band on exactly the same humour wavelength but that’s exactly what we have here. Every song played tonight had an element within it that was totally unexpected, even down to the voice effects, and that’s exactly what caught the crowd’s attention. These guys are very clever at what they do and are well worth checking out. With songs such as ‘My Boyfriend’s Cheating On Me’ & ‘Richard’, they can only entertain you. It’s music with a seriously funny comedy element. I loved them.
Spam Javelin are right up my street. Fronted by North Wales legend Neil Crud these guys play punk rock like it should be played. Neil has spent most of his life supporting and promoting up and coming bands throughout North Wales and has his own Radio show on Tudno.FM, a North Wales based radio station. He also promotes bands through his own ‘Link2wales‘ record label. I was pretty excited about this one as I already knew a couple of tracks and Spam Javelin did not disappoint.
There is an element here of late 80’s Punk Rock. It was angry, tight, comical, and full of energy. Most of the songs if not all are based on small things that seem to get on Neil’s nerves. ‘Pen Clicker’ for instance is just an absolutely classic title for a song and everything that he scream’s out is true. It shows true writing ability when a song can be written about an Estate Agent that Neil glanced eyes on briefly that was dressed in a strange suit that he didn’t approve of, hence, ‘State Agent’ was penned. But it’s not all about Neil. He’s backed up by a brilliant rhythm section of bass and drums which make Spam Javelin such a tight unit. Superb set.
Uncle Peanut lives in Peanut town. He’s one man and a mobile phone. He also talks about points in life and highlights issues, and his spoken word really catches your attention. Remember Phil Daniels talking on Blur’s Parklife? Well, this is Uncle Peanut. There’s some great singing in the choruses of his songs. I must admit to be able to remember spoken word like Uncle Peanut does for all his songs just goes to show he is a genius at what he does and a great entertainer. Yet another superb set.
And so to Crapsons. It’s no secret I’m a big fan of this group, so to finally meet them and get to see them live was the perfect end to the night. It’s been an amazing first year for Crapsons, and we touched on all aspects of how it’s been and what we can expect from them going forward in my interview with the guys.
There’s was no time to breathe as they hit the stage, shooting straight into their first single ‘You Don’t Know When Your Going To Die’, followed immediately by ‘Jee Wizz’ from their new EP ‘Deaths & Spelling Mistakes’. Breathtaking stuff already. These guys are loud, angry, fun, energetic, and make a great point of getting the crowd to participate in throwing biscuits around during ‘Dunk Days Are Over’!!
They played with no set-list tonight. Instead, they asked the crowd to shout out what they wanted to hear, which I thought was a great move as I shouted out ‘Checking In To A&E’. And they duly played it for me. ‘Kings Of The Council Estate’ was another highlight of the night, together with one of my favourite ‘Scallies’. An amazing end to the night from a cracking bunch of guys. From what I’ve witnessed here I’m sure 2019 will be an even more successful year for Crapsons.
Tonight has been a feast of raw talent, and it’s been an absolute pleasure to have been in the company of such great bands. Each and every one of them should be proud to have been part of this amazing night. I for one will not be missing the next one.
