A double headlining post punk bill of the Skids and Theatre of Hate what’s not to like.  To be frank it’s a strange double bill given TOH are dark, broody, cold war apocalyptic and Skids are in your face, fun, energetic and full of bounce.

Theatre of Hate

First up ToH are on stage at just at 20:00 for a 55 minute set.  Dressed in black apart from Stan wearing a snob t-shirt, adidas trainers and trademark pork pie hat (with attached goodies) – it’s a clue as to the direction of the music to follow.  Kirk wearing baggy turned up jeans, and demon witch’s t-shirt and holding his trusty cutaway electro acoustic Gretsch.  T-shirt of the day however goes to Clive on sax – it’s a roll call of all the baddies from the Gerry Anderson TV series in the 60’s/70’s. 

In the post punk landscape of 1980 TOH were certainly not radio friendly, they were angry, raw, frantic with a uniquely bleak soundscape (saxophone driven) and lyrics.  They burned brightly for a few years, disappeared until Kirk successfully resurrected them in 2014 with the LP ‘Kinshi’.  Theatre of Hate are vastly different prospect to Kirk’s more famous band  Spear of Destiny.  Short history lesson over 😊.

Tonight the only person moving was Stan with his occasional wanderings across the stage staring at the crowd, whilst Clive and Kirk are rooted to their microphones.  ToH certainly have an iconic sound, nobody sounds anything like them – distinctive bass lines, ominous, melancholic saxophone, mesmerising tribal drumming and bleak guitar chords and solo’s – it shouldn’t work but it does and it’s eerily spooky and taut with tension.  Bear in mind not many bands (if any) play an entire set with the sax featuring so heavily in each song!

Theatre of Hate were:

• Kirk Brandon – Vocals, guitar
• Stan Stammers – Bass
• Chris Bell – Drums
• Clive Osborne – Saxophone

Strangely they start with a Spear of Destiny song ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ which was ace and set the tone for a top evening of a band playing within their limits.  ‘The Hop’, ’63’, ‘The Wake’ were my personal favourites on the night.  As when I saw them previously there is hardly any audience interaction, it’s one song after another.  Kirk did on one occasion ask “what is a thing of beauty” to which a lady replied “a woman” and Kirk responded “correct answer”.  ToH are not a sing along band their songs create dark tensions and demand attention from the audience.

Set List (Click on link to view the video on YouTube)

1. Grapes of Wrath – (Grapes of Wrath, 1983 – Spear of Destiny)
2. My Own Invention – (He Who Dares Wins (Live at the Warehouse Leeds), 1981)
3. The Hop – (7” single, 1982)
4. A Thing of Beauty – (Utsukushi-sa (A Thing Of Beauty), 2020)
5. 63 – (Westworld, 1982)
6. The Wake – (Westworld, 1982)
7. Judgement Hymn – (Westworld, 1982)
8. Conquistador – (Westworld, 1982)
9. Nero – (Westworld, 1982)
10. Dreams of the Poppy aka Poppies – (He Who Dares Wins II – Berlin. 1982)
11. Incinerator – (Westworld, 1982)
12. Do You Believe in the Westworld? – (Westworld, 1982)

As always they finish with the rousing ‘Westworld’,  personally ‘Eastworld’ would have been a more fitting ending given the current political sphere.

Certain things never change and it’s good to see that Kirk is still sporting the same haircut he had back in the day – tightly side/back cropped blond hair with a longer fringe – he is clearly identifiable!

Skids

The Skids kick of proceedings with a 70 minute set culled from their halcyon period of 1979-1980.  Interestingly nothing from their comeback period of 2018 onwards!  Give the crowd what they want, turn back the clock and the nostalgia of the post punk period.

To be honest I never paid them much attention and apart from the two main songs that they are well known for (Yankee Dollar and Valley) I knew nothing of there set.  But listening to these songs you can definitely see how Stuart Adamson learnt, adapted and moved it on so well to greater effect and success with Big Country.  Blimey – they have been going for almost 50 years (minus the big gaps).  After tonight’s excellent gig I’ll definitely be checking their back catalogue out.

Dunfermline has brought us Ian Anderson, Nazareth, and Big Country / Skids so not too bad for a small Scottish town.

Richard Jobson is a big muscle bound unit and tonight he’s sporting a St. Pauli top (they are a Hamburg based “Kult” football club, a voice for marginalized communities, and a symbol of fiercely independent, left-wing political activism) – so a statement piece!  He is a ball or energy, constantly on the go with erratic dancing moves akin to St. Vitus’ Dance (look it up) and relentless energy throughout.  His punch drunk boxer moves also reminds me of the classic Laurel and Hardy skit with Stan in the boxing ring |😊.   Sweat pours off him constantly which isn’t surprising.  He’s also funny and always taking the piss out of himself and the original band songs “95% of the music is shite”, but he also delivers eulogies to his long lost founding member Stuart Adamson (RIP).  So unlike Toh, Richard pretty much interacted between each song and very entertaining it was.

Skids were:

• Richard Jobson – Vocals (original member)
• Connor Whyte – Guitar
• Peter Byrchmore – Bass
• Nick Hernandez – Drums

The band were ace but my highest praise goes to 29 year old Connor Whyte who is an outstanding guitarist.  He’s got the moves, poses and plays blinding riffs and solo’s with what looks like ease.  Spoke to him afterwards and he’s a really engaging chap as well.  A long successful career ahead for him once the Skids call it a day.  The current line-up recreates the band’s classic sound with ease, it’s a pleasure to behold.

He tells a tale about his children not knowing he was in a band and only found out when they were at school many years later.  So they checked out the old footage and concluded that he was a wanker 😊..  kids eh!

The audience is mainly 50+ and they are here for a good old jolly up and sing along of which they have plenty of opportunity with tunes such as ‘Hurry on Boys’, ‘Into the Valley’ and ‘TV stars’ – Albert Tatlock anyone? 😊😊.  Jobson entertains us well throughout.

Setlist (Click on link to view the video on YouTube)

1. Masquerade – [Days in Europa, 1979]
2. Out of Town – [The Absolute Game, 1980]
3. Melancholy Soldiers – [Scared to Dance, 1979]
4. Sweet Suburbia – [Scared to Dance, 1979]
5. The Saints Are Coming – [Scared to Dance, 1979]
6. Hurry On Boys – [The Absolute Game, 1980]
7. Charade – [Days in Europa, 1979]
8. Circus Games – [The Absolute Game, 1980]
9. Working for the Yankee Dollar – [Days in Europa, 1979]
10. The Olympian – [Days in Europa, 1979]
11. TV Stars/Test Tube Babies – [B-side of ‘Into the Valley’ single)
12. Into the Valley – [Scared to Dance, 1979]
13. Of One Skin – [Scared to Dance, 1979]
14. Charles – [Scared to Dance, 1979]
15. And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda
    (singing solo in remembrance of Armistice day)

Richard tells us Skids would never have come back has it not been for the success of U2 and Green Day covering their song ‘The Saints Are Coming’.   As a frontman Richard is hard to ignore but his backing band also deserve a mention.  I’ve already briefly mentioned Connor but what a fantastic player he is!  He has big shoes to fill and does it wonderfully well and imposes his own stamp on the band.  Bassist (the other oldie in the band) Pete Byrchmore points his Rickenbacker to the crowd and launches into the unmistakable rumble of ‘Into The Valley’ and the whole room going crazy..  Nick Hernandez on drums seemed trance like for the entire set just hammering away at frantic pace keeping the rhythm going.

Another of Richard’s anecdotes of when the band first started in Dunfermline saying they were from poor backgrounds and only had money for an hour in the studio – for which they brought along 42 songs and 41 were shite.  Also “the biggest pile of shit ever written” got the biggest cheer of the night as it turned out to be the sing-a-long favourite ‘TV Stars’ which really got the capacity crowd chanting.

There was no encore as they decided to stay on stage as they were having such a good time.  The played Charles (the last song Stuart and Richard wrote together) and then it was time for some sombre thoughts.  The band went silent and Richard sang the best anti-war song ever written ‘And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda’ without accompaniment.  It was Armistice day after all and this was the perfect ending.

A wonderful evening of quality old school punk and post punk.   Ticket prices for this were just £30 – thanks for keeping the ticket prices very reasonable – it’s important!  Absolute bargain for a wonderful night’s entertainment.

Marko [12 Nov 20206]