GIG REVIEW: Desperate Measures + Loudmouth + LoGoZ @ Black Bull, Gateshead, Saturday 2 March 2024
Desperate Measures have had to wait a long time to play their first show at one of the North East’s premier DIY punk venues – 43 years to be exact.
Formed in New Zealand back in 1981, they were a well-respected band on the Christchurch punk scene, but released just a solitary 7in and a split cassette before going their separate ways.
Fast forward 40 years and original frontman Eugene Butcher is working as a journalist in London, editing Vive Le Rock magazine, and a new incarnation of the band begins to form.
Recruiting Michael Gaffney (Rich Ragany & The Digressions) on guitar, Ricky McGuire (UK Subs/The Men They Couldn’t Hang/Rich Ragany & The Digressions) on bass, James Sherry (Dealing With Damage/Done Lying Down) on drums, they begin to work on new material.
A 10in mini-album, Rinsed, was released in 2021, and now, after steady gigging and with a couple of appearances at Rebellion Festival under their belt, they’ve got round to releasing a debut album, Sublime Destruction.
This gig is part of a tour to promote the record, which is released on 22 March on Cadiz Music (home to the likes of Ruts DC, Killing Joke, Wingmen & Cockney Rejects). They recently supported US legends Dead Boys, and have dates with Janus Stark coming up, so they’ve already match-fit.
Many of the crowd here are unfamiliar with them, but immediately warm to their Stooges/MC5-inspired brand of punk rock ‘n’ roll.
Butcher is the double denim-clad star of the show, dominating the stage, urging the crowd to come closer, flipping a middle finger to the establishment, and intermittently venturing into the audience to share his mic for the choruses.
Around him are a tight, well-rehearsed band who are very much the sum of their very experienced parts, cranking out a splendid racket which soon has heads nodding and feet tapping along.
They kick off with Scars & Memories, the opening track from Rinsed, and it’s followed by a hugely enjoyable set showcasing the forthcoming album.
The title track and the thunderous Seven Sisters – an ode to their North London manor – are the pick of the new tunes for me, and they dust off 1984, the lead track from the original band’s sole 7in, which a few people know and join in with.
Gaff proves himself a guitar hero of the first order, throwing down dirty riffs and the occasional piercing solo, emerging now and then from beneath a thick mop of black hair to provide backing vocals.
Meanwhile, McGuire and Sherry lay down a thunderous groove which owes as much to early ’70s Michigan as it does to modern-day London.
As if to prove the point, Lost Angels, an old track which they never got round to recording properly, but have reworked for the album, is dedicated to the MC5’s Wayne Kramer, who died last month.
And they close their 45-minute set with – what else could it be? – a cover of The Stooges’ debut single, I Wanna Be Your Dog, which earns generous applause and brings the show to a suitably climactic close.
This is their fourth time I’ve seen Desperate Measures, and by far the best. The new material seems to have moved them up a notch, and the band have clearly loved their first visit to the Bull.
This review wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the two local bands who paved the way for tonight’s headliners. First up were LoGoZ, who must be the hardest-working punk band in the North East.
Their brand of Wildhearts-inspired melodic punk slips down a treat, making them the ideal appetiser for what follows. Tonight they’re a four-piece, with bassist Kieran adding some weight to the twin guitar attack of his old man Peesh and fellow founder member Paul.
The band recently recruited a new drummer, Danny, who seems to be driving them along faster than ever, and the band respond, smashing out old favourites like Long Time Dead and Anti-Social Media alongside tracks like Tropical Apocalypse and Freakshow from last year’s second album Welcome To the Freakshow (reviewed here).
There’s a new song too, Denialate, from a forthcoming EP, but the pick of their set, for me is Disgraceland, dedicated to the band’s hometown of Ashington. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen LoGoZ in the 12 years they’ve been together, and they never disappoint.
The same can be said of Sunderland punks Loudmouth, who are a tasty filling in the LoGoZ-Desperate measures sandwich. Fronted by Mick Jones (HDQ/Angelic Upstarts/Diaz Brothers), they’re fast, loud, melodic and play with bags of energy.
For a band who’ve been around 25 years they’ve got surprisingly little to show for it, with just two proper albums to their name, but a couple of new songs in tonight’s set suggest there’s new material on the way. I hope so, because they’re another hugely enjoyable band.
Highlights of their set include Self Centred and Friends Like You from their self-titled debut album, and Groundhog Day, All We’ve Ever Known and Thick And Thin from their second – and most recent – long-player, 2017’s Easy Tiger! Time for another album, lads? I hope so.
