LIVE REVIEW: Anger Flares + Gimp Fist + One Man Stand, The Globe, Newcastle, Friday, 26 July 2019
This intimate gig was billed as a warm-up for Rebellion Festival for both Gimp Fist and Anger Flares, and if it’s anything to go by they’re not to be missed at the annual punk rock party in Blackpool.
Opening proceedings were One Man Stand, a three-piece from Stockport who I hadn’t seen before. Their straight-up punk rock ‘n’ roll slipped down nicely as an appetiser, though the singer needs some new banter instead of introducing every song with “this one’s about me mam/dad”.
Gimp Fist need little introduction to anyone who’s followed the British punk scene over the last decade and a half. The trio from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, have amassed a loyal following with their infectious brand of working class street-punk.
They generously let Anger Flares headline tonight, as it was the first date of a UK tour leading up to that Rebellion appearance, but most people had paid their £6 (for three band – what a bargain!) to see them.
The Globe’s capacity is around 120, and I’d say it was about full when Jonny, Chris and Mike hit the stage and tore straight into Fists In The Air from their 2017 album Never Give Up On You. I’m unconvinced by it as an opener, but I’ve seen them do it a few times now, so they obviously are.
The next hour barely saw the band pause for breath, and in all the times I’ve seen them, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them play harder or faster, smashing through 20 songs, and the hotter it got – and it was sweltering – the faster they seemed to play.
(Marching) On & On, three songs in, saw them really hit their stride, and the crowd favourite War on The Streets, which followed, confirmed that the boys were in blazing good form. And by now it was so hot that bassist Chris even took his cap off.
First In Line, one of their best songs, came surprisingly early in the set, which they used to road-test half a dozen songs from new album Blood, which is launched at Rebellion next week. Of these, Pressure and The Fight In You stood out most, and if this taste was anything to go by, the record should be another cracker.
It was the oldies which got the crowd down the front moving most though, and A Country Divided, Heart Full Of Pride, and the closing Here I Stand were as rapturously received as ever.
Gimp Fist on that form take some following, but somehow Anger Flares managed it. Formed in Tokyo 20 years ago, they have been producing their own rousing brand of street-punk ever since, apart from a six-year hiatus from 2007-13.
I’d only heard a couple of their songs, on a split 12in with Gimp Fist, but was immediately won over by their energy, enthusiasm and authenticity. Whatever street-punk is supposed to be, they’ve got it in spades.
pre-Rebellion UK tour. Pic: Gary Welford.
The crowd thinned out a bit after Gimp Fist’s set, but my message to those who left is simple: it was your loss. Yuichi on vocals, Shinjin on guitar, Taxx on bass and Koshi on drums put on a great show, and I’d recommend catching them in the Arena at 9.15pm on Thursday if you’re going to Rebellion.
Rebels With A Cause, Music For Bootboys, We Got The Power (no relation to the similarly-titled Red Alert song) and On The Street Again tick every box you want from an Oi! band, delivered with power, pride and passion, and I can’t wait to see Anger Flares again.
