GIG REVIEW: Maid Of Ace + Bratakus, Trillians, Newcastle, Sunday 25 July 2021
One year, four months and 17 days after last being in the same room as a live band, this was my tentative return to a gig.
It’s taken a worldwide pandemic and lockdowns to make me realise I’d taken gig-going for granted.
Never again. Watching live music is something I – like many others – have missed immensely during our enforced abstinence.
What better way to ease back in than a Sunday evening in the company of one of my favourite bands, Maid Of Ace, in one of my favourite venues, Trillians.
They’re a four-piece from Hastings who play furious punk rock, and their unique selling point is that they’re sisters.
I’ve seen them play a basement room to 20 people, and big festival stage to 2,000, and they never give it less than 100%.
Final night
This was the last gig of a five-date run, on a UK tour postponed from last July.
For an outfit who hadn’t played live for a year, the Maids were on good form, even if one false start prompted vocalist Alison to apologise “We’ll never be a perfect band.”
Their fans don’t expect perfection though; they want music which surges through your veins, hits that sweet spot, and makes you forget what a shitshow the last 16 months have been.
The odd entirely forgiveable hiccup aside, the lasses provided just that. They were on blistering form from the off, smashing through a 45-minute set with scarcely a pause for breath.
Since they last played Newcastle in July 2019 (reviewed here), they’ve toured with The Exploited and Anti-Flag, and released their third album, Live Fast Or Die.
New album
For me it’s the best of their career (read our review here), and it formed the backbone of their set, with eight of its 10 tracks getting an airing.
They opened with a real oldie, Nothin’ On Me, which segued into new song Hit ‘Em Harder, which sounded like a real statement of intent.
Stay Away, one of the highlights of 2016’s Maid In England album,paved the way for a couple more new songs, Energy and the excellent This Is War.
The latter is one of the standout tracks on LFAD, and shows the band at their best, with Anna showing off her guitar skills and guttural howl, and the rhythm section of Amy (bass) and Abby (drums) really getting into the groove.
Hit their stride
A run of more familiar tunes, including Minimum Wage, set the band up to really hit their stride as they played four songs in a row from LFAD.
The title track, Let’s Go, Repent and The Terror even prompted a mini-moshpit as the crowd remembered how to behave at a punk rock gig.
Into the home straight, we got Maid In England from the second record and Forever from the latest one, before the set closed with first album favourite Bone Deth.
That was meant to be it, but the crowd demanded more, and the band delivered, firing through another oldie, Rules & Regulations.
Standout song
The only disappointments were that they didn’t play longer, and that one of the new songs they didn’t play was Rollin‘ Stone, which has become one of my standouts.
Those small gripes aside, it felt wonderful to be watching live music again, particularly when the band clearly enjoyed it as much as their audience.
A few words too, for the opening act for this mini-tour, Bratakus. I’d seen them just once before, on the Introducing Stage at Rebellion back in 2016, and to say they’ve grown in confidence since is an understatement.
Like Maid Of Ace, they’re sisters, and Onnagh Cuinn (bass/vocals) and Breagha Cuinn (guitar/vocals) make an impressive noise for a two-piece playing with a drum machine.
Riot grrrrls
Hailing from the north of Scotland, they describe themselves as ‘riot grrrl punk band’, and they certainly lived up to that billing in an impressive opening slot.
Their short, impassioned bursts of anger about topics like racism, sexism and environmental disaster make them a perfect support act for Maid Of Ace.
The absence of a setlist and me being too busy drinking beer and taking pictures to make notes means I didn’t catch many song titles, other than recent single Real Men Eat Meat, which was a set highlight.
I enjoyed them sufficiently to buy a copy of their album Target Grrrl, released in 2017. You can check out it and the fistful of digital singles they’ve released since on their Bandcamp page HERE.
Trillians rocks
Finally, a word about the venue. Trillians is a legendary rock bar in Newcastle, and has already come back from the dead once.
I feared it may go the way of so many others due to the pandemic, after more than a year without its rock and punk gigs.
But it’s still here, with lots of measures in place to make the basement bar as safe as possible during these still-uncertain times.
From the moment I stepped inside I felt safe, and I think everyone else did too. A few wore masks as they moved around inside, others didn’t, but no one was an arse about it.
It was certainly cathartic to meet friends for the first time in ages, and see the smiles on people’s faces as they enjoyed the music.
Long may it continue. But Trills and grassroots venues like it will only survive and thrive if punters feel confident enough to return.
Trillians has a whole programme of live music lined up as the industry tries to get back to normal. Please support it and other grassroots venues if you can.
