GIG REVIEW: The Last Resort + Gimp Fist, Trillians, Newcastle,
Thursday 17 February 2022
It’s not every night you get to see a bona fide punk rock legend in a venue as intimate as Trillians.
So the lure of seeing Rancid’s Lars Frederiksen in the basement bar proved irresistible for the punks and skins who packed it out on a cold Thursday night.
The Californian might have found the temperature outside a bit colder than he’s used to, but the welcome inside was warm as he took to the stage with the latest of the six – yes, six – bands he plays with.
He joined on guitar a couple of years ago, which seemed an odd move at the time, but it makes perfect sense when you consider they were one of the bands he looked up to while growing up. For him, punk rock is simply A Way Of Life.
That’s why it’s quite apt he’s joined The Last Resort, an old school oi! band formed in Herne Bay, Kent, in 1980, whose debut album, A Way Of Life – Skinhead Anthems, is one of the genre’s true classics.
They’ve split and reformed a couple of times, with the usual line-up changes, but are now sounding better than ever.
Frontman Roi Pearce, who swapped from bass when original vocalist Saxby left, is showing no signs of letting up, and he’s also one of the select few with more tattoos than Lars, as he proves when he whips his vest off a few songs in.
The Last Resort’s sound is based around heavy chugging guitar, and Lars has got it off to a tee. Add in the powerhouse rhythm section that is JJ on bass and Mick Gaffney on drums and you’ve got a solid-as-a-rock sound.
I’d seen them a few times at Rebellion Festival in Blackpool, where they’re regulars, but never in front of their own crowd. You won’t be surprised to find they play just as hard to 200 people as they do to 2,000.
They lay out their stall of working class anthems over a 16-song set, singing about pride in their country and their scene, love for their families and their mates, and contempt for the ruling classes.
They’re here as part of a 14-date UK tour promoting their latest album, Skinhead Anthems IV, released in December, and it forms the backbone of their set, with seven of its 11 tracks getting an airing.
Psychopath, with its bludgeoning bassline, and Fuck Em All, with its anti-government sentiment, are the best of the bunch, but they all slip down nicely alongside the many beers being consumed.
The first album, of course, cannot be ignored, and fan favourites like Resort Boot Boys, Skinheads In Sta-Press and King Of the Jungle are greeted like the classics they are.
Working Class Kids, from the controversial Strength Thru Oi compilation, goes down well mid-set, as does Never Get A Job, from their excellent 2013 album This Is My England, whose title track kicked things off tonight.
I would have liked to have heard more from that record, but they’re here to plug the new one, which already seems on its way to enjoying similar status among hardcore fans.
With no room for fake ‘go off and come back on encores’, the band slip in another couple of songs at the end, the new songs Freedom Pt 2 and oldie Violence In Our Minds, which prompts a good-natured mini-stage invasion.
The Last Resort came, saw and conquered, and there’s clearly plenty left in their tank. A gig this good isn’t just about the headliners though, and tonight’s special guests are streetpunk legends in their own right, at least in these parts.
Gimp Fist, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, have been trailblazers for the North East Oi! Division for more than 15 years now, and have plenty of classics of their own.
They launch straight into one of them, The Place Where I Belong, which is followed by two more old favourites in Common Ground and War On The Streets.
Lead singer Jonny spent lockdown writing new songs, and tonight we get to hear five of them from their as-yet-unreleased eighth album.
Anyone who’s seen Gimp Fist since August will probably have heard Machines, Repeat Offender, Fuel To The Fire, Ambition and Shame. They’ve become set regulars, and suggest the record will be another belter.
These lads are old hands at giving their fans – and there are plenty of them here – what they want, and their main problem after seven albums, one split LP and a dozen singles is what to leave out.
Tonight we get the rarely-played Sometimes, and big singalongs in First In Line, (Marching) On & On, Top Dog and traditional closer Here I Stand (complete with guest vocals from long-time fan Dougie).
It was a perfect appetiser for what was to follow, and great to see Trillians as busy for the support as for the headliners. As The Last Resort’s slogan says ‘No mess, no fuss, just pure impact.’ A way of life indeed!
