LIVE MUSIC Slalom D The Black Bull, Gateshead by Fiona Duncan Line-up Panda Lasagne Slalom D Cheery & Peesh Spitfire Bullets So it takes a lot to impress me when it comes to new music. As an old punk I'm constantly demanding a sound that is new and fresh but with just enough Hansel and Gretel breadcrumb markers that take me back to the heyday of punk and comforting familiarity. Tough crowd hey? Well Slalom D perfected it tonight. Come on, a band that takes to the stage with 3/4's of them wearing their coats already has my attention. Were they going to be that bad that they were prepared to leave at any moment? My first thought was "not staying lads?". The lead singer doesn't so much prowl the stage but lurk about like a belligerent shoplifter who's realised he's run out of pockets. Sorry Craig but the huge coat only adds to the overall effect. The energy from the drummer has to be seen to be believed and obviously he has every faith in the band as he's only in a vest and so prepared to see it through for the long haul. Both guitarist and bassist seem to be in their own little blissful worlds, I've rarely seen 2 musicians look so content and at ease with what they were doing. By the end of the set the shoplifter and the lads have kranked up the energy so much that it's impossible to look away even when you know you're missing out on the raging spice girls twitter debate. So the phone remains in the pocket as I witness Craig conjure up passion and vitrol by the tonne against the criminals who caused the Grenfell tower tragedy. It's rare that punk is so moving (like jaw droppingly moving) and the shoplifter is transformed into a black draped anti-pope, spitting and screaming from a pulpit fashioned from flammable cladding. It gets that dark and that intense I expect lines of satanists carrying their kids to the front of the stage for Craig to unbless at future gigs. I have a new favourite band, that very rarely happens. If you see them advertised, go, take ear plugs if you're of a nervous disposition and be one of the first to able to say, yeah I was there, in the early days. Absolutely bloody marvellous!
All photos courtesy of and copyright Will Binks Photography