Best Gigs of 2019

In chronological order, here is a review of all the best gigs I went to in 2019. I deliberately left out all the shows I've been to in Malaysia because I have already written about them on the blog whilst documenting my time here.

The War Goes On @ Delicious Clam, Sheffield, UK

I have been fortunate to go to the annual K-Town festival in Copenhagen on four seperate ocassions (once at the old Ungdomshuset, twice at the Grey Hall in Christiania, and once at the new Ungdomshuset), and during this time I was exposed to many great Danish bands, such as HJERTESTOP, GORILLA ANGREB, NIGHT FEVER and REAKTION. Another to add to that list is NO HOPE FOR THE KIDS, who have a great record. After they finished up, THE WAR GOES ON rose from the ashes, playing a different style of straight up, catchy, and angry punk-rock, with lyrics in a similar vein. So it was a pleasure to not only catch them play in the UK, but also at a new DIY music space in Sheffield (the second best punk rock place in Yorkshire).

Discharge @ Temple of Boom, Leeds, UK

You must already know that Discharge are one of the greatest punk bands of all time right? WHY? and HEAR NOTHING SEE NOTHING SAY NOTHING are up there with the best releases of all time. I caught them the year before at TEMPLE OF BOOM and it was raging - limbs flying all over the place. This time round it was more uncontrollable bodies swarming the mosh pit, yet the band were just as impressive blasting through areas of their extensive back catalogue. KINGS OF PUNK!

Joyce Manor, The Murderburgers @ The Key Club, UK

This was the final time I got to see THE MURDERBURGERS (RIP), the first being at a house show in Leeds back in the mid to late 2000s. THESE ARE ONLY PROBLEMS is their killer release - slightly snotty, fast, and melodic proper pop-punk. It was great to see them one final time, despite only playing a couple of tracks from that record. What was most surprising was seeing and hearing JOYCE MANOR - they were bloody brilliant, and it's rare a new band will capture me like that. I should have trusted MR BAD RELIGION Brett Gurewitz when he was raving about them back in the day.

Harijan @ The Bread Shed, Manchester Punk Festival, UK

I put on a few gigs whilst I was living in Manchester when I was student in the early 2000s, and the second show I did in 2003 featured this band. After some time in hiatus, they have recently reformed and this was a comeback show of sorts, as well as a tribute to a previous member who had recently passed away. They went on stage around 11pm in a packed venue on the Friday night of Manchester Punk Festival and the place was packed. They play a nice mix of ska and ocsasional dub, and the place was banging - it was a non-stop skank fest, and a heartwarming return. The disco ball was used in the lighting set up and it all just felt right. THERE AINT NO PARTY LIKE A MANCHESTER SKA PUNK PARTY!

Snuff @The Union, Manchester Punk Festival, UK

SNUFF are up there in the all-time best UK punk bands - hammering out dancefloor classics throughout the decades - their punk-rock / northern soul / ska crossover is unmatched anywhere, and they truly have a unique style. The Saturday headliners were a perfect fit to plough through their greatest hits.

Frankie Stubbs, Chuck Coles @ Temple of Boom, Leeds, UK

I jumped at the chance of putting on a Frankie Stubbs show, and this was the 45th gig I have organised in my career. The tickets sold out, and there was a packed audience stuffed inside the hot box. LEWIS BURNER got us warmed up nicely, and CHUCK COLES was a treat too, even dropping in a cover of Sorrow by BAD RELIGION for us fans. Frankie was supposed to play for only an hour, yet it ended up being around two. He was in a good mood as we treated him to some chateauneuf-de-pape wine to drink during his set. He was telling many a tale in between songs, and was bigging up Leeds as a place. He played some absolute bangers, and there were plenty of singalongs. It was a real treat, as Leatherface hadn't played for years. This was certainly a good way to put a hold on my gig organising, and a great send off prior to moving away. Frankie Stubbs is one of the greatest songwriters in the history of punk-rock, and this was an intimate and rare special show to behold.

Lagwagon, The Bronx, Anti-Flag @ Temple Newsam, Slam Dunk Festival, Leeds, UK

The addition of the 'Punk in Drublic' stage to the Slam Dunk Festival was a welcome move for us old timers, and the line up was phenomenal for the debut that I could have written about many of the bands that played (obviously Bad Religion were amazing and NOFX a letdown). However, it was some of the bands lower down the bill which blew me away. I hadn't seen ANTI-FLAG in over a decade, and it was great to see them still earnest with their beliefs, banging out a greatest hits type set (on any other day I might have felt that it was too cheesy, yet on a festival day like this it just felt right and a perfect warm up for the rest of the day). THE BRONX were another new band I have seen this year, and like Joyce Manor, just blew me away instantly - a full on loud hardcore rocking set! To top the first half of the day perfectly were LAGWAGON who played some classic deep emotive love songs for middle aged losers - I was accompanied by an old friend Al, who now lives abroad, and hadn't seen for 20 years, just casually walking up and saying hello prior to the start of the set. I was briefly in a band with him at college, and we even played a cover of Mr. Coffee by Lagwagon, so it seemed fitting that I was going to experience this and sing along with him. Punk-rock brings us back together, and I even did a little cry during one of the songs. The Interupters and Less Than Jake were also fun.

Subhumans @ The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK

One of the all time classic UK punk bands, still battling along, and singing about themes that were relevant in the 1980s and mostly relevant today, proving that age don't get in the way of being an amazing band. They were even promoting a new album on this tour. Great to see them at the iconic Brudenell Social Club in the new Community Room.

Agnosy @ 1 in 12 Club, Bradford, UK

Crust punk is one of those genres, similar to grindcore, in which bands tend to have a short shelf life, especially in the UK. AGNOSY (a mix of people from all over the world, yet London based) are one of these bands that have bucked the trend, probably going for around 10 years now. I really enjoyed them back in the day when crust punk was huge in the mid to late 2000s, yet there was plenty going on that attracted my attention elsewhere. Fast forward to today, and they are playing a mixed bill punk all dayer, and they were the standout and blow away band of the night - the crowd were going wild and they sounded better than ever.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones @ The Ritz, Manchester, UK

I was supposed to see TMMB at Deconstruction Fest in Manchester in the late 90s / early 2000s, yet I ended up kissing a girl outside for the duration. 20 years later I finally get to see them thanks to some encouragement and a final gig send off opportunity, to be with two out of three of my all time gig buddies, Honest Tom and Simon the Gardener. I don't own any TMMB records and only know two songs, yet I was assured that it was going to be great from many different types of people that had seen them live. They were not wrong. They were so good at what they do, I couldn't resist skanking along to all their songs. It was a great way to round off this chapter of UK gigs before heading off to Malaysia. I would definitely go and see them again. 

So that was the best of 2019 in the UK - I'll be back for a visit in July/August for a month, so hopefully see you at the back of the pit!