Manchester Punk Festival 2023
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| The Beltones |
The crowd were too rowdy, the main performance was cut short, police were called to the venue, the offenders refused to leave, and subsequent nights were cancelled. That was a horrible way for it all to finish. No, this wasn't the outcome of KNIFE CLUB'S performance on Friday night, this happened at a theatre performance of Whitney Houston's 'The Bodyguard' at the PALACE THEATRE that was taking place in Manchester during the same weekend. Thankfully the punks, and in particular the type of punks that Manchester Punk Festival (MPF) attract, have similar values, are tolerant of each others differences, and know how to have a good time without ruining it for other people.
This was my 5th time at MPF, which started in 2015 as a two stage, one venue, one day event; and has now evolved into a multi venue, 3.5 day behemoth, which celebrates all subgenres within the punk scene, and continues to operate around the Oxford Road / Manchester Metropolitan University district of the city. This area was also where I lived and studied when I went to university for my bachelors degree, so it already held a special place in my heart. The addition of MPF has taken my love for this part of the world to unparalleled levels. And on top of that, there really is no other festival on the UK punk circuit quite like it.
The journey to the festival this year was quite different to previous visits. I arrived in Manchester at 6am on the Friday morning, having made a 19 hour journey from my house in Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA. After such a long period of travel, I had some catching up to do, so I booked myself a day room at a hotel near Oxford Road, and got some much needed sleep and rest before the festival kicked off later that afternoon.
Due to the large amount of different venues, and the vast array of the types of bands playing, there really is something for everyone at this festival. I have some friends who attend this festival, and have a completely different experience to mine, and there are some friends whom I cross paths with at various points throughout it. As always, I was in attendance with my close friend, long term gig buddy & melodic punk rock aficionado Tom, who made is way over from Leeds in the early afternoon.
After a pre lash munch at HATCH, a parading of my e-sports trophy, and another hotel check-in, we headed to the UNION to catch a few songs of the opening act BRUISE CONTROL, who played pretty decent fast melodic hardcore. Their frontman looked like a cross between the lead singer from DEAN DIRG, and a Wigan Rugby League fan from 1980. We then headed next door to the SALUTATION pub for a quick pint, but the ale was crap, so we sacked off visiting there for the rest of the festival.
Next up was the 'last ever show' of the HUMAN PROJECT. I say 'last ever' because they have had one before they reformed. They are like a B grade version of 'Supporting Caste' / 'Potemkin City Limits' era Propagandhi, which considering how incredible Propagandhi are, is a compliment, and a nice kind of band to have in your local scene. The band were quite emotional, and they were clearly quite popular, as the crowd were singing along to the choruses at times. It was a fitting farewell for them, and it's been a pleasure having them as part of our local scene for many years.
I was completely blown away by the energy of FAINTEST IDEA, and I was left thinking to myself 'How come I have never seen this band before?' They play an infectious blend of ska punk, and the trombonist who also plays in CALL ME MALCOLM kept us entertained with his 100% investment in the stage performance, which is essential as a brass player in a ska punk band. We cut their set short to head over to THE BREAD SHED, to see GREEN EYED MONSTER who had come all the way over from JAPAN to play the festival. They were young, super enthusiastic, and played a combination of modern pop punk combined with classic fast Japanese style punk rock.
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| Faintest Idea |
We then took a walk across town to GORILLA, to see one of Tom's picks, THE SLOW DEATH, a bunch of older men playing indie rock / punk crossover, complete with a keyboardist. At this stage, being at this venue was most welcome, as we had the opportunity to sit and watch them from the seats on the balcony. Being in my 40s now, and being at an all dayer, it is a most welcome opportunity. I wish there were more venues with ample seating, but given the space restrictions and costs involved, you can understand why it's not common place in city centre venues.
Then it was over to one of the new venues added to the festival (the acoustic stage has moved around a lot between venues over the years) called YES, to check out TNS RECORDS band from DENMARK, called STOJ SNAK, who play acoustic folk punk in a similar vein to early Against Me! A lot of people had come to see them, but it was a little too earnest and positive for our cynical minds. We cut their set short to head back to GORILLA to see another one of Tom's picks, FORTITUDE VALLEY, a super group featuring members of various other bands. It was another indie pop / punk rock crossover band, who were overwhelmed by the amount of people that had come to see them. Unfortunately the first half of the set suffered a little from feedback in the sound, but it was great to see Dave Hillier blasting out some solos on lead guitar duties.
After a steady day on the ale, it was time to put the hammer down in preparation for the main international acts of the night. The festival teams up with SIGNATURE BREWERY, to provide some quality ales for the festival, and we tucked into a variety of pints & cans over the next couple of hours at the UNION. First up was THE BELTONES from the USA, a band I had completely overlooked in the run up to the festival, who then I got super stoked about after reading this synopsis of the band, who were playing their first UK show in 20 years! They sounded like a fast paced punk rock band with country & western influences (like a sped up cross between The Cobra Skulls, Moto, and Dan Vapid & The Cheats), topped off with raspy vocals akin to Frankie Stubbs from Leatherface, and let me tell you countless vocalists over the years have been compared to Frankie, but The Beltones singer has been the closest I've ever heard to it. They blasted their way through a vast array of songs from their back catalogue, and were clearly enjoying themselves - this was definitely a band for the punk rock obscurists, and one of my favourite tick box acts of the weekend. The singer from Off With Their Heads was down the front, rocking out, and the band were winding him up talking about 'top paid talent' coming up next. And it was this that surprised me most, because after slamming beers and rocking out in the pit, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS from the USA came on stage next, and their singer/guitarist was on fire, as they pummelled through an immense one hour set of wall to wall bangers. I am not a massive fan of the band, but I do love a burst of songs from their catalogue. There were may people there who absolutely love them though, and the pit was wild throughout. They had played all the songs I had wanted to hear within 30 minutes, and with the jetlag kicking in, I listened to the rest of their set from the comfort of the Union bar, whilst watching a mother entertain her excited baby.
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| Off With Their Heads |
It was at this point that I was content with having seen an excellent spread of bands, and I was happy to call it a night to be bright and fresh for day two. Tom on the other hand had different ideas. He persuaded me to have some down time and food at GERMAN DONNER KEBAB (a welcome addition to the Oxford Road scene), and then he persuaded me to carry on the buzz, and head over to THE BREAD SHED for one of the usual after parties taking place that night. On reflection I was pleased that he used his persuasive powers to keep my spirits high, and make the most of our time at the festival.
Three pounds for a double vodka & energy drink was a potential recipe for disaster, I bought one and drank that after skanking to the last few songs for LEAD SHOT HAZARD. Then Tom reappeared with two more for me, alongside a shot of Tequila, as SHOOTING DAGGERS hit the stage, treating us to a set of raging crust. Thankfully, we had acquired the vacant merch table, and we were able to nurse our drinks whilst taking in the brutality in relative comfort. Part of the terms & conditions of sitting there was that we had to vacate it, when one of the later acts arrived and needed to use it. When they did arrive, I began to clear away all the empty drinks cups from the table, but one of the band members was clearly not happy that either we were sat there, or not clearing everything away at an adequate pace, so they started to assist in the clear up process, demonstratively doing it much quicker than I was managing to in my inebriated state. It was at that point my youthful snarky side came out, and as I was leaving the table, I was pretending to sweep the seat clear of debris for the band member. They did not take too kindly to my mocking, and they ranted to me about how offended they were by my actions. I immediately apologised, and changed tact to being overly nice, and this just made them more triggered, so I walked away and relocated our tables drinks to a different area. After the dust had settled and time was given for reflection, I made some time to go and speak to that person later in the night, and we managed to iron things out and make peace.
KILLDREN were one of the 'bands' that surprised me most over the weekend. When I say 'band', it was two people singing / shouting/ rapping (?) over some backing tracks - something I feel an affinity towards having done the same in my own project MC POSITIVE BASTARD. The music was kind fast rave style, the lyrics were political, and it was another great example of how diverse this festival has become. The night then concluded with MPF IS BURNING: THE SNATCH GAME TAKEOVER, which was some kind of drag show, with live skits, DJ music, and competitions. It was a welcome addition to the festivals array of after parties, and an inclusive way to celebrate the alt / queer / alternative sexuality scene, which has been very much part of the punk scene going back to the 1980s. We thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was such a shame that there were some technical issues that led to the sound not being loud enough.
As expected after drinking copious amounts of cheap spirits, we were in a bit of state the next morning, Tom significantly more so than I. After a morning disco in the hotel room dancing to Greg Graffin & Rancid, we took a late chaotic breakfast, only to realise we had half an hour till check out - therefore there was to be no wallowing in bed all day on this occasion. We made a vain attempt to 'get back on it' at the NORTH BAR TAPROOM (another welcome addition to the Oxford Road scene), but my can of Schofferhofer did nothing but induce reflux, and Tom couldn't even face any alcohol. We spent most of the early afternoon just walking around the vicinity and talking to friends in ALL SAINTS PARK. The first act I managed to see that day was Bradford's finest punk poet, LUKE 'TATY' HOGGARTH, and as always it was great to hearing him wax lyrical about politics, trade unions, and Yorkshire.
The YES venue turned out to be a gift, as it serves half price pizza all day, so we filled our bellies up, and started to feel somewhat better. It ended up taking me two tubes of Gaviscon, a bottle of Yop yoghurt drink, three 'gummies', and four Rennie tablets to finally rid myself of the reflux. The joys of getting old, and having emergency medication on hand. The first musical act we saw that day were HEATHCLIFF from Munich, GERMANY. I got talking to them for quite a while a couple of hours before their set, as the drummer was wearing a Dog Eat Dog shirt, which helped spark some conversation. The power of Dog Eat Dog lol. It turns out that they are big fans of crossover bands, and that was evident in their live set, as even though they were advertised as 'skate punk', they actually covered many different styles of punk, and at times, metal.
A few days prior to the festival, we heard the tragic news that former Leatherface drummer Lainey had passed away. It's unbelievable to think that of all the classic members; Lainey, Dickie, and Andy are all dead, and FRANKIE STUBBS is the last one standing! We were wondering if he would still play the show, and he did, headlining the acoustic stage at YES. From listening to his musings between songs, it seems like it was equally cathartic and difficult for him to play that show. He was generally in good spirits, and the chatter was interspersed with some elements of dark humour when acknowledging what had just happened. Phrases like 'I only bumped into him in the supermarket last week, and we were talking about making a racket again' showed how fresh the news was still on his mind. He began the set by raising a toast to Lainey, which the crowd respectfully joined in for. The song choices were a mix of his solo material, and Leatherface classics for the crowd to have a good old sing song to. Even today, to hear those songs live, it still gives me goose bumps and makes my brain go through a cascade of emotions.
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| Frankie Stubbs |
With No Fun At All pulling the UK leg of their European tour due to poor ticket sales, SNUFF were announced as a last minute replacement. When they played MPF previously, they had a 1 hour headline slot at the Union, but this time it was 40 minutes at THE BREAD SHED, which was ideal, as it meant that they stuck to mainly playing the hit songs, and it gave less time for Duncan the drummer to chat shit in between the songs. It was a glorious SNUFF set, which made me fall back in love with the band. They have the guitarist from SPOILERS playing second guitar now, and he did a sterling job with all the songs and backing vocals. It was also great to participate in the conga again for the song 'Soul Limbo', and 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads' was a fine way to round off the set.
By that stage of the night, I was done, content with my fill of MPF for this year, but Tom was adamant about seeing LIGHTYEAR, as it was supposedly there last ever show. I do like the bands early stuff, but I didn't have any energy left for another band, so I chilled in the hotel lobby whilst waiting for Tom to get his fix. Once Tom returned, it was time to exit the MPF bubble of positive vibes, and into the grim realities of Britain on a Saturday night.
The journey home consisted of seeing a homeless beggar constantly singing 'Oh Manchester is wonderful x 2, it's full of tits, fanny, United and City, oh Manchester is wonderful', said beggar being approached by two toffs who gave him notes to film themselves on their phones singing along next to him, a group of young likely lads on Class A drugs in the kebab shop constantly harassing an American punk couple (who to be fair, brushed it off well, until they finally buggered off), a black metal giant in full corpse paint exiting Spa with a Cornetto in his hand who then walked all the way back to the mosher bar GRAND CENTRAL with Cornetto still in his hand (unopened), the last train back to Leeds being cancelled, and waiting at the back of Piccadilly station for the replacement mini buses whilst watching hundreds of drunk slugs being spat out of the end of the escalator and stumbling into each other as they tried to regain their stride. Despite getting home late, it didn't do anything to dampen our spirits from what was another hugely successful MPF that seems to keep getting better year on year.
MPF really is one of the best, if not the best punk festival in the UK right now, and it really is unique with it's city centre, multi day, and multi venue operation, whilst still managing to keep the DIY punk spirit & ethos. I was musing through the event programme prior to writing this article, and this quote from Manchester based band, RUM LADS sums it up perfectly.
'MPF caters less to nostalgia, and more to progressive replenishment, broadening the alternative music scene. That is a bold philosophy in harsh economic times when live music is under threat like never before'.
See you in 2024!
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| You gotta roll with it |
