Style 43

So its almost 8pm and I’ve been watching this enormous space fill up with punks, emo kids and what appears to be a ridiculous amount of children for the last hour. First to take the stage tonight are London’s very own TAT who’s blend of trashy pop punk and sing along rock anthems don’t go unnoticed. The room is about half full by now and about 20% of the people here are having a great time singing along to what appears to be the only words they know “Champaign, Cocaine and Strawberries”. TAT are on great form and blessed with a really clear sound so all the vocal harmonies sound awesome.

This sets the mood for Philadelphia’s The Loved Ones who seem to suffer from a drop in sound quality during the first song, this problem is soon sorted out, and tonight The Loved Ones seem so happy to be playing and so full of energy that you cant help but smile.

Songs such as “100k” and “Jane” induce small but fierce mosh pits and energetic shout-alongs. Its apparent that the people who are already fans of The Loved Ones are having the time of there lives. Their perfect mix of Alkaline Trio meets Bruce Springsteen is well received by this now 4,000 strong audience and by the last song I’m pretty sure everyone wants to buy there next record.

Its been a good 4 years since pop punk heros NOFX hit these shores and the atmosphere in the venue tonight is insane, any hint of movement on the stage causes complete mayhem from this heaving crowd who spend so much time screaming at drum techs and sound men that when Fat Mike wanders on stage they hardly notice.

Ten minuets in and so far its been toilet humour, crowd insults and no hint of music at all, but when the opening notes of “Dinosaurs Will Die” blast through the PA its like someone has just sprayed water over everyone and shot 5000 volts of electricity through the floor. People are going so crazy, its like there last night alive and all they want to do is dance.
NOFX almost manage to give 4,000 people a simultaneous hart attack by blasting though hits such as “Lisa and Louise” and new favourite “Seeing Double at the Triple Rock” before taking another ten minute break to insult the crowd and bad mouth all religions.

Just as people seem to calm down NOFX remind us once more why they have been at the top of there game for well over 2 decades by playing the whole of “The Decline” almost flawlessly. Its moments like this that prove just how important NOFX are to a scene now filled with half hearted manufactured bull shit!
Two thirds through the set and the crowd are still lapping it up, nobody seems to care when they play the worst rendition of “Leave it Alone” that I have ever heard. Fat Mike exchanges insults with the front row and insists for the 10th time that this will be there last song before blasting through Rancid’s classic “Radio”. Fat Mike takes another 5 minutes to thank to crowd for giving him a job where all he has to do is get drunk and do drugs before playing “I Wanna Be An Alcoholic” for the third time tonight.

“This is good night for real” explains El Hefe and NOFX leave the stage with no hint of an encore, everyone is ecstatic just to have been at this show.
The lights have been off for 5 minutes and the show appears to be over when all of a sudden the opening bass line to “Sticking in my eye” comes through the speakers, THEY ARE BACK!! Once again this sends the crowd in to a circle frenzy and its the perfect ending to what in my opinion was a fucking great show! The great thing about NOFX live is the party atmosphere and lack of ego!… and in the 14 years I have been following the band I can actually say that they have never let me down… I just hope we don’t have to wait another 4 years till they return.

Review by Toby White.
Photographs: If She Could Speak.com /Jennifer Saul.

www.myspace.com/nofx
www.fatwreck.com

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