NOFX, Birmingham Academy

So my annual NOFX gig rolled around last night, its not set in stone but I like to see them once a year, and last night it was a return to Birmingham Academy. A little different last night and I am unsure if their popularity is waining, heaven forbid or it’s the credit crunch, time will tell on that but only the downstairs of the Academy was open, lets see if the next tour they play the Wulfren instead. I am ahead of myself though. Due to the early start and me getting there early for the first time in a long time I was practically at the start of the queue, this is the reserve of kids and nutters and I was neither so it felt a little strange. The wait also irritated me, without my hobit like wife to keep me company I just looked like a man with no friends, I did ask people to come with me but I have no friends.
So getting in I milled around until the first of four support bands came on, the first being Section 13, a hardcore punk band from Leamington Spa, they have a myspace over at http://www.myspace.com/section13hc very hardcore. Before I give my judgement on them, people liked them ok, so what ever I say and it is the same for all of the supports, ut whatever I say is from my perspective, but really, certainly for this week, Section 13 are the worst band I have ever seen. The drummer was all over the place, they were doing this late 70’s punk schtick, all posturing and no future type bollocks and it really was absolutely dreadful, the bassist and singer was trying to strike up banter but deary me, they should have concentrated more on the songs. I always wonder about people that do this up the punx stuff, why start a band in this day and age and sound like GBH or The Exploited, or at least try to, why not try and sound like something that isn’t thirty years old. Appalling.
So Section 13 finally finished and following them was what I believed to be The Flatliners, it wasn’t though it was a Fat Wreck band called Pour Habit, they also have a myspace http://www.myspace.com/pourhabit



Evolution by Pour Habit
Pour Habit went for the fun factor and seemed to get the crowd going with out all the macho bollocks that you tend to normally find at a NOFX gig, Section 13 had already tried to get a rather laughable circle pit going, I digresse, Pour Habit went down very well I think in part as they tried to inject a little humour and a lot of energy, not just from the frontman, but the entire band seemed to be on that train, I rather enjoyed them and could see them going down well on the Lock Up stage at Reading Festival. This is a bit lazy as it’s a black singer in a punk band but they reminded me in part of LA band Fishbone, they bought hints of the elements that Fishbone had to their sound, overall though, enjoyable, even if the songs weren’t entirely memorable.

As I said I thought they were The Flatliners, they didn’t introduce themselves and I didn’t know they were playing, but next The Flatliners came on and they at least introduced themselves. The Flatliners are a Canadian band also signed to the label owned by Fat Mike of NOFX, Fat Wreck Chords. Their website is at http://www.theflatliners.com/
What little I knew about The Flatliners was that they were a ska/punk band and pretty accomplished at it, there was very little ska to it so I am assuming that they may have changed their sound, they verged on the screamy stuff that always seems out of place at a NOFX gig as its not normally present, but yes, the seemed like an emo band, for me, a poor emo band that I was very glad to see the end of, except the last song, which was pretty good.



Eulogy by The Flatliners

And so Snuff came on, the last time I saw Snuff was at some one day festival in 2002, they weren’t so good, it was raining and I had seen a 3 foot Elvis which had over shadowed everything. In my early twenties, through to my mid-late twenties, I loved Snuff, I loved what they did and not many bands were doing what they did, China Drum came later but Snuff were absolutely fantastic in the early 90’s. Snuff were signed to Fat Wreck Chords, then they decided to split up, they have reformed in a fashion but unsure how long for, there is a myspace, http://www.myspace.com/snuffbanduk
Snuff were possibly the best band of the night, fantastic to watch utterly fantastic, a headliners set, with Soul Limbo, Likely Lads with Fat Mike guesting, old stuff, its all old stuff, but some very old stuff, with the horn “section” in tow, they were just marvellous and did everything right



Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads by Snuff

Finally NOFX came on, you never know what you are going to get with NOFX, invariably intoxicated and the consummate professionals they are it shouldn’t effect their playing, it does though but this is the life of a NOFX fan, if it was any other way it would be dreadful. So they played a set that was it is fair to be said hit laden, but I guess people want to hear Bob and Stickin in my eye, I want you know, other stuff to be brutally honest, I did get Mattersville, and a new song about the queen, Punch her in the c***, charming. Amongst the other new songs was also The quitter and it’s the new songs that I want to hear from the new album, Coaster, also available on vinyl “Frisbee”.



Creeping Out Sara by NOFX

All in all, a less than average gig, Snuff were fantastic, the other supports ranging from OK to dreadful and NOFX the most intoxicated I have seen them and out of time etc, so a little irritating, but on the whole, fun. A long night.