Reviews

With a rightly deserved reputation as one of the most ferocious yet fun live bands around, that they can hoist a song as great as Strictly Hardcore over the side like so much love-handle flotsam as the second slug of the initial salvo shows there’s far more to them than a cartoon image of spiked up, greased back hair and big soled brothel creepers.

Goldblade (c) Karen McBride

Laying down a barrage of big-souled, crowd-rousing anthems like Fighting In The Dancehall, Psycho and Decline And Fall Of Ancient Rome (a wonderful thing to hear being sung by a horde of rockers) stirs up the traditional closing stage invasion-cum-sing-a-long.

Careening around the stage with nuclear aplomb, charismatic and captivating despite, or because of, frontman John Robb’s manic Walk-Like-An-Egyptian-done-on-a-rampaging-jogging-machine dance, reprising the acoustic set they did at this year’s Rebellion festival and with frequent visitations from the placard-bearing ‘Punk Monk’, Goldblade live are always a thunderous broadside.

With the upcoming Mutiny in the New Year following up 2005’s Rebel Songs, the season’s festivities sure got well under way, helped along in no small measure by Oi legends Argy Bargy and punk-a-billies The Grit.

Mixing fury and camaraderie that transcends any obvious Clash comparisons and with a debut album out on German uber-punk label People Like You they snap at Goldblade’s, and anyone’s elses, heels with the defiant intent of The Ones and set-closing audience pleaser I Came Out The Womb An Angry **** that should make them set to unite crowds of all ages a la the headliners, but just hurling cheerful insults at them to boot.