Words and Photos: Smudge
Bit of a bucket list thing for me. Growing up I wanted to be a punk, but my mum wouldn’t let me. She said I was too young, and I suppose I was, but it didn’t stop me enjoying the energy of that music especially The Ruts and Skids.
I arrived at The Drill Hall halfway through Jump Boy’s set. I’ll be honest they didn’t float my boat until the last couple of numbers – ‘The Lords Prayer’ and the last cut which had some fine guitar lines from the tall bald guitarist. I felt they lacked energy and drive but the sparse crowd seemed to enjoy them.
The Longshots from Manchester had more of an edge and their short bald guitarist certainly had some chops. ‘Can’t Get Arrested’, Night Like This’ and ‘Situations’, which reminded me of The Only Ones, were rollicking raucous affairs along with ‘Rock n Roll World’ that got the crowd moving. ‘Sit Tight’ – a song written for a friend in a wheelchair showed they can write a decent tune before the political ‘Switch It On, Switch It Off’ finished their set, which was cut short by a couple of songs due to time constraints.
Skids entered and brought it to a different level. Sole original Richard Jobson looks as fit as a butcher’s dog as he shadow-boxed, dodged and weaved around the stage. He really does leave it all out there. Kicking off with the trio of ‘Charade’, ‘Of One Skin’ and ‘The Saints Are Coming’ showed they have lost none of their bite or energy. Jobson introduced ‘Working For The Yankee Dollar’ which had a huge sing-a-long by the crowd before Jobson told some stories about his nemesis – Leo Sayer! Apparently, Sayer kept Skids off the top of the charts but Jobson didn’t seem bitter about it – much. ‘Destination Dusseldorf’ was rattled out before another fine trio of numbers off their excellent album ‘Absolute Game’. We got the rousing rock-a-long-sing-a-long ‘Circus Games’ (the last song written by Jobson and the sadly departed Stuart Adamson), ‘Hurry On Boys’ and the dark beauty of ‘A Woman In Winter’. If you want to hear a perfectly crafted rock song then listen to that album. Jobson said if you to listen to a pile of shit then listen to ‘T.V Star’. I disagree because that song was the most fun with its ‘We want Albert Tatlock’ refrain which the whole crowd shouted back. Jobson then claimed that without The Clash there would be no Skids, so they punched out ‘Complete Control’ before their own classic ‘Masquerade’ got everybody moving then that bass riff got a huge cheer for ‘Into The Valley’. Crikey there’s going to be some sore bodies in the morning as most of the crowd were in their mid to late fifties. We got ‘The Olympian’ before ‘Charles’ which was the first song written by the band when they 15 and 16 years old. John Peel played the song to death and Jobson reiterated how he felt hearing HIS song on the radio.
Unfortunately, I had to bail before the last number, but I can honestly say that this was worth the wait. Skids were awesome and I must give credit to the sound engineer because they sounded huge and crystal clear. If you get the chance to see these guys on this tour I urge you to do because some of these songs won’t be played live again, so don’t miss out!
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