When the merch table is conspicuously amiss at the New Cross Inn, you know it’s gonna be a mad one! Such was the sight that greeted me when I went to see Cleveland’s blackened-speed demons Midnight tear up the joint on the first night of August. Just like the last time I saw ’em, the merch had been relocated downstairs to better accommodate the turnout and tumult to come.
Opening the night’s four-band bill was London hardcore-punk mob State-Sanctioned Violence, who would go on to exemplify that moniker as the evening progressed. After a brief pre-set psych-up session, they took to the stage to play some compellingly crusty d-beat. Bursts of belligerence such as ‘Permanent Warfare’, ‘Chewed up and Spat Out’, and ‘Moral Disgust’ did a nice job of setting the sonic scene.
The belligerence, however, extended beyond the setlist, with bassist Rob taking the mic from vocalist Owen at the end of the aptly titled ‘Moral Disgust’ to vent his own at a middle-aged, cap-wearing member of the audience, accused/identified as being a “Nazi” on a “League list”. “This guy here, we’re not playing for him,” the irate bassist declared. “You’re not welcome here—fuck off.” After being further cajoled in front of a silent audience, said “Nazi”, “Michael”, made his way to the exits, inspiring a chorus of cheers from the audience once he’d definitively left the building.
Instead of joining the chorus, I instead wondered how I’d react had I paid money for a gig only to be turfed out by the lowest-billed band. Certainly not by scuttling into the night at any rate!
Then, in a marvellously tragicomic turn toward the end of the set, Owen removed his shirt to reveal nowt other than a hammer-and-sickle tattoo on his chest. Nothing like opposing one minority-purging, ideologically murderous regime with another, eh?
Given the source, I’ll take those “Nazi” allegations with a pinch of salt, cheersverymuch!
After that memorable opener, I caught up with Jayden (AKA Luciferhammer), drummer of Milton Keynes black-speed terrorists Priest Strangler, whom I’d last seen on the train ride home from Subterranean Manifestation. As well as talking about his band and his recently acquired tattoos, he also informed me of his friendship with the next act on the bill, Southend black speedsters Ominous Moon.
Having previously acquired a copy of their debut, Waking the Dead, I’d looked forward to seeing them in action, and I was not disappointed. The three-piece played a gritty, deliberately lo-fi selection of abrasively catchy numbers, including ‘Wizardous Malice’, ‘Stone-Cold Metal’, and the call-and-response of ‘Waking the Dead (Out for Blood)’, bringing proceedings closer to alignment with the ensuing acts. The trio gave their all onstage, particularly frontman Brandon Parrish, who elicited concern with what looked like a bleeding maw as the set went on, though he assured me at the end that it was intentional. Given Ozzy’s death the previous week, the band’s cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘Electric Funeral’ proved a fitting way to cap off their set.
Next up came my main support draw, Mancunian blackened crust punks Wolfbastard. I’d been looking forward to seeing these reprobates again since watching them take to the stage alongside Overthrow (who formed part of this night’s audience) last year. Their set certainly delivered, blending old favourites like ‘Can’t Escape the Grave’ and ‘Buckfast Blasphemies’ with some interesting new numbers, most prominent amongst these being the charmingly titled ‘Fuck off, Then Die’ and the infectiously infernal ‘Satanic Scum Punks’; the latter two tracks served as previews for their upcoming fourth album, currently awaiting a label to unleash it upon the world, according to the band.
They didn’t just deliver musically, however, what with the ratarsed back ‘n’ forth between Dez (vox, guitars) and Si (vox/bass) and some playful audience provocation. Given their northern origins, I fully expected them to bait and antagonise their London audience with the appropriate territorial epithets, and, once again, they didn’t disappoint, addressing us “southern wankers” in fitting fashion. Their one genuinely offensive gesture? Not closing the set with their most anthemic number ‘Drink Fucking Beer! Hail Fucking Satan!’ despite it being on the setlist and despite (or more likely as a result of) being enough sheets to the wind for it to be appropriate. I suppose they can always make up for it with a future headline slot, likely once they find a taker for their latest appealingly accursed abomination.
From pissheads to pissing, I made a detour to drain the lizard in the downstairs bogs, only to bump into Rob and Owen on the way in, not the devout commies from State-Sanctioned Violence but rather the blasphemous sons of Croydon from Necro Ritual, hitherto unseen as part of the audience. “We’re cracking cans outside if you wanna join us after you’ve done your business,” Rob said, in his usual affable manner. So, in an uncharacteristic gig move, I eschewed parking myself at the front for an outdoor catch-up.
Once outside, I had my first face-to-face chat with folk with certain familiar audience members, only to be amusingly interrupted by an impromptu acapella rendition of Cock Sparrer’s ‘England Belongs to Me’ by Necro Ritual Rob and a mate of his.
“You should do a cover”, I said, inviting laughter in the affirmative.
He then went on to talk about the altercation, talking about how he and some Croydon mates instinctively jumped in against a perceived gang-up on Michael, laughing away the would-be State-Sanctioned Stasi, with their purge “lists”, by likening their Rob to Bubbles of Trailer Park Boys.
“Always good to see bullies get their comeuppance,” I said, vibing with the ethos.
The exchange was cut short by the sight of Midnight jostling past us into the venue, though not before Rob and I each caught frontman Athenar (Jamie Walters) in a “Predator” handshake upon re-entry.
And once again, the subsequent set amped-up the night’s pre-established energy a hundredfold, the band setting off an apt eruption with opening song proper ‘All Hail Hell’ and ‘Fucking Speed and Darkness’. Limbs and bodies continued to flail as the set went on, the likes of ‘Fucking Speed and Darkness’, ‘Black Rock’ n’ Roll’, and ‘Cleveland Metal’, the latest original addition to the setlist, keeping the adrenalin pumping.
Having missed their previous New Cross Inn annihilation in the name of last year’s album, Hellish Expectations, I was especially pleased to hear some of my favourite tracks from it, such as ‘Expect Total Hell’ and the sadistically subversive ‘FOAL’ (‘Fuck off and Live’), although the absence of apocalyptic anthem ‘Nuclear Saviour’ rang conspicuous, especially with merch on sale showcasing the song. As for older favourites, ‘Satanic Royalty’, ‘Lust, Filth, and Sleaze’, and ‘You Can’t Stop Steel’ remained welcome mainstays, although, as a bloke next to me amusingly pointed out, the steel was indeed stopped for the latter track, on account of an errant axe string.
Between-song patter ranged from Athenar throwing some mirthful passive-aggression at Oasis to giving the second nod of the night to the deceased Lord of Darkness himself. And, just like the first time I saw them, the set ended with Athenar clasping hands left, right, and centre before being surfed out of the venue by an appreciative audience.
So, yes, a highly satisfying night of carnage and cameraderie, all in all, capped off with an enthusiastic epilogual exchange with Rob (who’d acquired the dubious souvenir of a gimped leg in the pit) before our respective journeys home to Croydon and Cock Sparrer Country.
(PS: Viewing the footage I’d recorded of the ejection a while after the fact made me aware of a detail I’d missed at the time, namely SSV Rob identifying Michael as a member of Blood & Honour, the far-right music promo network founded by the late Skrewdriver frontman Ian Stuart Donaldson. Assuming, that’s an accurate identification, and taking into mind the first-name familiarity Rob had with the bloke, was the Midnight confrontation part of a long, elaborate dance between the two parties, the latest round in a drawn-out #HeelVsHeelMatch? One can only wonder.)
~MRDA~
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