15 October: Gig in Dallas, USA

U.K. Subs play The Trees, Dallas, Texas, USA

Line up:
Charlie Harper – vocals & harmonica
Nicky Garratt – guitar
Geoff Myles – bass
Jamie Oliver – drums

26 photos from this US tour, as well as a selection of tour posters from Miguel Conflict of Total Chaos
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Review of this gig by David DiPietro

After I got off work at 6:00, I stopped by my house to make a quick change and headed over to the ‘Trees’ club, which is about 5 minutes drive from where I live. No sooner do I arrive, park in front of the venue and put a few quarters in the parking meter, when the van carrying the band pulls up.

As they are getting unloaded, Charlie sees that I had brought a few posters and albums with me for them to sign, and he very cordially comes over to say hello and chat. He and Nicky are, as usual, extremely humble and approachable, and they both take note of my original posters and flyers from the 1982 ‘Shake Up the World’ tour, which played here in Dallas at the Hot Klub. Poster

After a few memories and pleasantries are exchanged, I find out what time they will hit the stage and get out of their hair so they can set up and relax.

Since I didn’t feel like sitting through all the opening bands, I returned home for a few hours and came back at 11:30 in anticipation of the Subs’ midnight starting time.

So the lights go out, the curtain opens and the U.K. Subs are finally back on stage in Dallas, as they treat us to a brutal opening number, “Police State”. Trees’ sound system is really good and the sound is at once, loud but also extremely crystal clear. As the crowd is slam dancing in a frenzy, the band gets right down to business with the second number, Emotional Blackmail. This was a surprise for me as it usually is held back for an encore (and once in 1991, I saw it as an opening number).

As the band pounds away, I take special notice of Jamie, the drummer. This is only my second time I’ve seen him live, but quite simply, he is in my opinion the best drummer this band has had since Steve Roberts vacated the Subs drum stool. Only perhaps, Dave Ayer from the ’97 tour even gives him a run for his money in this regard.

Geoff Myles (in only in his third gig with the band according to Nicky) gave a very heroic effort in nailing Alvin’s licks on the bass. He was not perfect, but considering the short time playing with the band, he did a fantastic job.

The set list for the rest of the evening touched the Subs’ first four studio albums, with an emphasis on the first two. They did only one song from Diminished Responsibility (Party in Paris) and 3 from Endangered Species.

Here is a list of some other songs played, though not in any order: Kicks, Lie Down and Die, Warhead (of course), Organised Crime, Endangered Species, B1C, Stranglehold, Tomorrow’s Girls, Crash Course, Riot, Down on the Farm, Rockers, Limo Life, Public Servant, New York State Police and I Live in a Car (definitely the final encore song).

All in all this was an excellent show. I was very pleased that the band came to Dallas on this much abbreviated US Tour and look forward to catching them again soon.

David DiPietro
Dallas, Texas