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U.K. Subs play Wolverhampton Civic Hall, England
LINE UP:
Charlie Harper - vocals & harmonica
Jet - guitar
Alvin Gibbs - bass
Jamie Oliver - drums
All line-up photographs courtesy of Jez Keefe.
No copying of Jez's work without permission.
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- Above: Gig ticket
FIRST DATE OF THE 11 DATE NOVEMBER SUPPORT TOUR TO MOTORHEAD.
U.K. Subs were first support and Anti-Nowhere League were on second.
Below: Pictures of this gig by Midlands Live. Click to enlarge
MIDLANDS LIVE PHOTOS ON FACEBOOK - CLICK HERE
- Above: Gig ticket
Midlands Rocks website review: CLICK HERE
Archived below though:
Review by Andy Boden
Thirty years and 93 days. That’s how long it’s been since I saw Motorhead last. (Port Vale Heavy Metal Holocaust, just in case you were wondering). Wolverhampton, the second date of their 11-city tour of the UK, has always been kind to Lemmy and co., and, true to form, a packed Civic Hall palpably buzzed in anticipation of the great man himself. Support for the tour was to be from The UK Subs and The Anti-Nowhere League, two seminal bands from the late 70s/early 80s British punk scene.
UK Subs have been around for what seems an eternity. Singer Charlie Harper is the only constant in the band since their inception (over 70 members can lay claim to having been ‘in the Subs’), but there is still life in the old dog yet! As they crash through a frantic set of pretty much mono-paced tracks, there is a still the essence of ’77 in the attitude and the posturing. ‘We are well out of our depth, we expected to be playing to an empty hall’ claimed Charlie, almost humbly. Not a bit of it, a three quarters full venue for the first band on is testament to their appeal. Thoroughly entertaining and played with tongue firmly in cheek, the Subs left the stage to rapturous applause.
Wolverhampton Express & Star review: CLICK HERE
Archived below though:
Concert review by Keith Harrison
It’s 7.45 and I’ve just been punched in the chest.
Not by some ageing anarchist but by the UK Subs’ bass player, 50 yards away.
As my fillings rattle at what is ear-splittingly the loudest gig I’ve ever been to, I catch sight of the Motorhead slogan: ‘Everything Louder Than Everything Else.’
And a terrible realisation hits me like a train; this is only the first support act. How loud is the main event going to be?
It’s unusual for the Civic to be this full this early, but clearly the three bands on offer have loyal followings.
Pantomime punks Anti-Nowhere League were sandwiched in the middle and were by far the weakest of the acts.
Lead singer ‘Animal’ (I’m not making this up) seemed more suited to some East European festival in the early 1980s.
If Borat did rock stars . . .
Then came the headliners. Cowboy-hatted beer-seller Lemmy strained his neck to the mic and Motorhead played their first track.
It went down well.
So well, they seemed to play it over and over again for the next 90 minutes. Or so it seemed to what was left of these untrained ears.
Loud? I could have stayed at home in Stafford and heard every note.
After about 20 minutes of noise that could torture suspects in Guantanamo Bay, the singer told the crowd: ‘Put your hands in the air if you want us to play even louder.”
Unbelievably, they did.
What’s wrong with these people?
Apologies to everyone around me who seemed to know every monotone lyric and bashed their long-haired heads up and down like they were in a trance.
Each to his own and they were clearly loving it.
But, for me, it was like being at a Moonie convention on speed, but I wouldn’t want to be the one sweeping up all that dandruff this morning.
It all went down well with a packed audience and – for a bloke who just stands motionless behind a mic – Lemmy does carry crateloads of stage presence.
From the safety of the balcony, the ‘mosh pit’ in front of the stage looked suitably violent; lads knocked each other down, then picked each other up.
Thems the rules at nights like this and Ace of Spades sent things even wilder towards the end.
Truth be told, it was a friend who persuaded me to go, saying that seeing Motorhead was ‘something you have to do before you die’.
I’ll be having a word with him – just as soon as I get my hearing back.
About Christmas, I reckon. Pardon?
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