SONIC BOOM SIX / MIKE PARK / CLASSICS OF LOVE
Underworld Club, Camden Town / London
02.05.2009
I had a positive feeling that that show was gonna be awesome... I don't know, but when I was searching for shows in London and learned about that particular one, I thought that it's a must see event!
So, in spite of Dimitra trying to convince me to watch the Herbaliser / Dub Pistols / Trojan Soundsystem show that was taking place just 2 blocks away from Underworld Club, I followed my instinct (and my punk rock heart) and went straight ahead to the club ready for a unique show. The flyer stated that 'doors open at 19.00', but when I entered the club a couple of minutes after the official time that the doors was supposed to open, the first band was already playing their last song... So, that band was called Mouthwash and they played a mixture of ska and pop punk, and - as I learned afterwards - they come from South London and have already signed to the legendary Household Name Records, woah!
The second band in the row (the name of which I never learned, sorry...!) was a kind of Faith No More influenced rock / funk / punk rock band, that I found a bit boring after a couple of songs.
Consequently, I've no many things to write about 'em... They were just ok.
Mike Park from San Jose, California, was next, and dudettes & dudes, this guy is a living legend... Owner of Asian Man Records (home of Alkaline Trio, The Lawrence Arms, King Apparatus, MU330 and Screeching Weasel, among tens of others), former member of Skankin' Pickles, The Chinkees and The Bruce Lee Band (along with Less Than Jake members), volunteer in the non-gonvernmental, self-raising funds organization Plea For Peace and active in the whole Cali punk rock scene since the early 80s... Do you need more? I doubt...
He went on stage alone, unfold his, hand made, banner with a Plea For Peace stencil, took his electric / acoustic guitar and started singing about issues like his newborn daughter and family, against the music industry, the unity in the scene, praised The Aggrolites & Bikini Kill (he'd wrote a song dedicated to them called 'Tobi Vail is amazing' - Tobi was a leader in the riot grrrl movement, punk activist, zine writer and played drums, I think..., for Bikini Kill and other bands as well), gave props to Sonic Boom Six and Classics of Love, spread his social-political messages, sung kid songs and said goodbye with a Skankin' Pickle cover ('I'm in love with a girl named Spike')! What a great and humble man... He was also the one responsible for Mike Park / Classics of Love merchandise, seating behind the merch table before and after his show...
Classics Of Love is the new band of Jesse Michaels, the vocalist of the legendary ska / punk rock band from California, Operation Ivy, and guitarist/vocalist of Common Rider. It was the first time that Jesse was playing with a band in London, and Europe especially, as far as Operation Ivy existed for only 2 years and never made it to come to Europe for a tour. Classics Of Love recently recorded their first album that was released from Asian Man Records, and they've been co-touring the UK with Mike Park since a couple of weeks. Well, Classics Of Love are not into Operation Ivy at all... They play mid tempo old school punk rock like Stiff Little Fingers, X-Ray Spex and the likes, while they are influenced by rock music and bands like The Who and Gang Of Four. I must admit that I am not too much into their style, but, you know, Jesse is a unique person in the punk rock history, so even if you do not like Classics Of Love, you like Jesse a lot, so it's the same, hehe! I'm not saying that it's a bad band... They are energetic, powerful and positive while playing awesome music. The fact is that I was not in the mood to listen to that kind of music, I guess, hehe!
Anyway, they covered a couple of Operation Ivy songs along with Mike Park in the guitar and the crowd (including me) got nuts!
So, it was time for the headliners of the show...
Oh my gosh! Sonic Boom Six fucking rule! The first time I got in touch with their music was almost 3 years ago when I listened to that song including that 'what you gonna do when they come for you' used rhyme (i don't remember the title of the song, though). Since then they've released 2 more full length albums. The latest one is called 'City Of Thieves' and was released during the previous week from their own label Rebel Alliance Recordings.
Well, I forgot to tell ya that Sonic Boom Six come from Manchester and is maybe the hottest UK ska / punk rock / dub band nowadays, in my humble opinion!!! We'll watch them live in Greece sooner or later, I promise...
Mixing ska punk rock music with some hardcore breaks, dub rhythms and hip hop stitches, they presented a fucking energetic show playing songs from all their records for more than an hour (including the 15 minutes amazing encore!).
Laila, their frontwoman, has an awesome voice and rule the scene for sure! Besides that, the kids (more than 250, even though there was the NOFX / Snuff / The Flatliners / Pour Habit show in London at the same time) showed their love to the band by constantly dancing, pogoeing, singing-along and stage diving. More than 40 kids went up on the stage during the last song!!!
Well, I bet that Sonic Boom IV will become huge one day, you must definitely keep an eye on them!!!
All in all, a very nice show! I'm proud of following my instinct, hehe!
Next stop: the NOFX / Snuff show in a couple of hours, shock & awe!
P.S. As you may noticed there are no photos attached in this review... Danai isn't here, damn...!
So, in spite of Dimitra trying to convince me to watch the Herbaliser / Dub Pistols / Trojan Soundsystem show that was taking place just 2 blocks away from Underworld Club, I followed my instinct (and my punk rock heart) and went straight ahead to the club ready for a unique show. The flyer stated that 'doors open at 19.00', but when I entered the club a couple of minutes after the official time that the doors was supposed to open, the first band was already playing their last song... So, that band was called Mouthwash and they played a mixture of ska and pop punk, and - as I learned afterwards - they come from South London and have already signed to the legendary Household Name Records, woah!
The second band in the row (the name of which I never learned, sorry...!) was a kind of Faith No More influenced rock / funk / punk rock band, that I found a bit boring after a couple of songs.Consequently, I've no many things to write about 'em... They were just ok.
Mike Park from San Jose, California, was next, and dudettes & dudes, this guy is a living legend... Owner of Asian Man Records (home of Alkaline Trio, The Lawrence Arms, King Apparatus, MU330 and Screeching Weasel, among tens of others), former member of Skankin' Pickles, The Chinkees and The Bruce Lee Band (along with Less Than Jake members), volunteer in the non-gonvernmental, self-raising funds organization Plea For Peace and active in the whole Cali punk rock scene since the early 80s... Do you need more? I doubt...
He went on stage alone, unfold his, hand made, banner with a Plea For Peace stencil, took his electric / acoustic guitar and started singing about issues like his newborn daughter and family, against the music industry, the unity in the scene, praised The Aggrolites & Bikini Kill (he'd wrote a song dedicated to them called 'Tobi Vail is amazing' - Tobi was a leader in the riot grrrl movement, punk activist, zine writer and played drums, I think..., for Bikini Kill and other bands as well), gave props to Sonic Boom Six and Classics of Love, spread his social-political messages, sung kid songs and said goodbye with a Skankin' Pickle cover ('I'm in love with a girl named Spike')! What a great and humble man... He was also the one responsible for Mike Park / Classics of Love merchandise, seating behind the merch table before and after his show...
Classics Of Love is the new band of Jesse Michaels, the vocalist of the legendary ska / punk rock band from California, Operation Ivy, and guitarist/vocalist of Common Rider. It was the first time that Jesse was playing with a band in London, and Europe especially, as far as Operation Ivy existed for only 2 years and never made it to come to Europe for a tour. Classics Of Love recently recorded their first album that was released from Asian Man Records, and they've been co-touring the UK with Mike Park since a couple of weeks. Well, Classics Of Love are not into Operation Ivy at all... They play mid tempo old school punk rock like Stiff Little Fingers, X-Ray Spex and the likes, while they are influenced by rock music and bands like The Who and Gang Of Four. I must admit that I am not too much into their style, but, you know, Jesse is a unique person in the punk rock history, so even if you do not like Classics Of Love, you like Jesse a lot, so it's the same, hehe! I'm not saying that it's a bad band... They are energetic, powerful and positive while playing awesome music. The fact is that I was not in the mood to listen to that kind of music, I guess, hehe!
Anyway, they covered a couple of Operation Ivy songs along with Mike Park in the guitar and the crowd (including me) got nuts!
So, it was time for the headliners of the show...Oh my gosh! Sonic Boom Six fucking rule! The first time I got in touch with their music was almost 3 years ago when I listened to that song including that 'what you gonna do when they come for you' used rhyme (i don't remember the title of the song, though). Since then they've released 2 more full length albums. The latest one is called 'City Of Thieves' and was released during the previous week from their own label Rebel Alliance Recordings.
Well, I forgot to tell ya that Sonic Boom Six come from Manchester and is maybe the hottest UK ska / punk rock / dub band nowadays, in my humble opinion!!! We'll watch them live in Greece sooner or later, I promise...
Mixing ska punk rock music with some hardcore breaks, dub rhythms and hip hop stitches, they presented a fucking energetic show playing songs from all their records for more than an hour (including the 15 minutes amazing encore!).
Laila, their frontwoman, has an awesome voice and rule the scene for sure! Besides that, the kids (more than 250, even though there was the NOFX / Snuff / The Flatliners / Pour Habit show in London at the same time) showed their love to the band by constantly dancing, pogoeing, singing-along and stage diving. More than 40 kids went up on the stage during the last song!!!
Well, I bet that Sonic Boom IV will become huge one day, you must definitely keep an eye on them!!!
All in all, a very nice show! I'm proud of following my instinct, hehe!
Next stop: the NOFX / Snuff show in a couple of hours, shock & awe!
P.S. As you may noticed there are no photos attached in this review... Danai isn't here, damn...!
http://www.sonicboomsix.co.uk
http://www.mikeparkmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/classicsofloveband
http://www.mikeparkmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/classicsofloveband
