We are deep in the heart of Stadium gig season and so of course the gig we chose to go to last Friday was in the far more bijoux setting of the Black Heart, for this packed out UK Ska Punk gig, that was the first time that Codename Colin have played live since the bands Trumpeter Snowy (Richard Snowden) passed away in April, the entire evening was dedicated to his memory, we were all encouraged to donate to The Sleep Charity and Brain Research UK in Snowy's name here https://richardsnowdon.muchloved.com
By the time we arrived Baldhead were already halfway through the bands set, so I don't know if they came onstage to the obvious theme song, of the Professor Longhair classic Bald Head or not, the first tune we heard in full was Inflation, that allowed them to complain at having to pay over £7 for a pint and other modern horrors, it had a good dubby ska edge to it, with the flute adding an funky soul edge to it. I think the next tune was Paw Patrol they are a very doggie centric Ska Punk band, this had some great Sax from the bands special guest Sax player, who I know I've seen playing in three or four other bands and should know her name by now.
They then appeared to have the same problem Lou Reed did when he wrote Waiting For the Man as they were stuck on Dealer Time waiting for those drugs to arrive, even if they didn't drive in there mums car to Harlem to score like Lou did, this had a deep skanky edge to it and was a lot more fun that waiting around clucking actually is.
They then closed the set with the solid advice to Smoke Weed Pet Dogs that seemed appropriate on a day when I had already done both things, the six piece really got everyone going for this finale, that had some mighty Trombone and Sax interaction and a mighty bassline too. I want to see a full set by them.
After the break it was time for Last Edition who are thankfully not a First Edition covers band, but a Ska Punk 4 piece from Leicester who were all about the Sax magic right from the bands opening skank that went into Good Luck that was sax driven, no matter how much the energetic bassist was trying to drive things on. From my sketchy notes the next tune was about a Hill that kept to the good bouncy ska punk formula and had a cool sax part driving it on.
More of that same followed on a song about a Day Out that was fun if not as much fun as Baldhead had been. They then encouraged everyone to join in on the cover version they played, well had I known the song I might of, the said it was by Capdown at the end of the tune.
The next song was introduced as being Our Last Song that was perfect for the sax to go deep and funky too. On the next song about Waking Up the sax mistress also played some keyboards that had the effect of thinning the bands sound out somewhat.
They dedicated Status to Snowy's memory before blowing through it at quite a speedy pace. Perfect Circles is what they wanted us all to turn around in, which of course got a bit of a circle pit going for it before they closed by Putting The World To Rights that may well have been If Ska Ruled The World, continuing this reviews shocking song name guesswork that was a nice close to a decent set.
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Soon enough it was time for Codename Colin who had Snowy's trumpet onstage on a large tripod stand as the 5 piece version kicked off an energetic and emotional set with a good bouncy song that got everyone going, sorry I haven't a clue of most of the song titles, There were worrying out things happening Outside while the twin sax attack drove them on. Burnout had so much energy it sounded like the opposite of Burnout.
They tried to put a bright spin on things by stating that one day people will look back on the 2020's as the good old days as an intro to The Worst Is Yet To Come, that is becoming harder to believe with each passing week, here's hoping another cool ska punk guitar solo really can save the planet. The Imposter was nowhere to be seen, even if at times they felt like they might be Imposters themselves.
While they sang about Putting Up Walls most of the audience were dancing and skanking along with them, on what may well have been Pulling Teeth, Another relationship was fried as they encouraged you to Walk Out That Door and not come back, the sax players seemed to be speeding up. It was time for a Strut to get us all moving to the energetic sounds. They wondered if we were fully drunk, half drunk or just a third drunk before playing new song Hangover that very much kept to the bands signature sound.
Things got a bit darker as they sang about wanting to get Out Of Hell before they told us just how they would go Down In History, despite everything that's happened to them recently they still wanted us to know it was Our Day and that we would all be having fun together. The Black Heart was dripping with sweat by this point and my poor note taking was going down hill fast, so no idea what the next two songs were, but they closed with a very bouncy version of Escape From Everything that went down a storm.
The crowd went so nuts before they had even left the stage, that they picked there instruments straight back up for the encore of a couple of Ska Punk classics, Just Can't Get Enough still had a bit of the Essex casual sound, but also had a great skank to it, before they finished with I Believe In A Thing Called Love complete with some incredible falsetto wailing as needed, to leave everyone smiling at the end of the show.
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