This show is part of the year long 50 years of Punk at the 100 Club celebrations along with being the 50th Birthday celebrations for Menace as a band, which is why a Q & A session was winding up as we arrived at the 100 club, I guess they were talking about the history of the band and the return for this show, of original members Steve Tannett on Guitar and Charlie Casey on Bass rejoining Noel Martin.
Shortly after the Q & A ended 80's street punks 16 Guns came on to the sounds of some proper punk over the PA, They got lots of us singing along to hardcore punks Wham's Young Guns, before these 4 nippers launched into Evil Man at about 150 MPH and they never let up, with Tom Halpin stalking the stage rattling out Friend Or Foe like he had been mainlining speed and needed to vent. They got all secret squirrel on James Bond before the mickey taking between songs showed they had finally Cracked and played a tune at under 140 mph.
They kept things dark and nasty for Killer before Tom told us they invited us all to grab a partner, so they could waltz through C29 like a proper tea dance band, ready to rule the grab a granny circuit, Private 999 took us back to the bad old days fighting the fuzz and getting pinched for it, then having to deny it was a True Story while hoping they don't play too many Mind Games in the interrogation room in case Steve the kid on bass spills the beans.
They sounded more militant than Asian Dub Foundation do when singing Can't Pay Won't Pay with 16 Guns song of that name being angrier. Tom checked his mascara before Punk Rock Stardom while they let rip making clear they were never in it to be in fashion mags, no posers are allowed. Liar was the bitter screed it needs to be to attack our insane politicians. Peadophiles makes crystal, exactly what they think should happen to filth like that, before they closed with a super speedy blast through Johnny Be Goode having got the 100 Club properly warmed up.
After a swift turnaround Witchdoktors came on and Planet Andy welcomed us all to his sweltering Planet Of Pain, locking his hard riffing into Tony Major's lively leads, No Pain No Gain was super solid riffing, energetic with them ready to hit us with the Jack Hammer driven into our brains with Lee Pages super solid bass. New Direction sounded like more classic Witchdoktors. Freedom Fighter from Izzatso was lean, mean, skanking rock and delivered its message that we need to fight for our freedoms more than ever now, something that would become apparent later in the evening.
Planet Andy made clear that Neck Tattoo is a love song before they bulldozed through it, led by Joe Colfar's pounding backbeat. I Told You To Go was the clearest message they could make it, Tony's guitar aggressively made the point. Spanner In The Works slowed things back to a dub rock skank. Joe made sure Andy knew to dedicate I'm Sick to any friends of the band who have departed too soon. They then brought on Leigh Heggarty from Ruts DC, Wingmen and a hundred other bands to add his guitar to Lighting Strike as he did on Izzatso, they all looked like they were having a blast. Voodoo Eye has seemingly been in the Witchdoktors set for ever, this time Leigh added some nifty slide guitar to the riffing energy Andy and Tony injected it with. Every Day Is Like A Holiday when you play in as tight and cool a band like this, they closed with a classic cover of the Damned's Neat Neat Neat leaving the sweltering stage to huge cheers.
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Soon enough Menace came on and took us back 50 years opening with GLC with Steve Tannett's guitar sounding good and angry set against the double bass attack of Charlie Casey and Dave Jenkins, giving it a lot more bottom end than usual. Electrocutioner had plenty of punch with Noel singing from behind his drum kit, almost everyone in the 100 club joined in chanting the chorus of Screwed Up with Steve's super energetic guitar flying off. I'm not sure any of them thought they would still be able to Live For Today in the 2020's when they first played this back then, but it's still a great message, go enjoy your life. Noel made clear that we live in a far more Insane Society now than they did in the 70's, incredible but true and they flew through it at a demented pace.
I'm not sure I can ever remember hearing them play I Need Nothing live, it was a good treat, with plenty of rumbling bass intensity. For the crucial message of Carry No Banners they expanded to a 5 piece with the addition of Pete Bradshaw on guitar, so they could properly fist bump the message across. They played a good long version of I'm Civilized that allowed Noel to question just how civilized we currently are. They made totally clear that after 50 years we really are Last Years Youth that had everyone chanting along and continuing to do so when they broke things down to a terrace chant.
Noel then came out front as Simon Edwards joined them on drums, expanding to a six piece for the one song that I can't make out in my notes that could have been about Sad Love but don't quote me on that, either way Man At C & A is what everyone at the 100 club clearly wants to be from the reception it got. They dedicated Punk Rocker to Finn's memory, I still miss buying records off him at Camden market, this was a full-on romp that led into One Two One Two making sure everyone sang along. They invited the audience to join them onstage for a rampage through Fuck You and they stayed in place for a ramshackle second version of GLC that left everyone wanting more, that we weren't allowed to get. Due to the 100 club having to enforce curfew on the band and everyone in the club, in the current climate of the venue having stupid new neighbours, who choose to live behind Oxford Street and an 80 year old music venue, then complain about the noise, why would you live in the west end and expect quiet, it was the only thing to put a damper on a brilliant nights music
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