Discharge, Billy Club, Repulsive Vision @ The Continental, Preston
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I can feel Spring springing, so what better time for a pogo. As party season that never stops is picking up pace again, what better way to start celebrating my friend’s 40th (in June) with a trip up to Prestonia. I’d seen punk legends Discharge a handful of times over recent years, mainly at festivals (including Dirty Weekend over in Bangor), but having hung round with a load of scummy Scouse (“plastic” 😉 ) punks for a while recently maybe my appreciation has been enhanced.
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So after praying for mercy to St Feuillien we got down the venue early doors, and soon there was a really busy turn out. So much so that in having the craic with lots of people ended up going through to the big side room where the bands play to discover that Barrow’s Repulsive Vision had just finished their set of old school death metal with a cover of Slayer’s “Piece by Piece”. Gutted. Or dissected. The main support Billy Club (above) had a rockier, biker punk feel to them, bit of Zeke style speed and snottiness coming in at times. They’d obviously honed their trade over the years and it was a confident upbeat performance.
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The room was fair packed for the headliners, Discharge, and the atmosphere was suitably raucous, helped by the amounts of spirits that were being passed round. The first time I’ve seen them with this new singer and he does seem to have brought a revitalised energy, although credit must be given to the previous incumbent Rat getting the band in motion again. It was also a focused show from the musicians, tight and effective d-beat mayhem, although bassist Rainy always does seem to be on autopilot. A mixed up set of old and new brought mixed opinions over there relative merits but cramming some 20 songs in meant there was certainly enough to pick from, and my own satisfaction was complete with “The Possibility of Life’s Destruction”. Could probably have been a bit louder in general, as leaning head on PA speakers couldn’t tell if they were actually on or not to start with, but it picked up a bit rawer grinding undercurrent later. Definitely one of the best I’d see them play, and now all the more looking forward to playing alongside them (well, 10 hours apart 😉 ) when they headline Almost Fatal Fest up in Barrow in the summer. This meets my Dis-approval!
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