Ikara Colt - Garage, London, 16/3/2002

  by Olga Sladeckova

published: 22 / 3 / 2002

intro

Three of the rising new punk bands in Britain, Ikara Colt, the Parkinsons and Eighties Match Box B-Line Disaster, recently completed a sixteen date tour. Olga Sladeckova describes the packed final night of the tour at the London Garage

The stage thunders. Noise storms across the hall and the 5 piece Eighties Match Box B-Line Disaster are completely lost in a stream of their own music. This is just the beginning of a "you never know what is going to happen next" punk experience at the London venue, the Garage. The audience mainly consists of men watering their throats with beers and chatting loudly. It’s so busy tonight at the Garage that it is impossible to stand still for a moment, without having somebody step on your foot or finding yourself squashed between people around you. It’s after nine and the Match Box boys strike their last match and go off. The crowd awards the band with loud applause, the obligatory few "Fuck" sentences and then “attack” the bar and generously treat themselves to a great stock of drinks that will, no doubt, last over the following show. It takes over 15 minutes to get to the front of the the bar, but unfortunately the Garage staff need less then that to get the stage ready for the next act. “Who cares for drinks! Let’s get down to the stage again.” The Portugese-Scottish tornado, The Parkinsons, are approaching the stage now and it would be a sin to miss that. “We are The Parkinsons!” announces Alfonso, the singer, and invites the fans to come closer to the stage because what will come next is definitely very sociable. The band kick off with ‘Too Many Shut Ups’, one of the songs off their new mini album ‘A Long Way To Nowhere’. It doesn’t matter if you have or not seen the Parkinsons live before. They always bring a lot of originality to their live shows. The people at the front get absolutely swallowed by the music, jumping and dancing about and are awarded for their efforts with their first beer shower of the night from Al. 'Bad Girl' request the bad boys in the audience and the Parkinsons do not hesitate to play it. A one line lyric song has an incredible effect on people. In a move which proves to be very popular with the female part of the audience, Victor and Alfonso strip half naked. The boys continue to deliver their set, playing all the tracks off 'A Long Way to Nowhere' and also some completely new songs such as ‘Pill’ or ‘Bedsit City’. “We want you to party!” invokes Alfonso looking with disatisfaction at the back of the auditorium that is keeping relatively calm. Closing their show, the Parkinsons round the gig off with ‘Scientists'. Victor, blind with all the excitement, climbs onto a front speaker and Alfonso dives into the audience, floating on fans' hands and then finally landing on the shoulders of a punk guy with the appearance of a gladiator who horses the singer around the hall. Everybody is a part of the show. After a few minutes Alfonso finally hits the stage again and Victor slides off the front speaker and ends the show. While the stage is being prepared for the headlining band, Ikara Colt, the bar faces its last offensive of the night. Ikara Cold finally come on the stage at 22:20. “Hallo!" Paul, the singer, greets the whole venue and drives us straight back into our punk souls with the first song, 'Escalate;. In a few moments, he is swinging on cables stuck to the ceiling, in complete contrast to the smart, first impression he gave when he came on stage with the expensive jacket he is wearing. “How are you ?” he politely wonders when the song finishes. 'One Note', a song from the band’s new album ‘Chat and Business’ comes up next. Dominic’s drums try to fight over Claire's and Jon's guitars but there are no losers in this battle. The final tune is the sound of victory. At least the fans feel that way. “City Of Glass' has a quieter sound. It’s generally like going down a hill listening to Ikara Colt’s songs though. The speed is enormous, but keeps accelerating especially with songs like 'Pop Group; and “Video Clip Show'. "Rules...sorry, we are tight!” apologizes Paul when the clocks hit 11. The crowd absolutely refuses to give in to the possibility of being sent home without one more song and let it know by shouting and persuading the musicians. “We don’t want your pity.” Says Paul. “We are not tight tonight. We will be tight tomorrow.” Ikara Colt light their instruments up to play 'Sink Venice', the very last song of this evening. The stage gets filled up with fans and is also rejoined by B Line Disaster and The Parkinsons, who are all bouncing about and dancing. What a happy family! This is really it now. Ikara Colt close their set and closes the whole show and also the sixteen gigs of this tour and, as appropriate, park it in a Garage. The Parkinsons Set List: Too Many Shut Ups Bad Girl Angel in the Dark Bedsit City Primitive Nothing to Lose Pill Reason to Resist Somerstown slientists Ikara Colt Set List: Escalate One Note At The Lodge After This City Of Glass Rudd Pop Group Vide Clip Show Sink Venice

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