Californian punk legends last shows on UK soil 11th June & 12th June 2024
And so the curtain comes down on a truly remarkable career as Fat Mike and the crew visit the UK, for the final dates of their European tour, before heading back to complete the US leg of the 40 Cities, 40 Songs farewell tour. Each night they invited a different set of friends to support them, as punk rock finally returned to this iconic South London venue, ending it’s 18 month hiatus after 2 people tragically lost their lives.
Supports for 11th June: Last Hounds, The Bar Stool Preachers, Codefendants & Descendents.
Supports for 12th June: The Last Gang, The Meffs, Snuff & Circle Jerks.
Tues 11th June 2024
I only just make it to the venue with 10 minutes to spare, having caught a lunchtime flight back from Germany to London Stansted, after covering The Interrupters show in Hamburg, where The Meffs absolutely killed it again. Review here. Not quite sure what I was expecting to see different at this historic old venue, having last shot here in August 2022, for what turned out to be the last ever UK show by Bauhaus. In reality the only changes appear to be in the way audiences are channelled outside the venue before the show, as I can see no evidence of material changes inside.
Last Hounds are a no thrills hardcore band from the Midlands. Formed in 2013, fronted by the very energetic in-yer face singer, Mike Skelcher. Bedecked in green shorts and already stripped to the waist, he’s like a kid whose Christmases have all come at once, wired and wild eyed. I’m guessing that this is their biggest ever stage. Rather than be overawed by the whole event, the band set about delivering a tight set of HC tunes. The NOFX crowd seem fairly receptive and with a few home fans in the crowd adding vocal support, they can hold their heads up on a job well done.
The Bar Stool Preachers are one of those bands that I’ve never actually manged to catch, despite being frequent visitors to Rebellion our paths have never crossed. I suspect that in part it is due to their name, as I very easily dismiss bands based on their moniker. Hands up, I know it’s wrong of me, but it’s a foible, very much like my friend AJ Phink’s, who never misses bands with the word “cat” in the title!! In truth there is much to like about BSPs brand of thoughtful melodic folk punk/ska, reminding me in parts of Frank Turner and Brixton is bouncing in response. I make a note to engage with them at a later date but tonight I’m not really feeling it. It really is me, not you!
The Bar Stool Preachers setlist: Call Me On The Way Home/All turned Blue/Choose My Friends/Doorstep/DLTDHYOTWO/8-6 Days (All Broken Hearts)/Flatlined/Bar Stool Preacher *Incomplete
Having just witnessed a Codefendants set for the first time a few days earlier in Berlin, I’m intrigued as to what they’ll serve up tonight. Front man Sam (Get Dead), seems to have been enjoying himself a bit too much in the Green room as he stumbles through the set, even flouting UK law by sparking up a cigarette part way in. Being up close to the stage I can see that he’s struggling to keep it all together and is a shadow of himself just several days earlier. When I bump into him later he’s definitely the worse for wear. It’s a shame as I’d really enjoyed Berlin but Brixton is sloppy and there’s a muted response from the bulk of the expectant crowd.
Codefendants Setlist: Def Cons/Abscessed/Suicide By Pigs/Prison Camp/Bad Business/Fast Ones/Disruption (Get Dead cover)/Brutiful/ell Me Youth
Sadly due to ill health, we were denied a Rebellion appearance in 2023 and many of us were fully expecting Descendents to be added to this years line-up. It seems that it’s not going to happen this year either, which is a major disappointment as based on Berlin and tonight, this is a band in full flow at the peak of their powers. Milo still delivers these songs with the same youthful verve that he did over 40 years ago. He looks good too, trademark drug dealers satchel strapped across his torso, lean and tanned, now in his 7th decade, seemingly fully recovered from last years “minor” heart attack. Some of the lyrics seem a little churlish these days, sung by a fully grown man rather than a callow youth, but we don’t let that detract from our entertainment and it’s our younger selves enjoying it through older eyes and ears. In my heart I’m in my 20s again. Once again, it’s a fave packed set and all over in a succinct 40 minutes. Fingers crossed we get to see them return to these shores before too long.
Descendents Set list: Everything Sux/Hope/Silly Girl/Victim of Me/Clean Sheets/I Wanna Be a Bear/Rotting Out/Coolidge/I’m Not a Punk/On Paper/Global Probing/’Merican/Weinerschnitzel/No, All!/Myage/Coffee Mug/I Don’t Want to Grow Up/I’m the One/I Like Food/Bikeage/Thank You/Suburban Home
And so to NOFX. I’ve learned from Fat Mike and the boys not to take life or yourself too seriously. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be serious about stuff, especially in the parlous position we find ourselves in 2024 with Gaza, Ukraine, the rise of the French Far Right and cost of living crisis etc, but when you take a beat from life, disconnect from the main frame, recharge and unwind to some of the dumbest punk rock songs ever written. Perfect punk rock is rarely perfectly delivered and these are your boys. No two NOFX shows are ever the same and these two final instalments of their UK legacy are testament to that.
The entrance is theatrical, although clearly choreographed after so many “farewell shows” on this 40 Cities, 40 Nights, 40 Songs tour. Prior to taking the stage there is a very public consuming of shots, involving all the band and the road crew, which includes Karina Deniké of Dance Hall Crashers fame and Jon “J Grabes” Graber on occasional guitar. This is a band whose crew have their own official Instagram account (@nofxcrewofficial). I’m reminded of something my therapist once told me, “you need to plan your spontaneity carefully”, as Fat Mike pirouettes on stage to Rocky Horror Picture Show’s Time Warp and El Hefe joins in. Don’t expect the Armstrongs, Tim and Billy Joe, to follow suit when they eventually hang up their guitars. You need a certain sense of self deprecation to carry this off without coming across as insincere. Mike quickly reminds us of what seemed a good idea back whenever (the 40 songs etc concept), be under no illusion that it would be as boring for us as probably it has been for them, if they stuck rigidly to the plan. Isn’t that what all military historians would have us believe, that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. So to paraphrase Eric Morecambe, “they’re the right songs, not necessarily in the right order!” So we get some songs off the featured albums Punk In Drublic/Pump Up The Valuum/Wolves In Wolves’ Clothing, but not all of them as seemingly random songs are pulled from right across their back catalogue, including their cover of Rancid’s Radio amongst others.
A feature of NOFX concerts are the Bro Passes, which enables a handful of lucky fans, well those who have parted with a good wedge of cold cash anyway, to join the band onstage to witness proceedings close up. Apparently this pass includes free drinks and a memorabilia package, as well as the chance to be only a few feet away from the action.
Eric Melvin must have the smallest suitcase on the tour bus or at least the smallest laundry bill, as he never bothers with a shirt on stage and to be fair with all the kung fu kicks and jumps he gets through in an evening, clothing would only slow him down.
Make no mistake, this is a show of epic proportions. No histrionics, atmospheric lights and smoke machines. Just good old white light and loads of it. There will be no time spent skulking in the shadows at a NOFX show. The beer flies and the surfers come over early and I spend as much of my time in the pit looking backwards as forwards. I pull up my hood to stop the spray trickling down my neck and I catch Mike smiling at me as I do so. Click. Another photo for my archives! With Kill All The White Man still ringing in my ears, I venture out in to the mild Brixton night ready to do it all again tomorrow!
NOFX Setlist:60%/Seeing Double At The Triple Rock/Leave It Alone/The Cause/Perfect Government (Mark Curry cover)/72 Hookers/Idiots Are Taking Over/Six Years On Dope/The Man I Killed/Leaving Jesusland/Don’t Call Me White/Pharmacist’s Daughter/Dinosaurs Will Die/Fuck The Kids (Revisited)/Juice Head/Hobophobic (Scared Of Bums)/Monosyllabic girl/I’m Telling Tim/Instant Classic/Can’t Get The Stink Out/See Her Pee/IQ32(Necros Cover)/I Wanna Be An Alcoholic/ Fuck The kids II/Lori Meyers/Louise/Scavenger Type/Reeko/Radio (Rancid Cover)/Linoleum
Encore: The Brews/Franco Un-American/The Moron Brothers/Bottles To The Ground/I’m So Sorry Tony/What’s The Matter With Parents Today?/Kill All The White Man
Weds 12th June
The Last Gang hail from LA and in common with a lot of the supports on this tour, are Fat Wreck Chords artists. Around since the 2000s, formed by singer/guitarist Brenna Red, the band have been through several line-up changes and a hiatus until returning in the late part of the last decade and releasing albums in 2018 and 2021. Red is the only constant member left from the original inception. With an energetic set of choppy punk/ska, not too dissimilar to The Distillers, the evening is warming up nicely,
The Last Gang Setlist: WFTW/Sing For Your Supper/Turn The Record Over/Gimme Action/Berlin To Rome/Noise Noise Noise/Prosthetic Lost Cause/Madness/Panic Dreaming/Blood Drunk
The Meffs are quite possibly the hardest working band on the UK music scene right now. Having already toured Europe extensively with Buster Shuffle earlier in the summer, before joining up with the NOFX farewell circus for another trek across the EU, they’ve just returned from Hamburg supporting The Interrupters for a couple of shows, and straight after this it’s a week off, then more European festivals, before a couple of weeks on tour with Frank Turner. Then in the autumn it’s back to Europe with Frank again! How they’ve managed to find the time, not only to write new material for their debut album, but to actually demo it and then record it, again with Mr Turner producing, ready for a September 12th release is anyone’s guess. From the amount of Meffs T-shirts I spot walking around O2 Brixton Academy, the Meff Army have amassed in numbers for this their biggest UK show, excluding festival appearances.
With just two of you on such a massive stage, Lilly almost needs the iconic Meffs Skateboard, to get across the stage on her usual prowl, surveying her Queendom! If I’d had any reservations on how The Meffs would sound in such a cathedral of the UK music scene, I needn’t have worried. True it wasn’t as warm and intimate as the recent Hamburg show, but Lily and Lewis showed they truly belong on stages such as these. It doesn’t take long to get the crowd going and soon she has a circle pit going. No crisis of confidence on show here tonight. Recent single Clowns sounds immense and it hits home just weeks before the impending UK election. Their cover of The Prodigy’s Breathe elicits appreciative nods from those who recognise it. They leave the stage to raucous applause and cheering, looking well pleased with their night’s work. I sense the merch stall will be busier than usual later. With an arena tour support with legendary shock rocker Alice Cooper to come later, this is truly a band reaching all corners of the UK music audience.
The Meffs Setlist: Everything’s Gone/No Future/Stand Up, Speak Out/Breathe (The Prodigy cover)/Clowns/Look At You/Wasted On Women/Budget Luxury/Broken Britain, Broken Bones
Snuff were one of the first UK punk bands that I got to witness up close from behind the scenes back in my roadie days in the 90s. True, the band have had a change in personnel since then, but Duncan remains the blueprint for a singing drummer in my opinion. Tonight they serve up a mixture of their classic tracks from the 90s with one or two more current tracks from the last couple of years. It’s great to hear Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads again. Again there’s a long standing NOFX/Fat Mike connection as they’ve recorded for Fat Wreck as well as previously been support on their UK tour
Snuff Setlist: Marbles/Too Late/One Of These Days/I Know What You Want/Soul Limbo/Nick Motown/Go Easy/Nick Northern/Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? [Note: this is incomplete and not in order]
I missed Circle Jerks when they played Rebellion a few years back, due to the sheer number of people who wanted to see the punk legends play the Empress Ballroom. I’d never seen them back in the day and now I finally get the chance to see some of the legendary punk musicians performing live. Aside from Keith Morris’s Black Flag connection, there is guitarist Greg Hetson, was in Bad Religion for nearly 30 years, legendary film score write Zander Schloss on bass, who recorded 3 soundtrack albums with Joe Strummer as well as one solo and of course drummer Joey Castillo, whose impressive CV includes Queens of The Stone Age, Danzig, Eagles Of Death Metal, Wasted Youth, The Bronx and the Mark Lanegan Band.
After all the hype I actually found them to be desperately disappointing. Not sure why, as the musicians have impeccable pedigree, but I found Morris a tad verbose and up his own arse, lacking the power to deliver those classic Circle Jerk songs. Perhaps at 68 it shouldn’t be too much as a surprise, but I was left with the distinct impression of trading off former glories.
Circle Jerks Setlist: Letterbomb/In Your Eyes/Back Against The Wall/I Just Want Some Skank/Beverly Hills/When The Shit Hits The Fan/Coup D’etat/Wild In The Streets (Garland Jeffreys cover)/I, I & I/Wasted/World Up My Ass/I Wanna Destroy You (The Soft Boys cover)/Red Tape [Note: this is incomplete and not in order]
And so the final ever UK show by NOFX. Mike had already poked fun at the people in the cheap seats upstairs the night before, which at £75 a pop was fair from a cheap jibe! Tonight there would be no such banter as the upstairs was noticeably sparser than the first night, perhaps due to the attraction of Descendents playing. It also transpires that Mike’s voice has gone, for which he makes an apology of sorts, but it’s obvious he’s going to need some help tonight. The rest of the band rally round and vocal support is forthcoming from Karina Deniké too. I’m not sure how much the setlist was altered to accommodate Mike’s vocal chord issue but to be honest nobody really seemed to care as they’d come to party one last time. So tonight’s set was mostly slated to be from So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes and the White Trash, Two Heebs and A Bean albums, as well as their opus The Decline EP, in it’s sprawling 18 minute one track entirety. As the evening wore on and the last songs hoved into view, there was a distinct school end-of-term feel to the night. All that was missing was members of the band signing each others shirts with a marker pen and using their ties as bandanas. And as the final bars of The Decline faded away, there was a touching moment between Eric and Mike that ended in a brotherly hug, although probably one that will be re-enacted on every night of the US tour. Not to be out done though, Smelly decided that this would be a good time to see how far he could hurl his drums off the stage. Mike was visibly shocked in one photo as the floor tom sailed close to his head.
And so it was over. A truly memorable couple of nights. I don’t think we’ll see another band of their ilk ever again. They were truly one of a kind, with humour, pathos and self-deprecation running through their pun laden songs. They’ve spawned a thousand bands, for which we should mostly be grateful, given many deserving bands the leg up they might never have gotten, but when the dust finally settles, the punk rock hall of fame beckons as reward for giving us so much fun. So long and thanks for all the shows!
NOFX Setlist: Stickin’ In My Eye/Murder The Government/Bob/Falling In Love/Kids Of The K-Hole/Quart In Session/All Outta Angst/Liza & Louise/I Believe In Goddess/Eat The Meek/180 Degrees/It’s My Job To Keep The Punk Rock Elite/I Love you More Than I Hate Me/We Called It America/Mattersville/Six Pack Girls/Pleas Play This Song On The Radio/Buggley Eyes/The Separation Of Church And Skate
Encore: Green Corn/Johnny Appleseed/Les Champs-Elysees/The Decline
I’d like to extend thanks to Louise Kovacs and Justine Fancy of the Academy Music Group for giving PCN Magazine access to these shows, without which you’d have just been staring at a blank page.
All photographs are by Andi Callen Photography and all rights are reserved.
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