August soon comes around and with it the initial disappointment of a number of high profile bands pulling out of the world's biggest punk rock festival. The Decendents, D.O.A. and then The Damned. Big hitters in the line-up one and all! It is fair to say that this year's line-up, even before the cancellations was somewhat weaker than last year. A notable absence (certainly for me) was 999. Nick Cash and his merryband of men are the only act to have played every festival since the inception of 'Holidays In The Sun' back in Morecombe in 1996. That is every year for a remarkable 27 years! Various reasons for their unexpected omission from the programme were discussed but that isn't a topic for the site.
Day One
Arriving in a sunny Blackpool in the early afternoon, I collected my wristband (in double quick time this year!) before making my way to the Brew Room where I had arranged to meet Mo, who had travelled up from Manchester for the day to meet the old man. Fish and chips and a bit of beachcombing followed in search of potential things that could be incorporated into art. Success was not forthcoming unless you count a partially skeletonised dogfish (I think that Damien Hirst got there first Mo!).
Family reunion over, my first foray into the Winter Gardens was for Menace. Never a favourite of mine I freely admit, but they did invite my mate, 'six-string for hire', Leigh Heggarty to the stage for the four songs that closed their set.
Menace
Next up for me were Sloppy Seconds, a delightfully named combo hailing from Indianapolis, Indiana. It was their first visit to these shores for 25 years, which just happened to be the last and only time that I had seen them. If you do not know of them, look them up, they are a great band of the Ramones mold. Their set was filled with classics such as 'Blackmail', 'Come Back Traci', 'Janie Is A Nazi' and 'You've Got A Great Body But Your Record Collection Sucks'.
Sloppy Seconds
Following them onto the Club Casbah stage were another band from my earlier punk years, the mighty Culture Shock, Dick Lucas's second band of three, and all three were putting in an appearance over the weekend. Just loved it!
Culture Shock
A few beers followed back in HQ (The Brew Room!) and notes exchanged concerning the bands seen thus far.
As mentioned earlier, The Damned were a no show, Dave Vanian having hurt his back earlier in the week having got out of his coffin awkwardly at sundown. Luckily, their eleventh hour replacements were worthy '77 originals Penetration. Pauling announced from the stage that this was their first gig in a year and that they had put the show together with four days notice/rehearsals. Well Pauling I can say hand on heart that I couldn't tell, the band were great and the set was classic Penetration. Not surprisingly, this was my first encounter of the weekend with Drew and Gill.
Penetration
Tired now, but the evening wasn't over by some margin. It was over to the Opera House for the second part of The Members set..... 'Working Girl', 'Solitary Confinement' and 'Sound Of The Suburbs' I recall. Thankfully, I missed 'The Model'. I love The Members, but a reggae version of such an electronic classic by Dusseldorf's Robotic Fab Four borders on the sacrilegious!
The Members
Last up for the day were Big Country. Again no disrespect to the late, great Stuart Adamson and his band, but whilst beloved of many Scottish friends, Big Country never drew my attention. Good band and all of that but just not for me. The fatigue that was kicking in at this point in the evening helped none either!
Big Country
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