Gutted that I am not around for this one. This looks to be a great event coming up in Hertford. Marking punk's big birthday, the Brothership Studio in the town is hosting a couple of events on 28th November, kicking if with a solo set from Steve Drewett of the Newtown Neurotics followed later in the afternoon by a Q&A with photographer Kevin Cummings through whose camera lens fifty years of Manchester's musical history has been documented. The afternoon session is compered by poet Cherry B. In a paid event in the evening Don Letts will be doing that thing that DJs do.... possibly recreating a night behind the decks at the Roxy back in Year Zero. Maybe.
So, unfortunately in terms of punk rock's 50th anniversary celebrations it's Hertford 2-0 Harlow (if you include the Ruts DC gig during the week). Maybe something can be done to redress the balance in 2028 between Bishops Stortford and Harlow centred around the Stortbeat Records 'scene'.
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Hertford built an all-singing, all-dancing theatre and cinema complex a while back called the 'Beam'. Where I live in nearby Bishops Stortford this caused much consternation... because our town was earmarked for such a development... but Hertford won. And the Beam is a very impressive venue, but just down the road there is something much better. The Corn Exchange is a cracking venue. Like many provincial theatres it's revenue seems to come primarily from a roster of tribute bands, which is a shame really, but in amongst the Wrong Jovi's, Nirvanah's and Noasis's that are making an appearance over the coming months are original bands such as Jesus Jones, The Ordinary Boys and 9 Below Zero. Last year we saw TRB play there in what was one of my gigs of the year.
Tonight was the first night of the shortest of tours for Ruts DC, Hertford, then Derby followed by a night of punk rock in Blackpool. After a week off they then join up with The Undertones for dates marking the Derry boys' 50th anniversary.
But tonight it was all about Ruts DC. The other nice thing about Hertfordshire's county town is that the pubs are all rather nice, The Quiet Man being just one such example and that is where we went. The band were of like mind with all three enjoying the warm and convivial atmosphere of the said pub both before and after the soundcheck. After all its November and.... it was cold, it was night!
We entered the venue minutes before stage time. As I was walking through the darkened hall enroute to the bar I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I swung round only to be faced by Steve Drewett of the Newtown Neurotics and it was great to catch up even if just for a few minutes before showtime.
The strains of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Capitol 1212 (surely the best Joy Division cover out there!) heralded the appearance of Ruts DC.
I have said it on these pages before that for many years no band can touch Ruts DC in terms of work rate, be that on stage or in the studio. At a time when the release of an album by their surviving contemporaries is a once in a decade event, Ruts DC have released no fewer than nine albums since 2011! Of these three have been new studio albums and as such the pool of material to be considered when pulling together a set is inordinately large. For this reason whole albums can disappear from one tour to the next. I can imagine that the selection process would be quite arduous. First the early singles are in, they are a given ('In A Rut', 'Babylon...', 'Jah War', 'Staring...', 'West One...'), then 'The Crack' must haves ('SUS', 'It Was Cold') and perhaps a treat ('Demolition Dancing') and that's nearly half the set accounted for! Decisions then get difficult I should imagine. Of course no band of any longevity wants to appear to be living on past glories (something that could never be levelled at this band!), so the new material becomes vital to the set ('Too Much', 'Born Innocent', 'Poison Games', 'Bound In Blood', 'Pretty Lunatics'). By this point some very difficult choices remain... short of pulling an all-nighter, favourites of the band and audience alike must be culled. Faced with this dilemma, I think that a good compromise was reached in Hertford.
Highlights of the night? 'Mighty Soldier' (always!) and 'Born Innocent'. One other highlight that was nothing to do with the set. On a night like this in Hertford as we sat in a pub with Ruffy, Segs and Leigh and then later I found myself chatting pre-gig to Steve Drewett, I can't help reminding my near 60 year old self, that 45 years ago the 15 year old version of me was bouncing around my bedroom listening to 'The Crack' and 'Repercussions'. At the Corn Exchange those same musicians that made those albums that in turn shaped both my musical taste and political thinking were with me under the same roof. That's a big part of what punk still means to me.
Hate Nobody,
Hurt Nobody
Harm Nobody...
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