STEVE IGNORANT + CHERRY B – CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON 8.4.22
Friday night in Brighton and Madeira Drive was awash with middle aged anarchists making their way to the Concorde 2 to relive the music of arguably Britain’s top and most influential Anarcho-Punk band, as played by the original lead singer Steve Ignorant.
With five number one albums and four number one singles in the Indie Charts there can be no doubting the influence of Crass. Crass was the ultimate DIY Indie band who would not rip you off. The most I ever forked out was a hefty fiver for ‘Christ-The Album’ for which I received: two records lasting about 94 minutes in total, a 26 page booklet ‘A Series of Shock Slogans and Mindless Token Tantrums’ including lyrics and contact details ranging from Greenpeace to Hunt Saboteurs, and a large poster, in a black box embossed with the Crass logo.
Having moved down to London from a small village in Scotland (slightly larger than a commune in Epping Forest), on hearing Crass for the first time they really hit home hard for me during the miserable Thatcher years and opened my eyes to a whole different world of music. Steve Ignorant had been influenced by The Clash and the political viewpoints they put out through their songs, but Crass took it to a whole new level.
Their lyrics got me thinking more than most bands of the time about the establishment and just how downtrodden we, the mere general public, were and still are. There was so much pent up anger released in their songs and I was feeling the same as I listened to more and more of the anarcho-punk scene of that time, and attended quite a few such gigs. I only got to see them perform live once at the Zig Zag Club squat gig in December,1982, but it was such a memorable gig with many bands playing throughout the day including Flux of Pink Indians, Dirt, The Mob, and Conflict. Just the fact that we found out about the gig was amazing enough without the wonders of social media or mobile phones. Word of mouth in the punk scene was all that was needed to create a momentous gig such as this, and luckily it was accurate or we could well have ended up at The Rainbow which is where it was originally planned for until they got evicted from said venue.
Tonight’s bill was much changed with both original support bands unable to play so thankfully I hadn’t researched them beforehand. In the place of ‘The Cravats’ and ‘Slagheap’ we had the larger than life Essex punk poet Cherry B, or to be referred to as Pam Ayres if she is crap. She was more prominent in the nineties until she became a punk mum, but now she is back and angrier than ever, apart from when she is drooling over Jeremy Corbyn. Her ode to JC has left me with unthinkable visions and I will probably never look at him in the same light again, but Cherry B did say that she likes a bit of both filth and fury. Tonight she is unleashing her fury at targets varying from The Spice Girls to our untrustworthy prime minister, from the BBC for banning ‘Fairytale Of New York’ to her ex-husband who was a mod. She is quick to say that none of it is slander if it’s true.
The most hard hitting poem of her set was ‘The Killing Of George Floyd’ and it was a stark reminder of what happened on May 25th, 2020. Never forget 8 minutes 46 seconds. Cherry B definitely has a kind political heart and is active within the BLM cause. She has a few friends in from Essex and her last poem ‘Yesterday’s Kids’ is dedicated to their past adventures and is probably relatable in some way to most of the audience. She was even up for joining the crowd to watch Steve Ignorant rather than from the safety of backstage, which shows her to be a true punk, that, and the fact that she never wants to wear beige! Her book ‘Job Lot Of Rhymes’ is available from her website for a very reasonable ten quid and is probably worth it just for a giggle at ‘The Corbyn Crush’ or ‘Porno Pam’.
Cherry B setlist:
‘Spice Girls’
‘Punk Mum’
‘The Corbyn Crush’
‘Iffy’
‘Married To The Mod’
‘The Killing Of George’
‘You Won’t Get An Apology Off The BBC’
‘Don’t Let Me Wear Beige’
‘Porno Pam’
‘Yesterday’s Kids’
I have been waiting for this gig patiently since it was originally announced at the beginning of 2020, for September of that dreaded year, but as we were in a state of flux with Covid restrictions we have had to wait until tonight. With the wonders of social media and the internet it was much easier to find out where and when this gig was due to take place than it was 40 years ago.
Steve Ignorant entered stage with his ‘Slice Of Life’ band members in tow, Pete Wilson on guitar, Peter Rawlinson on bass guitar, Jay Bagnall on drums, and last but far from least, Carol Hodge on keyboards. Sporting one of his own twin-tipped polo shirts with an embroidered Crass logo, Igs certainly looked the part tonight. He was greeted by one member of the crowd asking, “who said punks dead?” to which Steve responded by mouthing “it was me, sorry!” From the opening line of ‘The Gasman Cometh’ it seemed like the band were on a mission to prove him wrong. ‘Do They Owe Us A Living?’ has the crowd singing along vigorously to the chorus and the anti-establishment anger is visible for all to see.
Four songs in and it is the turn of Carol Hodge to take centre stage on lead vocals for the first time this evening, and there is no other word needed but Wow! Her amazing vocal range and her punk attitude make her the perfect foil for Ignorant, who stands menacingly towards the back of the stage, and even more so when close behind her, taking off his belt and wrapping it around Carol later on in the set. With such a vocal performance it’s no wonder that Steve is left questioning how he can follow that? Carol sang lead on six tracks: ‘Systematic Death’, ‘Bata Motel’, ‘Darling’, ‘Poison In A Pretty Pill’, ‘Berkertex Bribe’, and ‘Shaved Women’, all of which were brilliantly executed in an outstanding performance. Described by ‘Louder Than War’ as “The Adele for people into radical politics”, I am intrigued to hear her solo material and it was no surprise that people were purchasing her album at the merch stall afterwards, where she was working tirelessly even after giving her all in such a full-on set.
Steve responded in kind to Carol’s performance with his own gruff vocals and they complimented each other perfectly in ‘Bloody Revolutions’ and to see them standing with arms around each other as they sample ‘La Marseillaise’ is a wonderful moment of unity which shows the closeness of this band. Steve was ever entertaining and played to the crowd. He even gave our photographer a great impromptu close up shot of him grabbing his own groin with a wicked smile, which made Cris laugh (see pic below!). He even saved some light-hearted banter for the soundman just to keep all involved.
The rest of the band were also on form with the two Pete’s as cool as ever, whilst Jay thrashed the drums, with the Crass logo emblazoned on the front, to what must have been near the end of their shelf life. He was relentless and was anything but cool after that workout.
The crowd were taking a while to warm up, but when they did all hell was let loose in the mosh pit. From what had earlier appeared to be a middle aged crowd there appeared a new younger breed of anarchists interspersed amongst the bald heads and wrinkles. My cue came quite late on for me as I would usually get involved much earlier, but I was enjoying the onstage antics and admiring the band so much that I was happy on the periphery. That was until the introduction to ‘Big A Little A’ and my feet uncontrollably left the front right of the barrier into the heart of the mosh pit, as Steve shouted out the lyrics to what in my mind is their best offering. After that particular song Steve admitted to having a lump in his throat which is possibly a bit of an overreaction to my moshing, but I am pretty damn good! Of course ‘Banned From The Roxy’ went down well. The rest of the night was a sweat drenched celebration of my youth. Here’s hoping the younger members of the crowd will fill our shoes and continue to rebel against the system. The unity at the gig between band and crowd was shown when the whole room joined in with the chant of ‘Fight War, Not Wars’. If only people would listen.
There was a poignant shout out to lost loved ones near the end. Steve was visibly emotional as he talked about the loss of his great friend and fellow band member from his days with ‘Schwarzeneggar’, Bob Butler, who passed away on February 28th. On the count of two the whole room shouted out “Bob” in remembrance. Then it was the turn of another emotional shout out to local punk icon from Seaford and partner of the Music Editor for Brighton and Hove News, the one and only Jordan, who sadly passed away earlier this week. She was a well known supporter of the local music scene and everyone who met her had only nice things to say about her and will be much missed. The same protocol followed and after the count of two we all bellowed out her name with a punk style love that only a Brighton crowd can exude, which was enough to warm the coldest of hearts.
The only non-Crass song of the night was a cover version of another artist who influenced a young Steve, in the form of David Bowie’s ‘Ziggy Stardust’, and he didn’t care what the audience thought. Steve’s vocals certainly make it different from any previous version I have heard. Finishing off with a slower version of ‘Do They Owe Us A Living?’ left me fully satisfied with the magnificent 27 song set.
40 years later and I have to marvel at the longevity of the songs and lyrics of Crass, though it would have been even nicer had they not still been relevant today and we lived in a better world. Then again if it wasn’t still relevant then what would have been the point? Thank you Steve Ignorant for being an ‘influencer’ all those years ago and for still getting your message across to the younger generation all these years later. Vive la revolution!
Steve Ignorant setlist:
‘The Gasman Cometh’ (from the album ‘Stations Of The Crass’ 1979)
‘Do They Owe Us A Living?‘ (from the album ‘The Feeding Of The 5000’ 1979)
‘End Result‘ (from the album ‘The Feeding Of The 5000’ 1979)
‘Systematic Death’ (from the album ‘Penis Envy’ 1981)
‘They’ve Got A Bomb’ (from the album ‘The Feeding Of The 5000’ 1979)
‘Punk Is Dead’ (from the album ‘The Feeding Of The 5000’ 1979)
‘Mother Earth‘ (from the album ‘Stations Of The Crass’ 1979)
‘Bata Motel’ (from the album ‘Penis Envy’ 1981)
‘White Punks On Hope’ (from the album ‘Stations Of The Crass’ 1979)
‘Heard Too Much About’ (from the album ‘Stations Of The Crass’ 1979)
‘System‘ (from the album ‘Stations Of The Crass’ 1979)
‘Big Man, Big M.A.N’ (from the album ‘Stations Of The Crass’ 1979)
‘Darling’ (from the album ‘Stations Of The Crass’ 1979)
‘You’ve Got Big Hands‘ (from the album ‘Stations Of The Crass’ 1979)
‘Securicor’ (from the album ‘The Feeding Of The 5000’ 1979)
‘G’s Song’ (from the album ‘The Feeding Of The 5000’ 1979)
‘Fight War, Not Wars’ (from the album ‘The Feeding Of The 5000’ 1979)
‘Poison In A Pretty Pill’ (from the album ‘Penis Envy’ 1981)
‘Rival Tribal Rebel Revel’ (Flexi-disc free with ‘Toxic Grafity’ magazine 1980)
‘So What‘ (from the album ‘The Feeding Of The 5000’ 1979)
‘Berketex Bribe‘ (from the album ‘Penis Envy’ 1981)
‘Big A Little A‘ (B Side of ‘Nagasaki Nightmare’ single released 1980)
‘Banned From The Roxy’ (from the album ‘The Feeding Of The 5000’ 1979)
‘Shaved Women’ (B Side of ‘Reality Asylum’ single released 1979)
‘Bloody Revolutions‘ (single released 1982)
‘Ziggy Stardust’ (David Bowie cover)
‘Do They Owe Us A Living? (Slow Version)’ (from the album ‘The Feeding Of The 5000’ 1979)
Further Ignorant data can be found at www.steveignorant.com
