FUNGALPUNK GIG REVIEWS

This gig on paper looked very hard work indeed for promoter Dean Diggle in so far as trying to pull people on any night of the week is hard enough but a Wednesday night in Oldham is a near enough an impossibility.  With the scenes sedentary nature and people having busy lifestyles it seems Dean would make little profit tonight and so would not have enough brass to purchase some of those human excrement cigars he so loves to smoke.
 
Myself, good lady and equally good daughter hit the gaff at 8.30pm to be confronted by a paltry crowd.  Dean kept counting the numbers and seemed obsessed with convincing himself that there was more in attendance than there actually was.  I know the feeling only too well mate .  We made it at 15 maximum which is poor but not as bad as it can be (experience talking there).  To take Dean's mind off the worries of the attendees we went outside and threw onions at passing cars which really turned into a fine competition that resulted in my daughter being crowned the champion after smashing the window of a passing limo and cracking the drivers skull - good stuff indeed.
 
Back into the gaff and after setting fire to a ladies dress and throwing her pet chimpanzee through the window the gig eventually got going with a nice showing from The Adjusters.  A very cock rock looking crew with essences of Hanoi Rocks more than obvious.  Big barnets, tight jeans, swaggering confidence boosted with dragster fuel of the most alcoholic kind would sum up the potential here even though tonight had a few out of sync moments.  This was still an enjoyable set though and despite this being the first outing with the new line-up I for one enjoyed it.  It did make a change from my usual viewing and there was enough general character within the band to make for good entertainment.  My young daughter said they were in fact 'gay' and as far as today's street talk goes I don't know if this is a compliment or not.  I'd like to see these guys again and a CD offering in the future is much anticipated.  In fact the immediate recording needs to be taken carefully and the one word of advice I would offer is don't settle for anything less than the best.  It is pointless to release something just for the hell of it rather than wait and kick off with a fuckin' stunner.  Lets see what we get!
 
In between bands we all chatted freely with local shoplifting addict Tez showing off his new Cleo Lane tattoo.  Dean feigned an heart attack so as to try and detract from the lowly turn-out but in truth only embarrassed himself with a quite laboured piece of amateur dramatics. 
 
Sailors Grave next and with the expected psychobilly look this crew delivered what I feel was a pretty decent noise that my daughter especially enjoyed.  This was despite the guitarist having a complete fuckin' nightmare of a gig through no fault of his own.  The poor bastard had the guitar play up and cut out on at least a dozen occasions, his guitar strap came loose and to cap it all his nose started to bleed throughout several songs which he just got on with and did his best.  I just hope after this stressful event he didn't go home a have a tug of his todge because with luck like this it would be more than likely his entire bell-end would explode into a million pieces and his testicles would simply drop off.  Back to the music and this was highly enjoyable with a solid frontman tearing his tonsils apart, a very capable drummer rocking out a good rhythm and a bassist who bumpity bumped a darn good vibe.  When the other guitarist did join in it was a mighty effective noise that was emitted and overall I would give these the thumbs up.  Again another viewing and a CD would help to cultivate familiarity so eyes and ears are peeled for future gigs and releases.
 
2 bands and 2 decent do's and again a gig which deserved more punters.  The sound was pretty good again which bodes well for future bands playing at this venue.  Dean will plod on and hopefully keep the variety coming and convince people he his putting on some darn good shows worthy of attention.  I hope so!

review by OMD (8 October 2008)