This was a first at the basement , a punk night but with true raw bands not your big names !!   The venue itself is about 260 capacity with a friendly happy host, a superb sound system and sound engineer.  Oh and did I mention cheap ale!!!!!!

Doors opened late due to being pipped at the post by salsa dancers !!!! (and if anyone knows the woman that kept slapping my face and saying I was too old for this shit, please give her my apologies for saying at least I was younger than her).

100 eager punters awaiting to see if this was actually for real as nothing of this venture has ever been staged in Carlisle before .

11pm and time to kick off.

The Scabs first gig with a new line up, these Penrith  street urchins were nervous and shakey for the first ten minutes but seemed to pull it together after that and once their seemingly signature song ‘Bully Boys’ started the floor was filled with eager fans. Not a bad performance for the guys and after a few more practices I am sure they will be as tight as Dave OMD’s arse!!

Next up was a bunch of lasses from good ol Blackpool.  I don’t think anyone around here had seen  em  so everyone was a bit sceptical to say the least.  Again these were a bit loose (I mean the music!!!) but quickly settled into a decent performance and took several rousing applause so keep an eye out for em’ playing in future as apart from them being very nice ladies they ROCK!!

Time for The Guilty Pleasures …… What can you say about these guys?  A solid steady performance as usual that seems to go down well wherever you see them play.  James carries his voice finely to deliver a powerful stomping set, not a lot else you can add to this classic performance.

Finally Boredom took to the stage to bring this brilliant night to a close. A truly classic band with all the spit ‘n’ polish you would expect from seasoned skunks and given the time they would have played all night!  Thanx to these lads who really helped this new venue to be a success and be talked about for days after ….

Keep an eye out for monthly gigs at this truly superb venue!

Cheers
For booking info etc just contact this nice erbet punklife@tiscali.co.uk

review by PUNKLIFE