The last few years of touring with Barnyard Masturbator has taught me one thing. All towns in the north consist entirely of one way streets and the end result is arriving early for gigs only to do 15 laps of the town centre to reach the venue you've driven past 20 times but couldn't actually drive past..... Bradford was no different. Several laps of the city and navigational arguements were only difused by several cans of carling and a few plays on Puzzle Bobble on my mobile phone..... But after a period of time that seemed longer than the actual journey up, we arrived at The Exchange for another date on the Spit And Sawdust tour.....

After dropping off gear and saying hello to the relevent people, we all decided to go to the pizza place next door to sample Pappa's Special..... Which as the following day would turn out were laxatives (or undercooked meat, one of the 2)..... The food and milkshake mission meant we missed Ambush UK but I'd imagine they were good as I've yet to see a shit band on the 2 dates of this tour we've done......

On next were Flat Back Four. I had no idea what to expect from these before they began, all that was apparent is that Frank Gallagher has a job between seasons of Shamless as their bassist. Then they started playing and were surprisingly ace. Any band who's opening song is a catchy number with the chorus line "My Mums a Prostitute...." get a thumbs up in my eyes and the following 20 or so minutes of Snuff/Comsumed tinged street punk went down very well with myself and the whole crowd which was growing rapidly by the minute. A very tight band, very talented musicians and nice blokes too....

We (Barnyard Masturbator) were on next..... Doing our 3rd gig with new bassist Mike. We hammered through our set like Lee Sharp reshaping Leslie Ash's facial features. A few slips here and there but the ever increasing crowd seemed to move nearer and nearer with each song so we must have been doing something right....

Mostly Likely To Fail were next. Musically they were tight and very melodic comparisons to Bad Religion were later confirmed with a cover of the afforementioned band..... While nothing really stands out as catchy or memorable from this band, I'm not saying they weren't good. They're a very good band who on the right night could steal any gig from the other bands but as these SAS gigs, every band seems to raise the bar for the next one.

Another swift change over saw Boredom AD take to the stage. What the UK Subs bassist lacks in vocal range he makes up for with his dancing, climbing and general lunacy which keep you on your toes not from dancing but more from hoping he doesn't fall on you. Good catchy songs about Vincent Price and such, and a stage invasion by some old fella make this set one of the most entertaining of the night if nothing else.....

The Scabs seem to be the norths best kept secret. Up until our first SAS gig last month in Lancaster I hadn't ever heard of them and now they're one of my favourite bands on the UK scene. A good blend of Oi style street punk make this bands songs memorable and catchy. Add all this together with a frontman who spends his whole time in the crowd and frankly scares the shit out of me he seems to into the songs and you've got everything a good punk band should be. Raucous, memorable and a good tight band. This is what the SAS tour is all about, introducing new people to ace bands who you've never heard of before.....

Suspicious Stains were next but we missed 99% of their set due to lugging all our gear to the van parked accross town (Thanks to FBF's Bassist for the hand). The last song, a cover of Bad Moon Rising sounded good 'n' tight tho....

And that brings to an end another night of Spit And Sawdust fun..... These gigs are what every gig should be, no attitudes, every band mixing with each other, copious amounts of beer, dodgy food and an old man singing Queen songs at the end...... Thanks to Fungal Punk and all those involved for another memorable night up north!!

Cheers n Beers

by

Stevie McHaggis!