Another visit to the Star & Garter for a gig co-promoted by Ageless chaps and Fungalpunk OMD. On arrival at 6PM I was met by OMD, can of Fosters in hand and Dean of Slit Records. A quick visit to the bar to get a pint and it was upstairs to see the first band.
First to take the stage were hard drinking The Medicine Bow. Stu their singer could have given the late George Best a lesson in alcohol consumption. From Stu's appearance I think he must come from a rock and roll background and this definitely influences their music. A really good set this with some nice touches on keyboards and harmonica. These guys might be piss-pots but they can certainly play and this was the best set i've seen them play.
Next up was my first viewing of Cambridge's Born To Destruct. They are fronted by a 17 year old girl who on the night performed admirably.'Roadtrip' and 'Bollocks' i'd heard on the Slit And Sawdust Split Bits Volume 2 and they were my favourites from their set. I noticed the bassist occasionally looking around as their drummer missed a beat but this didn't spoil my enjoyment of what was a pretty good set. With more gigs under their belts i'm sure they'll be tighter than a Jewish banker. I was impressed enough to grab their CD 'First Steps To Detruction'.

The Medicine Bow	Born To Destruct

Dangerous Aces came next and another band including Medicine Stu. Their music i'd say is a blend of hardcore and rock and roll, an unusual mix but it certainly works. Stu's prowess on guitar is there for all to see and it's nice to see a band who don't fit into any pigeon-holes. Aggressive vocals and yet very tuneful, different but very enjoyable and i've certainly been won over after seeing them a few times recently.
Next should have been Eastfield but with their drummer injuring a hand, Jessie did one of his solo sets. As usual there were plenty of songs with singalong choruses and 'Burt Reynolds Rides Again', 'Fare Dodging' and 'Sharks Against Surfers' are always good value and it was an enjoyable set. It would be nice if some of the better known bands showed Jessie's attitude because he could have stayed at home but he came up to play in Manchester with nothing monetary to be gained.

Dangerous Aces	Jessie Eastfield

Main support came from local band One Man Stand. One of the most improved bands i've seen recently and ever since Chris took up bass duties they have improved in all departments. Tonight they put in a sterling performance which is rapidly becoming the norm. My favourite track by them 'Lights Out' i'd actually filmed with 2 cameras but unfortunately some childish bastard switched my static camera off whilst my back was turned, so the video won't get seen on Punk4life. The entire set they played was solid and the crowd seemed to agree. However there are a couple of points I feel I should mention about One Man Stand. Improvement is great in any band but if you constantly play to the same people at the same venues you won't realise your potential. One Man Stand should be playing more gigs in places they haven't visited so they can share their sound with people who have never seen them live. Secondly ever since One Man Stand returned from their tour of the land of the yellow man they mention Japan at every opportunity and it's getting tiresome.
Headlining were Demob a band i've not seen as much as i'd like. I've seen these Gloucester punks several times and they've always played superb sets and tonight was no different. These guys are one of the most underrated bands on the circuit and it showed in the embarrassingly small crowd watching. Why some average or shit bands can pull in the punters and great bands like Demob can't shows one thing that is wrong with the punk scene.
This is aggressive old school punk which I love and will never tire of. Andy their frontman is animated and never gives less than a hundred percent and with quality musicians backing him it was nice to see a gig where the headline band were the best band on the night.

One Man Stand	Demob

This was an excellent gig and and good value at only £6. Sadly the punters never arrived in their droves and the bands who played deserved more. One thing always seems to happen at The Star & Garter. There's always a lot of punters who spend most of their time gabbing downstairs whilst quality bands play upstairs. If you go to a gig at least watch the bands otherwise what's the point?

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Review and photos by Tim Davies May 2008 Click Here to see more FULL SIZE photos of this gig