By DJ Astrocreep
A quick jaunt across for my last Manchester gig of the year sees me take in ska legends Bad Manners for the first time, despite the band being active longer than I’ve been on the planet! A single support means that despite a late venue change, I still arrive in plenty of time. A short wait while a suitable seat is found and it’s up to the room for a chat with people around me while we wait for our support act.
Max Splodge, in addition to having a very memorable name, come on in a very non-assuming manner. A five-piece with 30 minutes to play, they throw in a lot of the covers that were their trademark back in their chart-bothering days, which quickly warm the audience up. Opening with ‘Nellie The Elephant’, the crowd are singing along from the start and while the room is only about a quarter full at first, it quite quickly fills up a lot more. Whether it’s other covers such as ‘Swords Of A Thousand Men’ or their set closer, the TV comedy inspiring ‘Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps‘, they’re affable, tight and do a good job of getting the crowd going. We even get a song with the Bad Manners brass section coming out to aid them and it’s just great vibes all around. A good warm up set.
The lights go down, Harry J Allstars’ ‘Liquidator’ blares out and we get chants of “you fat bastard”… an ideal way to welcome Mr Buster Bloodvessel to the stage! He takes the chants in the good humour you would expect, declaring that we are right on both counts… he is “both fat and a bastard”! There’s a definite feeling of familiarity amongst the audience, as everyone seems to know each other through everyone else and that good natured fraternity seems to echo all around the room.
The sound is absolutely spot on and Bloodvessel seems to absolutely defy the years, as he happily sings away. While he needs a couple of short breaks – somewhat understandable as he approaches his late ’60s – he still has that stage knowledge and has us all eating out of the palm of his hand. He comes across as one of those lovable rogues, the type you would get in a quiet, backstreet London pub, who would absolutely talk your ear off. The entire band are clearly having fun, with the saxophonists taking turns to duct tape each other while the other plays. The entire feeling is just one of fun and good vibes, from the band right through the crowd and it is just so wonderful to see and feel a part of.
We don’t see Buster until the second song, where he immediately regales us with their cover of My Girl Lollipop, to even more chants of “you fat bastard”. The crowd are up for everything and it shows more and more as the entire room gradually starts skanking away to the irresistible ska and two tone beats. By the time we get towards the end of the main set, which concludes with Special Brew, everyone is at it, all done in the very best of spirits. With a three song encore to come, there’s not a still foot in the house by the time ‘Lip Up Fatty’ and ‘Can Can’ close the night.
A superb set which showcases just how enduring ska and Bad Manners themselves, after 50 years, still are.
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