Skids / The Fleece / Bristol
Skids were formed way back in 1977 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland by Stuart Adamson, William Simpson, Thomas Kellichan and Richard Jobson. Their most famous (and highest charting) single is into The Valley released in 1979, and their 1980 album “The Absolute Game”. Adamson left and formed Big Country and went on to great success, before is untimely death. A great and tragic loss.
Founding members Richard Jobson (vocals) and William Simpson (bass) are. Joined by Mike Baillie (drums) and Bruce Watson (guitars) and his son Jamie (guitars).If you’ve seen Big Country in recent years, then you’ll recognise Bruce and Jamie !
This is the 40th anniversary tour of one of Scotland’s greatest punk bands.
It would be easy to say that Skids live is just a trip down memory lane for us old rockers and punks, but this was far from that. This was a band redefined, confident and skillful.
Richard Jobson and the boys know how to entertain a crowd, and the sell out crowd in Bristol’s excellent Fleece were certainly in for a treat. The set opened with Animation and we had a couple of newer songs early on including Kings of The New World Order. Their range is great, with the anthemic track Hurry On Boys with some older hits such as Working for the Yankee Dollar. more hits (Yankee Dollar). We also got a couple of excellent covers in the Sex Pistols Pretty Vacant and Wreckless Eric’s Whole Wide World, both sounded magnificent.
Jobson and Watson know how to work a crowd really well, the banter back and forth, and Jobson delivered a heartfelt tribute to the late Adamson to huge cheers from the crowd. Of course, no Skids set would be complete without Into the Valley. Hard to believe this was originally released 43 years ago now, but it sounds just as fresh and new….. and brilliant today as it did then.
An utterly enjoyable set, from one of Scotland’s finest.
Set List
Animation
Of One Skin
Charade
Charles
Kings of the New World Order
The Saints Are Coming
Out of Town
Working for the Yankee Dollar
Hurry On Boys
A Woman in Winter
Circus Games
TV Stars
Pretty Vacant (Sex Pistols cover)
Whole Wide World (Wreckless Eric cover)
Masquerade
Into the Valley
The Olympian
Complete Control
First up in support we had I Destroy, known for their lively performances. The three piece formed in 2015 in Bristol and have played over 300 gigs already. Most of the set comprised of tracks from their debut 2021 album “We Are Girls”. The songs have a deeper side such as the ‘hands-off’ warning of punchy single Petting Zoo to the album’s title track We Are Girls and it’s ire at the obstacles faced by female musicians.
The album has received praise from The Sunday Times, The Daily Mirror, Classic Rock and countless others. Radio play is rapidly growing with airplay from BBC Radio 1, BC Radio 6 Music, Absolute Radio and Radio X to name a few..
The tracks on offer have a mix of catchy choruses and are well produced. It’s certainly high octane punk with attitude.
Set List
Petting Zoo
G.O.D.
We Are Girls
Cheap Monday
Pure Joy of Life
Sick Friend
Talking Shit
Lets Play With Knives
Next up we had Borrowed Time. Formed in 2013. A chance meeting between Baz Clark was playing bass in Noise Agents and Glenn Lander who was playing guitar in Chinese Burn, two established bands on the local ‘punk’ music scene. Joining forces with Rob Fletcher (vocals) and Alan Stone (drums) who had played together in a band back in the mid- 80s.
Live, Borrowed Time are great. Visually singer Rob with his spiked peroxide blonde hair looks like a 70’s punk and he jumps around the stage energetically. His socks removed and in the crowd, soon to be Followed by the singer himself. He also delivers part of the set sat in the lotus position on the stage !
As you’d expect from a punk band, the singing is sometimes raw in style, but Rob demonstrates a power and control too. Cliff Everett on guitar had a visual style that reminded me of Klaus Floride from the Dead Kennedy’s and a couple of the tracks had a DK feel to them too with dark moody riffs. Never a bad thing in my book.
The set comprised mainly of tracks from their 2019 album “Year of the Mayfly” but we did get a couple of tracks from their debut 2014 release “Pushed to the Brink” in Borrowed Time and Bad Stranger.
As their name Borrowed Time suggests, they perform as if we are in borrowed time…. Live life and enjoy it to the max. Can’t complain too much with that viewpoint, and their set tonight was a brilliant way to spend 30/40 minutes of my borrowed time !
Set List
Under the radar
Bridges
Stranded
Chains
One Day
Oceans
On the Day We Broke the World
Borrowed Time
Bad Stranger
Finding My Way Home
