WASTED Punk Fest 2006 - Blackpool. Report ....

[Barrow-wight aka MELLON]

Wasted Punk Fest
Blackpool Wintergardens
August 10 - 13, 2006

Here we go ... I am still in the UK, Manchester to be precise. I thought of going to Windermere for the day, but it looks rainy on the west coast so I am staying in the city and do my work instead of wandering around ... i.e. starting the Wasted report.

Of course, no pictures will go here until I am back home (tomorrow night), upload them onto comp, review, resize, upload onto a server etc. So photos shall be up by the end of this week. I took literally hundreds of them, for sure many will be crap, but it will still take some time to go through them and select "the best".

Having been in Blackpool, there will of course be also pix of the locality, like the tower, sea, clouds, hovering seagulls (it was really windy out there and the poor buggers had problems especially with the take off), oh yes and also the big wheel on the pier, and the piers, and the sun-bathers (it was mostly cold and windy) .... simply, captures of the holidays in the sun. You will not understand Sex Pistols properly until you come over to Blackpool !

Now, a small introductory note and some technical comparison with the last year Wasted fest in Morecambe (not far from Blackpool anyway).

As some of you know from my previous inconsistent Wacken report, I arrived from Wacken (the weekend before the Wasted started) with high fever and was diagnosed with lymphatic system inflammation and high-dosed with antibiotics Zinnat 500 mg ... Now this is not of real interest until you read the side-effects and rare side-effects ... For detailed description of those you may actually not wish to go here. ;D ... not being used to antibiotics I have developed most of these symptoms in 2 days after starting the treatment - especially those that create a very special bondage between you and the rest-room. That may suggest how I felt during my very first days at Blackpool ... Fortunately, there was that Loyd pharmacy at hand and so I plundered it with kind consultations from the pharmacist.

Having said that I actually did not miss a thing during Wasted ! Well, apart those that were in direct collision / parallel shows, but that is a legitimate miss.



To be cont. over

[Barrow-wight aka MELLON]

Technical comparisons.

Blackpool : the Wasted fest was in Winter Gardens, a venues / bars / restaurants complex under one roof. Their side reads Welcome to the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, home to Europe's second largest theatre, The Opera House, and 12 self-contained venues each with their own character and unique style. There's something for everyone be it business, leisure or pleasure.
www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk/

Quite honestly, I was surprised to see what kind of venue is actually "given away" for a fest like this one ... this would never be the case in CR because both the authorities and the public will all go mad at the potential ruin that the place would suffer ... You know, central European (and I may even add "Austrio-Hungarian Empire" ) mentality would never even think of such possibility.

The flooring there is either parquetes, or marble or carpets ... sure enough, bz early afternoon it was all covered by beer, plastic cups, fag-ends ... regardless of the very many signs saying "no smoking" the place was filled with smoke. Which was actually annoying because the ventilation was poor (as the locals say: it is not sufficient even if people do not smoke there) ... and e.g. at the Arena on top of the smoke there was quite some heat as well ... I promised menzman from the Motorhead boards (who kindly stayed online via mobile phone / text messages ) not to go into rest-room details, but there is one detail I have to mention. Actually two details: the Ladies next to the Arena stage were the only place where you could actually breathe. Plus when in there it was funny to listen to the noise of the "undressing" ladies ... I felt like at the ironmonger's / hardware shop ... the sounds of all the falling chains and other metal equipment .... sorry for the toilet story, but this was really hilariously funny.

The shows were held at:

The Arena - the only place with stable good sound, yet no air, heat + all the smoke stuck in there. But the sound was good there. Carpets provided were cozy for having rest during the shows. ;D

The Empress Ballroom: ... apart for the fact that it was really a ballroom, and a place I wouldnt go for a punk gig anyway, the sound was mostly crap ... though it really depended on where you were stationed during the gig and also how many people were in there. The more the better and the sound was more dense then.

The Olympia: ... looked more like a roofless garage covered with canvas ... the sound was all crap save for some rare exceptions.

Pavilion Theatre: was used for the accoustic stage ... for that purpose it was OK.

The only though most important plus of having this venue for a fest of this size is that you can easily and quickly move from one show to another. The other advantage it has is the excellent and wide range of facilities ... catering, toilets ;D etc ... you simplu do not need to go ouside (save for fresh air).

MORECAMBE
Well, the locality as such is incomparably smaller than Blackpool and does not have a complex of venues similar to Winter Gardens ... the gigs were either at canvas covered market or in clubs and isolated venues ... However, I must admit I liked Morecambe better. It was difficult to move between gigs / individual venues, and it was a bit rougher there, but somehow I felt the venues were more appropriate for a punk fest. And the sound at the venues was much better. Morecambe was by far less comfortable but felt more like a real thing, if you know what I mean.


Off for lunch ... to be cont. later ;D

[Barrow-wight aka MELLON]

Day 1 - Thursday Aug. 10

This was really a starter ... and actually the day when the UK airports were closed due to the terrorist attack alert .... this implies that those who wanted to arrive on Thursday must have arrived a day later. Which also concerned some of the people who shall have stayed at the B+B I stayed ... which gets me to the composition of the audience ... looks like the foreigners + UK citizens must have been 50:50 ... even on the train to Blackpool I noticed punks from Slovakia, there were Poles, Lithuanians, Swiss, people from Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, USA, Portugal, Izrael ... all possible kind of nations really.

The Thursday went on two stages only - Arena + the acoustic stage.

For pragmatic reasons (see the side effects above) I have entirely avoided the acoustic stage and remained at the arena.

The bands I have managed toi check out were these:


BOOKSTORE www.myspace.com/bookstore
Manchester based punk / new wave band. Genuine music, nice performance, fine start of the day !

The United Kingdom of America www.myspace.com/theukofa; Punk from Sheffield ....
Gorgeous www.myspace.com/wearegorgeous from Birmingham, who were actually pretty interesting, and it appears that the lead guitar is taken by the Goldblade guitarist Peter Byrchmore.

The Debretts followed by Fire Exit www.fireexit77.com/ ... old punks from 1977 ... pretty good as much as I can remember !

The Astronauts ... I must check out their photos when back at home ...this may and not may be their site www.myspace.com/typicalenglishday ;D

DEMOB : www.holidaysinthesun.net/pages/www.demobpunk.co.uk and www.myspace.com/demobpunk ... Punk from Gloucester. They kind of started the fest for me and were brilliant !!! Looks like they will start their US tour in September ... so those who are from the US, check them out if you have chance !

Drongos for Europe drongos-for-europe.tk and www.myspace.com/drongosforeurope ... Classy punk from Birmingham with big fan-base I must say (guessing from t-shirts and the num,ber of people that gathred in the Arena). Their show in Morecambe last year belonged to my most fave and they didnt fail my expectations in Blackpool !

UXB www.u-x-b.com/ and www.myspace.com/uxbtheband ... Punk / reggae from England ... looks like they were primarily around in the very early 80s and reformed in 2001.

Devilish Presley www.devilishpresley.com They were actually good fun, formed in 2002. The singer was born in Australia, but it looks like they are based in the UK.

The Neck www.neck.ie/ and www.myspace.com/neckireland . Irish punk / folk band ... I especially waited for them as they are from some time among mu "myspace friends" and the songs I heard on the net were really good. Live they were excellent ....

But there awas a "but" ... on that day I fully realized that punk bands (young or old) from Czech Republic, Slovakia ... would cause real havoc on that day in Blackpool. Just those bands I heard last year at Antifest alone would easily attract due attention ... regardless of the language barrier. Pity the Czech / Slovak punk scene does not have the human resources and perhaps also money to bring them to events such as these.

After the Neck I left to regain some strength for the main days. In fact, I was happy enough to have survived the night ! ;D

To be cont.

[Barrow-wight aka MELLON]

Day 2. Friday Aug. 11


This day was full of very difficult decisions. I will start with the bands I had to decide to skip due to parallel shows, although I would truly love to see them .... These were Cockney Rejects www.cockneyrejects.net/ and GBH www.njhindl.demon.co.uk/gbh/ But simply there are moments when you have to decide. They played Empress Ballroom and Olympia resp. and so my only cpnsolation may have rested on the fairly well-grounded assumption that the sound there was crap anyway.earlier thi

In Olympia I went to see Stuntface www.myspace.com/stuntface and stuntface.com. Welsh punk ... I know them from myspace, plus got their CD earlier this year, and so I knew what to expect + they were music-wise really good. But Geeez ... the silly comments of the frontman almost ruined the show. Their myspace site reads Welsh punkers STUNTFACE started life in May 1999, born from various defunct but legendarily dangerous punk rock bands from the Wrexham area. Maybe so, brilliant they were, but it would be really good if they better shut the fuck up next time, lmao ... ;D On the other hand, perhaps thanks to this they left a lasting mark.

I also went to check out Eddie and the Hot Rots www.eddieandthehotrods.com/ and www.myspace.com/eddieandthehotrods at the Empress Ballroom. But left during the 3rd song ... not really my cup of coffee, though it does not mean they were bad. On their myspace site they choose the description of punk / powerpop ... no idea what powerpop stands for, but it is perhaps the kind of music I cant genuinly stand ! ;D

I probably also shortly saw Spitting Dummies www.myspace.com/spittingdummies from Manchester. If I remember it well, they were OK.

My main venue was the Arena on Friday.

Bands I checked out were Mouthguard www.mouthguard.com.au/ from Australia (very good performace !); Guns on the Roof www.gunsontheroof.com/, Outlaw outl4w.com/ - kids that play fast and very good and dynamic punk / r+r ... but I think their day will only come ... if they keep playing.

Then Argy Bargy homepage.ntlworld.com/oioioi/argybargy/argy.htm and www.myspace.com/argybargyuk ... old good streetpunk -+ excellent performance ... The Blaggerswww.blaggersita.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/, The Straps www.thestraps.co.uk/, The Crack www.myspace.com/crackuk ....

Yet the main bands for me on that day were : MDC en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDC_(band)/, The Varukers www.varukers.co.uk/ and www.myspace.com/varukers, and Anti Nowhere League www.antinowhereleague.com/ and www.myspace.com/animalanwl.

Fucking riot they rose !!! It was my first time seeing MDC live (given the songs they played I guess the Millions of Dead Cops is the proper translation of MDC, lmao) ! Last time I saw Varukers it was in 1996 I think at Fuck Reading punk and HC all dayer ... and as for ANL - just any time. ANL always play their classy stuff - but that is what you expect anyway, plus - and that is fairly interesting - it always feels terribly fresh and with played high energy. I guess these guys still enjoy what they are doing !

So I was really looking forward to see these three bands .... if there was nothing else @ the Wasted punk fest, these were worth travelling for !!!


I have to stop here for I am soon off to Jillys Rockworld to check out Sworn Enemy www.myspace.com/swornenemy !


To be cont .... I am afraid I have still to cover Day3 and 4 ! Plus the photos ....

[Barrow-wight aka MELLON]

Well, I am back ... Some photos will go right here, and rest at the end of the "report".

DAY 3: August 12


Saturday presented constant moving between venues - from Arena to Olympia ... there and back again. I started the day a bit later just because I got up later (still much earlier than my BB neighbours ... I didnt see a sign of them even before 11 am :-) ) and wanted to do some touristic stuff ... like taking the big wheel ride (Blackpool you know !), piers checking, coffee in the sun etc. And actually, I decided for a proper lunch and genuine Italian pasta. The view from the pizzeria was actually a good one too:



However, I moved my ass after 2 pm to see Riot Squad in the Olympia. They were brilliant and good start of the day. As for the Riot Squad myspace sites - they are one big mess ... but if you want to hear what they are like, the best place seems to be : www.myspace.com/riotsquad2 .

Then my steps headed for the Arena to see 3 CR www.myspace.com/3crpunk : Fast and rough punk from Manchester. I saw them in Morecambe last year and definitely wanted to see them again ... and will have some more chances this year for they are about to play Zlin, Plzen and Kralupy /CR this autumn.






Note: as always, I enjoyed reading people's backs ! ;D



The next on my check-out list were several gigs at the Olympia the Kirkz, Dead Pets www.myspace.com/thedeadpets kind of punk / ska outfit. At the same time I was just hanging around the Olympia bistro, trying not to get tired out for the late night (see, I was on those fking antibiotics still !)


It was actually nice to sit on a proper chair for brief moments.

I got up for Beerzone www.myspace.com/beerzone and www.beerzone.net/ and Total Chaos www.myspace.com/totalchaospunx though.

I really wanted to see Beerzone because it was my second chance to check them out ... There I had an unexpected "encounter" with a young lady, apparently a friend of the band, whose eyes were caught by my Antifest 2005 t-shirt ... she was kind of impressed that I am actully going to these events (Antifest seems to be the punk event) that she wanted to smuggle me in to take photos from right under the stage. It was actually interesting : this t-shirt would easily serve as a kind of door- opener as several times (in the Arena especially) even the security offered me entry to the space under the stage ... but I hate receiving unearned privileges so I always kindly declined saying that I am happy where Iam plus - to be entirely honest - my camera is shit in the dark anyway (I really have to replace it for something with a) better optical zoom, b) faster shutter, c) ISO high above 400 ... ) so there would be no real point in taking the under-stage-space. Back to Beerzone - great show, plus Dont Give a Fuck is a classy thing you always enjoy hearing live. ;D




Beerzone

Total Chaos:

Fast / hardcore/punk band from the USA. I realized that I used to listen to them many years ago ... good stuff even now !!!!

I had to skip Vibrators and Goldblade (saw them several times before + you cant be everywhere at the same time anyway) and moved over to the Arena to check out MDM and Resistance 77 homepage.ntlworld.com/oioioi/resistance/resistance.htm - both bands play CR relatively often, well this applies to Resistance 77 especially ... I have seen them several times and quite honestly, if you know of a band that takes the pain and travels often to your country you feel somewhat obliged to do the same when in their country (which definitely applies to R 77). Speaking of visits and promo stuff, MDM singer wore Antifest t-shirt too (they were here this year just the weekend before Wasted) ...



MDM

Resistance 77 is an excellent live punk band ... at their gigs you will see always a mixture of punks and skins, and they seem to have a true intl. following ... and they have also duly recognized their fans from individual countries at the Wasted ... incl. Czechoslovakia




Btw. I skipped Red Alert www.myspace.com/redalert1 who played after Resistance 77, I saw them last year at Morecambe and they were very good ... but only now I realized that I saw them much earlier too ... looks like they played Reading Rock Fest back in 1980 ... I must have them on some shots somewhere ! ;D

After this I moved back to the Olympia and caught Goldblade www.goldblade.com/ and www.myspace.com/goldblade still playing there ... excellent as always ! They were giving two gigs on Saturday ... just 3 / 4 hours before that they played the Empress Ballroom ... they seem indestructable, lmao ... if you have chance to catch them live, just do it. Plus their shows are always fun ! The first time I saw them live was at Morecambe ... when they came up on the stage my very first thought was "what the fuck is this" ... but they got me during the first song !



After that I remained at the Olympia to wait for Peter and the test Tube Babies www.myspace.com/peterandthetesttubebabies and www.njhindl1.demon.co.uk/peter/index.htm , and the Exploited !!! www.myspace.com/exploitedarmy ...

Btw. last year at the Antifest I was too tired to wait for Peter and the Test Tube Babies ... they played something like 2 am or so, I spent the whole day in the rain, no sleep, tent soaked through etc ... but since my tent was parked right next to the stage (yeah, one of those small privileges, LOL) I thought ... well I would at least hear them ... I fell asleep yet suddenly was roused by something I thought was a riot squad raid (it was shortly after the infamous CzechTek 2005) ... the sound of steel was too real and right next to my head ... it turned out to be JINX ! Lmao ... they scared the shit out of me ! And they are brilliant .... once again a band you always wish to see or at least hear !!!!



Guess what, the Exploited finally went online ... and it was about time !!! Their main site is at www.the-exploited.net/ ... and Wattie changed his hair cut ... actually, he rather went back to the roots







So much for the news ! I was really looking forward to seeing them again: you know I love these guys, if I need to re-charge I always go for Fuck the System, Beat the Bastards, Death Before Dishonour etc ... however at my part / side the sound was REAL crap ... all the melodic lines went and you got the voice, bass and drums sounds, and even these were not exactly the right thing. As I said earlier, Olmypia was really poor at sound and that night was exceptionally bad - also for the Peter abd TTB ... Pity - this on the other hand means that I have to watch out for club gigs !!!! It is always good to have the right sound reasons at hand ! ;D

After the Exploited I moved back to the Arena ... the air there was all sweat and smoke - simply unbreatheable. However at 1 am One Way System www.onewaysystem.co.uk/ and www.myspace.com/onewaysystem were to start ... For strange reasons I always missed them somehow, plus they didnt make it to the Antifest last year, so I really wanted to catch them live. And I am glad I did .... fantastic show !!!!! Plus the sound was excellent .... definitely way better compared to the Olympia.






By the end of the gig it was a pretty nice riot ! ;D

To be cont. ....

[Barrow-wight aka MELLON]

DAY 4, August 13

On Sunday I made every effort to get up earlier to manage still to be a tourist and at the same time to catch4 Past Midnight www.myspace.com/fourpastmidnight and 4pastmidnight.co.uk who quite absurdly played at 1 PM ;D ...so I skipped lunch to have it all ! 4 PM once digged me out of myspace and invited me to join the 4PM crew ... there are invitations you can't decline especially if it comes from the band that sounds as they do - genuine great punk ! Check them out on myspace - they are terrific. So I of course had to go and the show did not fail me !!!! Again : most excellent start of the day !



4PM and their crew





Directly after the 4PM I stayed to get a bit of Barnyard Masturbator www.myspace.com/barnyardmasturbator ... the name did rise kind of curiosity in me ... they were good and great fun. Plus the lady is quite something. If you check out their myspace site you get a genuine picture of what they are like onstage ... asw for the visuals, here we go:





And actually this lady is their drummer. They seem to play Leicester area extensively ... check them out those of you who have chance !

After that I moved to The Empress Ballroom to see Sick on The
Bus www.sickonthebus.com/ and www.myspace.com/sickbus , The Lurkers www.myspace.com/62574657 and www.thelurkers.co.uk/ , and P.A.I.N. ... in between I was moving briefly back to the Arena to catch Chemical Kaos www.myspace.com/chemicalkaos .... after that I spent rest of the day / evening at the Olympia. Actually not really, at 7 PM I moved back to the Arena to see Sick 56.

OK - brief comments / impressions: Sick on the Bus were what I expected them to be (first time seeing them live) - very good performace ! The Lurkers... well, at first they played mostly newer stuff: fair enough, absolutely nothing against it, only that it sounded a bit like r+r from the machine ... perfectly played, very good sound, but somehow impersonal , or "band-neutral" if you know what I mean ... it was Lurkers, but it could as well be any other band if you did not know who was playing . ...

So I moved on to check out Chemical Kaos briefly ... chemical kaos were nice brutal chaos, a kind of thrash punk ... no words needed ... just go over to their site. Btw. I noticed the orange-"hair" guy at Morecambe last year (well, he is very difficult not to be noticed) as well as at Blackpool mostly acting as a "fixer" of things on the stage ... so now I know he has also other functions ! ;D

Btw. at the Empress Ballroom I took almost no photos simply because the light was extraordinary crap plus the sharp pointed green and / or green light was exceptionally annoying ... Plus it was a bit too packed in there.

But anyway, here are couple of visuals :

Sick on the Bus / Empress Ballroom







The Lurkers





Chemical Kaos / Arena





Soon after PAIN started to play, I moved to the Olympia to have some snack, coffeee and check out briefly Criminal Class www.myspace.com/criminalclass1979 (suddenly not quite sure whether this is their page though); Funeral Dress from Belgium www.myspace.com/funeraldress and members.fortunecity.com/funeral_dress/ ... fair live punk band !!! never saw them before but enjoyed their gig !
Blood or Whiskey from Ireland www.bloodorwhiskey.ie/ and www.myspace.com/11584433 : kind of band that makes you dance, if you had enough space around you that is ;D

And some visuals ...

Criminal Class:


Funeral Dress:


Blood or Whiskey:




After that played Vice Squad www.myspace.com/vicesquad and www.lastrockers.com/index.html . However I could stay for a few songs only as i wanted to move back to the Arena to see Sick 56. At least couple of songs - VS are pleasure to see and btw. they tour extensively so plenty of chances to see them live (incl. US tour later this year and in 2007)



Sick 56 www.sick56.org/ and www.myspace.com/sick56 were doomed to play in almost empty venue ... Vice Squad directly followed by The Last Resort at the Olympia, UK SUBS playing precisely at the very same time in the neighbouring Empress Ballroom. So there were few of us ... but hats off: the guys delivered fantastic show ... the released energy was enormous. I would even dare to say that it was one of the most energetic gigs delivered at the Wasted. Amazing also because the lead voc / guitar had rough times the night before with the One Way System, which wasnt exactly laid back show (yep, he plays in both bands)






Yeah, and one more Antifest t-shirt

After Sick56 I directly moved to The Olympia to catch "some of" the Last Resors p://www.myspace.com/thelastresortuk ... there a strange thing happened : I knew I must have seen them live before, I even knew all the "tunes" ... but I could not remember from where !! LMAO ... this has never happened to me before. I hope it doesnt have to do with the age, LOL. But they were brilliant anyway ;D



After them followed the Business www.oithebusiness.com/ .... Hardcore / Oi, classic band to check out as the chance may be. I was able to enjoy their show but when it came to the Damned www.officialdamned.com/ I suddenly had enough, plus I am more into "´heavier" stuff and realized I am not in the mood for this kind of music ... though it must be said that e.g. the sound on Sunday night was much better in the Olympia than the night before ... Just unfair ! Anyway, I wandered back, check out briefly Empress Ballroom (the Adicts) and left.

It was an awesome event, with hell lot of music you will always love to travel far for anyway ... but I felt like going "home", do some packing and sleeping. In the morning I was leaving for Manchester to check out Sworn Enemy, 100 Demons etc. at the Jillys Rockworld on Tuesday night. And it was good to have one day off.

I regret I didnt take shots from Blackpool railway station in the morning btw (the camera was buried deep in my backpack). Locals were caught by surprise seing that they have no chance to get on the scheduled trains simply because too many punks were queueing everywhere ... I myself got on the 2nd train to Manchester, which wasnt bad at all !

Oh well ... Wasted seem to be in its last year ... but you never know. There are always these club gigs at least, and Antifest (I hope our guys will not pack it up, as it were). It was exceptionally good series of years between 1996 - 2006 !!!!!!!!! Just hats off !!!!!!!!



The Business





The Damned


More pix to follow, the sorted out set is right here: fotoalbum.o2active.cz/plateau/wasted06/