We’ve seen our fair share of supergroups here at ITM?. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are a supergroup that you’ve probably heard before but unless you’re a fan, you won’t know the star-studded line ups.
Created in the store room of Fat Wreck Chords by Spike of The Swinging Utters and Fat Mike of NOFX, past alumni included Chris Shiflet of the Foo Fighters and Dave Raun of hundreds of bands including Lagwagon. They’re the ultimate wedding – or bar mitzvah – band who have been giving top tier punk covers for decades.
Tonight it looks like we’re getting Spike, Jake Killey (from Strung Out), CJ Ramone (you may know his previous band), Pinch (from The Damned), and Stacey Dee (from bad cop/bad cop) – but the line up is so fluid, I could be wrong. What I’m not wrong about is that we’re going to have a long set of cover songs.
I’d love to be able to tell you about the support acts… The Briefs and The Blacktones. But thanks to Songkick telling me doors are at the standard 7pm rather than tonight’s early 6pm, combined with a hold up at the box office, I enter the venue halfway through The Briefs’ set. I don’t think I’m the only victim of lazy gig apps as there’s a steady stream.of people arriving at the same time.
What I hear is a main vocal remarkably like Fat Mike’s, but by the time I get into the Galvanizers room it’s transformed into a London punk voice. I’m thinking this front man – with his long peroxide hair, aviator sunglasses, and cut up t shirt looks remarkably like Donny Tourette of Towers of London / Never Mind The Buzzcocks fame. So much so that I have to Google it to make sure I’m not losing my mind. We’re safe, though.
Although they might be a little cheesy, The Briefs are very, very listenable. Retro American punk rock delivered in the purist form that it can be with a ripple of the UK influence through it. You’ll hear the ghost of The Dickies, The Buzzcocks, Dead Kennedys and Toy Dolls. If you’re into punk or pop punk, these guys sit comfortably in a space where anyone can get into them and not feel out of place.
Between bands we have DJ Thirst n Howl spinning actual records… actual circles of vinyl that you can touch and see and need a needle to hear. Before the Gimmes, it’s a selection of punk Christmas songs that he must have had to have searched the globe for. There’s tracks being played that I couldn’t even find on the internet. Very impressive and it all ties in with the Christmas party theme we have going on with the set dressing.
The rate that we’re going through the songs is almost break neck, but that doesn’t take away from the quality. Despite the revolving door line up, the Gimmes still sound like the Gimmes. Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ automatically takes you back to The Cathouse in the ’90s and ’00s where it was one of a handful of tracks they played between bands. ‘Karma Chameleon’ is clearly a fan favourite tonight and Spike is playing the main character very well.
The banter is great… from taking audience requests which are completely ignored to a very graphic depiction of the events of ‘Me And Julio Down By The School Yard’. One young crowd member gets singled out for a bit of back and forth chat a la stand up routine before they break into ‘Dancing Queen’. If the music isn’t enough (which it is) then the chat is. As they say… this isn’t a cover band… this is THE cover band.
“This song is a cover… I didn’t write it, but I could have easily”… before launching into ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ brings a smile to the face of everyone. Each intro to each song is hit after hit and the crowd are taking it like champs. I would love to transcribe every word that’s said here and tell you every song they play… but I’d rather you go see this show. There’s nothing like being a bunch of pints deep singing ‘Country Roads’ at the top of your lungs and now you can do it at a punk show.
If you missed it… you missed it… and I’m sorry to break that to you. I hope you’ve learned your lesson. See them next time.
Photos by Catching Light Photography
Catching Light Photography
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