MUDKISS FANZINE

Well Lorraine had taken the bull by the horns and organised the first of many gigs (quite possibly) 'The Mudkiss Punk Party' event, booking the bands and planning the event down to a fine art. Many of the bands played for free.Who Shot Who? were to début tonight and it was The Yalla Yallas first London gig. On the day it became a family & friends affair, with Lorraine's twins on the door and friend Dixie organising the line ups.It was a cheap £6 entrance for a whole stack of bands, so all pretty amazing!

Camden was buzzing and lively as per normal for a Sunday. Initially it was slow to fill and I'm sure Lorraine was feeling a little anxious at one point. However the people slowly started to trickle into the venue mid afternoon, many peering through the windows outside to see what all the noise was about.

I certainly never felt any of that North South divide, in fact in many ways there was more warmth and friendliness all round. It was great to see Ray Mayhew again after many years with guitarist Rob Godfrey, one of our loyal supporters. Apparently Ray's ex band mate from Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Chris Kavanagh turned up to support the band. Members of The Duel were in force, Sian from Punky Galore Booking Agency and many of our myspace and Facebookers came to rally the troops into action. I know Martin 'Bombsite Ezine' would of been there here in spirit, he lives in Ohio.

Many of the bands Lorraine selected for this occasion had been interviewed or reviewed in Mudkiss. Congratulations are certainly the order of the day to Lorraine for managing to pull this off with such atom!

The day got off to a bit of a slow start which had repercussions for the later bands, but first up was a friend of Lorraine's Chris Valentine (I sadly missed this set as I was being dragged round Camden Market).

Only three of the Mudkiss Team could made it on the day unfortunately. Den Browne, our Mudkiss music expert/Sid & Nancy former flatmate, with his partner Jane and of course me the editor with my little posse from up North and our hostess with the mostess Lorraine! It was great to finally meet up with my invisible online friends, Lorraine and Den whom I have only known as cyber friends albeit a few phone calls. They were exactly as I thought they would be, which was fantastic and we all gelled immediately.Lorraine said it was like meeting a long lost relative.

Photo: Den, Lorraine & Mel

Bands in order on the day:

Falling Apart - "They described themselves as - "THE REAL PUNK EXPERIENCE" ! I guess that is an accurate description, very good they were, sending out renditions of the old punk classics, all the way from Devon! www.myspace.com/fallingapartpunkband

Shag Nasty - Fronted by original member Riff, Shag Nasty are a '77 delight. Staying true to their early roots they are still here to rattle our ears with their no bullshit, pure punk rock sound. www.myspace.com/shagnastyuk

Mayhem Deranged - Ray Mayhew former drummer in Sigue Sigue Sputnik, now with the 'rock and roll chaos' group Mayhem Deranged. John Catto, best known as the guitarist with Canadian punk band “The Diodes”joins them today. Ray didn't disappoint anyone expecting a bit of hellraising, he gives attitude by the bucketload. He also managed to command the audience with his gestures, and the music was LOUD! www.mudkiss.com/raymayhew.htm

Dangers Close - From Ipswich, fronted by strong female Abs, all the edginess of punk rock but with a modern 2009 feel. They have a new album released "Closer Than You Think". Very colourful and enchanting to watch visually and musically. www.myspace.com/dangersclosemusic

Jimmy & The Destroyers - Billed as the ‘World’s First and only 100% Surfcore Band’ and the ‘Fastest, Loudest Rock n Roll band in The World.” Raunchy guitars and stunning drumming from Jimmy! www.mudkiss.com/jimmyandthedestroyers.htm

Captain Of The Rant - Paul the Poet, stood centre stage to perform both political and topical insights, he gave a passionate and ranting performance, as you can see here. www.mudkiss.com/captainoftherant.htm

Kismetik - In Lorraine's first gig review for Mudkiss she said " Rock, Punk, Oi , call it what you like, they've got it!! From the oceanic rolling of 'Incinerator' to the potential rock anthem of 'Drunk at the Wake' I was hooked" and who could top that! Kismetik bought their "go anywhere play anywhere" attitude "to Camden and blasted through tracks off their debut Album 'Blackmail And other Life Skiils". One of the most Underated bands on the Circuit. Mark (Manager of www.londontheband.com) www.mudkiss.com/kismetik.htm

Unfortunately I missed the bands below as we had to catch the train homeward bound. So a long journey home to Warrington, but we all went home tired but still smiling at the end of the day. So with a little help from my friends....we find out how the other bands faired. Thanks to Mark (Manager of The London Band)and Sian Parry.(Punky Galore) Gemma Eggle (LibraSnake Photography)

Photo: Tomm & Mel

The Yalla Yallas - Leeds finest with super star Rob Galloway on vocals. "We touch on rockabilly, we touch on hardcore punk, we touch on,The Clash, like, your traditional 70's punk, a little bit like the Sex Pistols." Rock n Roll!! I'd heard good things about these guys and so was looking forward to seeing them for the first time... I was not disappointed, these guys are awesome!They're old school anarchic style was infectious and they put on an energetic show.  Definitely recommended to one and all. Gemma Eggle (LibraSnake Photography)
 www.mudkiss.com/yallayalla.htm

Dirty Love - One of the best sets I'd seen from these guys in ages!  I'd not seen Dirty Love in quite a while and had forgotten how awesome they were when they are on form.  Ballsy rock vocals from lead singer Liz and great skills from the boys give a toe-tapping, sing-a-long show.  If you have not seen Dirty Love before, give them a go, they are great fun live and dead lovely people.Gemma Eggle (LibraSnake Photography) www.mudkiss.com/lizzi.htm

Who Shot Who - After having listened to their album previously I had been eagerly awaiting WSW? début gig for a while...and wow, they certainly didn't fail to impress. They've managed to find an unique sound with songs such as 'Call To Arms', 'Have You Seen Annette?', 'No Treaty No Mercy' jumping out at ya with some explosive guitar work from Pete, my this man is good with his hands and excellent vocals/rap performance from Lusty. This combination of hip hop/ punk works quite well in my eyes. I highly recommend you catch 'em live. Their debut single is released on Oct 26th. Sian Parry - Punky Galore www.myspace.com/whoshotwho

Dun2Def - Anybody wondering what vintage 1977 Punk sounds like, well it's these guys. Front Man Ferret strutting around the Camden stage like he owned the place, (well he did for 45 mins), playing Classic Anthem style Punk, like it should be played...loud and at 100 miles per hour, highlight of course was the song "1979" with the great line "Punk Year Zero was 77" and the end of gig sing-a-long, Bargain Booze.
Mark (Manager of www.londontheband.com) www.mudkiss.com/dun2def.htm

Tracer were supposed to close the show but due to being overtime they were unfortunately forced to abandon their gig. Sorry guys www.myspace.com/traceronmyspace

I believe from what I've been told since by quite a few people with lovely messages that although it was a stressful day for Lorraine it was enjoyed by many therefore a very successful venture. Thanks to Lorraine, Leeson & Neck for the equipment, all the helpers and all the supporters for coming down. An extra special thanks to Lili and Chris at Belushis for hosting the event So when's the next one?

More photos in the photo gallery here.

Additional images: Thanks to Gemma @ Librasnake Photography for photos of Neck, The Yalla Yallas, Dun2Def, Who Shot Who?, Dirty love.More photos coming to Gemma's photobucket account here:

librasnake77@googlemail.com
www.myspace.com/librasnake
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/LibraSnake

Many thanks to Vincent Wonnacott for allowing the usage of Librasnake photography photos - go visit his excellent site. www.studsandpunks.co.uk