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Millencolin / Flogging Molly / Randy

live in London (2005)
Burning Heart

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Joe
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on November 15th 2005

I think the Eastpak Antidote tour has made its away around some areas of the globe, and recently it stopped for a few days in the U.K. It's the first time the Vans-sponsored (aaah, corporate!) tour has made it over here, and having been impressed by the recent compilation released to coincide, I decided to check it out at the Charing Cross Astoria.

First up were the Unseen, who peddle old-school street punk with lyrics about standing up for yourself and railing against the man, etc. etc. They fared pretty well, many of their songs catchy enough to warrant attention from the audience that made it to the show early. The singer made a considerable effort to get the crowd involved and songs like "So Sick of You" and "You Can Never Go Home" sounded pretty sweet. They were even joined by Strike Anywhere's guitarist as well; it seems he can never get enough of railing against the man.

Sweden's garage-punkers Randy were next up and despite all wearing fetching skeleton costumes, they didn't have quite the same energy as the Unseen. They talk about being anarchists and have a few nice Ramones-esque tunes, but their songs soon blend into each other and it becomes easy to lose a bit of interest. Still, at least they dressed up for the occasion.

I felt obligated to go and buy a pint o'Guinness to prepare myself for the appearance of the mighty Flogging Molly. Sure, it has been said that most of their songs are pretty much the same, but fuck it, seeing this band live is just like having one big drunken Irish party. Dave King is frequently funny and the sort of bloke you'd want to get shitfaced with, even if he could probably outdrink me 10 to 1. "Drunken Lullabies," "Screaming At a Wailing Wall," and "What's Left of the Flag" are the sort of songs that could get any crowd going, and they delivered emphatically tonight. It also became clear that this was the band most came to witness, as a mini-exodus took place once they departed the stage.

I had never seen Millencolin before and had heard that they were more often than not sloppy in a live environment. They opened with the trio of "Kemp," "Fox," and "Man or Mouse," and while it should've had an impact, it just seemed to have completely the opposite effect. Eventually, they did get going and people started to get into it a lot more. Leaning pretty heavily towards Pennybridge Pioneers through Kingwood stuff, most of the songs were anthemic enough to ensure there wasn't anybody merely standing around. I have to admit I enjoyed when they dipped into the earlier stuff more -- "Lozin Must," "Bullion," and "Mr Clean" all still sounded great and reminded me of how much skatepunk meant to me, despite its numerous critics. It might sound lame, but Millencolin are pretty much veterans at this point whose quality doesn't appear to be fading. They didn't fire on all cylinders tonight, but there'll be better shows, and here's hoping they continue to be one of the genre's best bands. In case you're interested, other stuff they played included "Fingers Crossed," "Penguins and Polarbears," "Ray," "Shut You Out," "The Ballad," "Cash or Clash," "Pepper," "Mooseman's Jukebox," "Blackeye," "Farewell My Hell," and of course "No Cigar."

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Anonymous (November 18, 2005)

"sheffield is way better"??????????

deedah bastard

Anonymous (November 18, 2005)

"You know, I lived outside of Leeds this summer, and I have to say that that city is mostly a boring industrial town. Sorry dudes. I like SoCal better than Leeds, but I will admit that my heart yearns from the green hills of the Yorkshire Dales..."

you fucking tool. get back down south ya southern soft twat

Anonymous (November 17, 2005)

You know, I lived outside of Leeds this summer, and I have to say that that city is mostly a boring industrial town. Sorry dudes. I like SoCal better than Leeds, but I will admit that my heart yearns from the green hills of the Yorkshire Dales...

ThreeChordsAndTheTruth (November 17, 2005)

Sheffield is a piece of shit, it's just one big factory.

Anonymous (November 17, 2005)

Flogging Molly would be a hard act to follow.......in fact, the more I think about it, they probably put on the best live show I have ever seen....ever!

thirtyseconds (November 17, 2005)

Ha... it may well have been Leeds, I'm not from there so I wasn't really paying attention. It had 3 floors, sort of.

Damn... that shit is wack. I'm from Nottingham originally too. From Heena. Leeds is a great city. Although Sheffield is way better.

ThreeChordsAndTheTruth (November 15, 2005)

It was at Leeds Met? I thought it was at Leeds itself, since that's where I go and it was advertised on campus. I didn't look at the posters closely though..

I'm from Nottingham originally but I just started uni at Leeds so now I live near Headingley.

Anonymous (November 15, 2005)

They were even joined by Strike Anywhere's guitarist as well; it seems he can never get enough of railing against the man.

Score's for that comment.

thirtyseconds (November 15, 2005)

Dude, I've never been to Leeds Met Uni and it was easily one of the best venues I've ever been to. Where are you from, threechords?

ThreeChordsAndTheTruth (November 15, 2005)

I was gonna go to Leeds show thirtyseconds, but the price (£13) was a bit high for me to say I only really like the Unseen out of these bands (and maybe Millencolin, although I don't know much of their stuff).

Scruffy (November 15, 2005)

I think, at this point, Kingwood may be my favorite album of the year, if only because Cocktails and Dreams doesn't really count.

Anonymous (November 15, 2005)

they play the ballad live? hmmm...nice.

Anonymous (November 15, 2005)

I saw this in Glasgow and Manchester and for me it was all about seeing one band, Millencolin.

I'll say right now that they have been one of my favourite bands for the last few years and I love 'em.

In Glasgow there was again a mini-exodus after Flogging Molly, but Millencolin got a pretty good reception after a slow start. They played a bunch of stuff off of Pennybridge and Home From Home, plus some new stuff from Kingwood. The classics went down well but the new tunes were i little unknown to the majority. I didnt stop jumping about for the whole set and loved every minute. This was the first night of the tour and it kinda showed, but a really enjoyed it.

Manchester was a different story. I arrived for Flogging Molly and there didnt seem to be the previous exodus after their set. Loads of people were there for Millencolin and could n't wait! The guys came on and blasted into their set, to great applause! They played most of the Glasgow set and then left the stage after the obligatory No Ciger. In Glasgow most of the crowd left at this point and that was the end of the gig, but the Manchester crowd wanted more, lots more. Millencolin then returned to the stage and performed a fantastic three song encore of Mr Clean, Mooseman's Jukebox and something else (i forget....too busy bouncing around!). One of my top gigs for ages!

Of the two gigs Manchester was better cos the crowd were really into it. Both gigs were well worth it and roll on the new album, some time next year apparently!

Matt

thirtyseconds (November 15, 2005)

Nice review. I saw this tour in Leeds and I completely agree with your opinions on all the bands apart from I enjoyed Randy a little more and I thought Millencolin got very boring about halfway through. Still, great show.

Godfather (November 15, 2005)

whenever monkey boogie comes on my playlist i find myself 'skankin' all over the place

score is for that song

localh (November 15, 2005)

I saw Millencolin on Warped 2000 and they blew me away, bullion,lozin' must, monkey boogey, mr clean, oh man they were badass I wish they would come back to minneapolis....
Where on the other hand I have seen Flogging Molly 11 times now and I am not a fan of the new cd but they play here way too much.

etwiels88 (November 15, 2005)

Flogging Molly has the best lead-ins

gladimnotemo (November 15, 2005)

Man, Randy is unbelievable. Lies.

Anonymous (November 15, 2005)

I guess Brad Logan playing with the Unseen was a temporary thing then. They should probably get a permanent second guitarist.