Bad Manners, Concorde 2, Brighton, June 10 (From The Argus)

Bad Manners, Concorde 2, Brighton, June 10

12:10pm Monday 11th June 2012 in The Critic By Anne-Marie Krolick

Immediate Promotions put together a monster of a night with five great bands, local, national, young and old, but all from the same musical family. Max Spodge brought his trademark humour to the night with his PunkeOke set combining his own silliness with the punk anthems of days gone by. With a unique African twist, local stalwarts The Piranhas took the audience on a musical journey, which travelled all the way from the esplanade down to the sub-continent. Not forgetting the all-female ukulele band The Pukes – probably the best pun in the business. But then the headliners hit the stage. “For those of you who don’t know it… This is Skaaaa!” boomed Buster Blood-Vessel as the band launched into the first of their many signature tunes. The audience erupted into a bouncing skankin’ mass. Bad Manners lifted the atmosphere into one big party, with their irascible frontman playing up to the crowd, cheeky dance formations from the brass section and a Can Can finale involving the whole “family”.

The show contained no surprises but then that’s not really what Bad Manners are about. This was the same solid performance the band has been putting on for 30 years but what is amazing is that it has lost none of its energy or style. They still looked like they were having the time of their lives, loving the reaction of the crowd and bouncing around like loons. It was a fitting crescendo to a night of top punk/ska entertainment.