– Inspector Frost - the man with the sharp pen.

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19/2 2005 - Klubben, Fryshuset, Stockholm. Kl.19:30.

The CRACK (ENG)
WARRIOR KIDS (FRA)

Another great gig and another attendance disaster. To be frank, I didn't expect much. But surely more than 86 people knew about the gig, and surely more than 86 punks and skins can afford the 200 Skr it cost?
So where were you (again)? At home and watching the qualification of the Swedish song contest? Busy chatting with your no good chums on Bråkmakargatan, Helgonet or any other crappy internet-is-my-life sites that floats around out there in the cyber space? Maybe you had to put a few new pins on the leather jacket your mum bought you for Christmas, or were you growing your sideburns? Whatever reason, it won't hold and is not good enough. Thanks to all of you absent fuckers Pike has decided to stop putting on Punk nights. Your good ol' Inspector will of course try to persuade him to have another go, but don't count on any success.

To all of You who said you'll wait and wanted to go and see Cock Sparrer when Pike would bring them over, tough shit! No that probably won't happen now as You lot couldn't be arsed to support the gigs he actually put on, instead You decided to wait for something that might not happen. Shame on you! To add a bit of irony is that Mickey Beaufoy who is the guitarist of the aforementioned band was playing guitar with The Crack, and that might be the closest we ever get having Sparrer band in Sweden.

In all fairness my criticism is foremost directed towards the Stockholm non going crowd. If you are from another town, you are (maybe) excused (not if you're from mUppsala or Södertälje though). I know for a fact that going to a gig in another town could be a bit difficult sometimes.
That said, there were punters there from faraway places such as Malmö, Umeå and Oslo. There was even one guy from Germany in the audience. I'm sure that all of them enjoyed themselves as much as yours truly did. Because this was surely a night to remember.

For starters, Warrior Kids is easily one of the best bands around. If they'd be singing in English they'd be massive and it's a shame that people only seem to be concerned about English speaking bands. If you'd be a bit more open minded you'll find hundreds of great punk bands out there. I suggest that you start out with Warrior Kids as they are absolutely top notch. Being just a trio they have a great sound, with a rhythm section that must be one of the tightest the Punk world ever has seen with a the "a wall of sound" drumming by René, and Marc who is an extraordinary bass player. Add to that a flamboyant guitarist in the shape of Seb, and you have a truly great band.
Then I haven't even mentioned Marcs singing which is really the icing of the cake as he has a real varied voice and that enables him to change easily between their material which consists of Punk, Reggae and (even) a Power pop song or two. They jump-started the gig with Les Wieux Kons which is also their title of their latest album. After that followed nearly an hour of pure pleasure which included covers from bands such as Ramones, Stiff Little Fingers and The Clash. But their own material was just as strong and included their debut single Adolescent from 1983, along with newer gems such as La France Profonde, Les Kids D'Estrangin and Generation Prefabriquee as well as older ones such as Personne and Marseille Tombe. All in all a magnificent set! Even Mickey and Mark from The Crack were seen on the back of the stage nodding along.

Next on were The Crack, and expectations were high, and they did sure deliver, even though they seemed a bit unsure and maybe not so well rehearsed from time to time. As usual they started with My World which, of course, was a crowd pleaser. After that followed a string of great songs. They even managed to squeeze in two Cock Sparrer songs in the shape of Take 'em All and England Belongs to Me. On both of them they were joined on stage by Robert from Contemptuous who, considering not having the chance to rehearse any of the songs, did a great job.
Other brilliant tracks were Take Me Away, Don't You Ever Let Me Down and Don't Just Sit There to mention but a few before they rounded of the proceedings with an encore of My World. As is the case with Warrior Kids, The Crack also consists of more than competent musicians. Drummer Mark was solid as a rock, as were bassist Dave with his smile. Mickey is a great guitarist, and the same also goes for Steve who also has a great voice. He must surely be one of the best singers within the Punk scene.

So after reading this review don't you think to yourself why the hell you didn't go there, well so do I. Then again, it's your loss that you missed two great bands, and also one great night out. But you maybe prefer complaining about that nothing ever happens. The thing is that concerts do happen, the problem is that you obviously can't be bothered about the scene you claim to be a part of.

/Inspector Frost

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