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Spizzenergi 30th Anniversary Gig

September 4th, 2009 · Posted by Skuds in Music · No Comments · Music

Spizz on stage at the 100 Club 3/9/9

Spizz on stage at the 100 Club 3/9/9

Went to see Spizzenergi (again) tonight.  I’m not keen on going ‘up west’ when I have to work the next day, but it was to mark 30 years since the first Spizzenergi incarnation, and having seen them on tour back then in 1979 I thought it would be good to make the effort.

As always it was a cracking show.  The current band have been with Spizz for a long time now so they know the material intimately.  It helps that they are all very good musicians individually.  I’m always surprised that none of them has been ‘tapped up’ by a bigger band.

Bigger defined as one that plays often enough to make it a feasible full-time job.Spizzenergi played for over an hour, starting off with 6000 Crazy, finishing off with their cover of The Model and inbetween doing Soldier Soldier, Kirk, No Room, Central Park, Spock’s Missing, Energy Crisis, Amnesia, Mega City 3, Virginia Plain, and a few more.  They did the whole of Clocks Are Big Machines Are Heavy as well.

One interesting song was Summer in the Greenhouse, which is basically their football song We Are The England with environmental lyrics. I was still hearing the football lyrics in my head.

Another little highlight for me was hearing the song Islands.  I think the band don’t really like it much, but I do.   It has never been released before but I heard it on some old Spizzoil demo tapes ages ago and kept asking Spizz why he never released it or played it live.  Whether it was my nagging that eventually got it on the playlist I don’t know, but good to hear it live at last.

Spizzenergi onstage at the 100 Club 3/9/9

Spizzenergi onstage at the 100 Club 3/9/9

It was a lively show though, with a varied audience.  There were some traditional punks (i.e. younger people in old school outfits and hairstyles) and some real old punks – some who have become more respectable than others.

The mosh pit was a chaotic beer-storm of people who should know better – i.e. people my age and older – which was good to see.  At one point Spizz did descend into the crowd to physically threaten somebody who had lobbed a pint glass on the stage – and then the stage was invaded by a drunken dwarf.

I don’t think I have ever seen that before…  look closely in the photo here and you can see him shortly before he started causing trouble.  Quite a sight seeing a three-foot high bloke being manhandled off the stage by two bouncers of typical bouncer build!

There were also some lukewarm attempts at stage-diving, which is ambitious when the stage is only a foot off the ground.

All together it was a good night, spoiled slightly by having to dash off to get a train back out to Sussex.  A shame there was no Airships, Hot Deserts, Risk! or Dangers of Living on the set list – but you can’t have everything can you?  I wonder if the band can be tempted out of London to do a LMHR benefit in Crawley or Horsham?  I’d love to see some of the local young bands getting a chance to share a stage with one of independent music’s true originals.

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