Skindred

I went along on Thursday night to see Skindred, CKY, and Danko Jones. It’s the first night of their UK “Start the Machine” tour, and the crowd seem to have all got the memo about the slightly earlier start time because the LCR was already getting lively when Danko Jones kicked off proceedings.

Canada’s Danko Jones wasted no time in making their mark on the audience who were already eager for action. I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing them live before and if I had to describe them (which is the point of this, I guess) I would say that they are a no-nonsense, good-time, unpretentious, rock ‘n’ roll band. Now, that might appeal to you or it might not, depending on where your inclinations lay. On the one hand, it’s hard to steer your material away from sounding clichéd, but on the other, you can’t beat a classic formula. I mean you could level the same criticism at AC/DC, for fuck’s sake. The cowbell won me over, and so will definitely be giving their latest album Wild Cat a spin. Honestly, I fucking love a cowbell.

There was a lot of love in the room for CKY when they took to the stage. It’s been over a decade since the Pennsylvanian post-grunge garage rockers last played in Norwich, and in that time their sound has become a little more refined, a bit more… of a tighter drum, if you will. The obvious thing to attribute this to would be the change of front man, with Daniel Davies now taking the helm instead of Deron Miller, but when the band throw in a couple of crowd-moving classics from way-back-when, they show that they can still bring their original frantic edge out to play. Some people may have preferred the older material, but personally I think there’s plenty of room for both.

Finally it was time forSkindred. I’ll cut to the chase. I’ve seen Skindred several times before, and they always bring it, but this was honestly one of their best performances. As usual, the “ringmaster of disaster” Benji was on top form, and this man can do it all. From moments of pure comedy as he taunts the crowd asking “who wants a t-shirt” before announcing that “they’re 25 quid at the back, you tight bastards”, to genuine poignancy as he talks about the loss of a dear friend, he comes across as one of the most genuine people in the music business. When he asks who’s never seen Skindred before, and then welcomes the show of hands into the family, it really does feel like you’re part of something special. Like it’s the way all things should always be. And I haven’t even got onto the music yet.

So, musically their sound was, as always, spot on. Songs from the upcoming new album Big Tings mixed perfectly with more well-known material, and new single That’s My Jam proved that it is already a sing-along anthem to be placed equally with their other big hits. As the songs sway from hard-and-loud, through disco, reggae, and funk they even use a bit of hip-hop glue to bind the whole thing with samples of Dre and even Will Smith thrown in to keep the party atmosphere turned up to eleven. I can’t wait for the new album, I can’t see me listening to much else this summer. They finished the set with an encore that was basically a medley of all of their classic songs from the earlier albums that they didn’t have time to play in full, but that they knew that everyone would want to hear. And they were right, because the crowd just went off the fucking scale. By the time they finished with Warning and started the Newport Helicopter (if you don’t know, Google it) there wasn’t a dry face in the house as everyone got a mouth full of whirling, sweaty t-shirt.

On their website bio page it says “the key to longevity is to always deliver the goods.” It would appear that for Newport’s finest these are words to live by, and if this show was anything to go on, I expect that they will be around for a very, very long time. Well done boys, you did it again.