Samiam / Off With Their Heads / Apologies, I Have None

On this mad Autumn evening when the temperature is well into the twenties even though we are four hours away from October, the well is going to be packed and hot. And it does not disappoint. Regular air breaks are needed to stop you passing out in the underground venue room.

Apologies, I Have None might have a crap name (what is it with right long band names?) but they are rather good. Hailing from London town this four piece have been going since 2007 with more of an acoustic beginning, not plugged in though and playing punk influenced music at an upbeat pace. They don't have a large back catalogue so far but its quality, not quantity. Songs like 'Bent Strings' aren't half catchy tunes.



Next up the room is fuller and starting to get very warm for Off With Their Heads (Another long but not as crap name). Their music really hits you hard like being run over by a bus. And the lyrics can knock you sideways too, about drug abuse, deaths and really dark stuff. The raspy vocals from Ryan Young are the perfect topping to their tight punk rock. For fans of Dillinger Four and Against Me.

Now the room is jam packed and just too hot. This heat limits the crowd from dancing, as I try and don't have the energy. I start to zone off too - at points we become really interested in one guys hand dancing away in the pit, like a game of rock, paper scissors with himself. Heat does crazy things!



Samiam do not disappoint. There are some problems with the main microphone, even when standing right in front of singer Jason Beebout you can not hear him. It takes a few songs but gets sorted in the end. He is quite an intriguing performer to watch, while the rest of the band throw themselves into it, he goes one further and throws everything he has and more into it.

At one point a plastic cup is held aloft, looking like a plant but on closer inspection it is a bunch of courgette strips with carrots sticking out of them. Beebout states this is to encourage kids to eat them, whereas at this point a guy in the pit takes it and says he will eat it.



Starting with '80 West' the band power through songs like 'Sunshine', 'Nightly' and 'Stepson' with 'She Found You' being the biggest hit for the crowd, who incidentally have a broad age range, with some parents bringing their kids here for the show. No matter what age you are though the heat in this room is enough to make anyone pass out, and as we are now only two hours away from October we have a laugh about the oddness of it all and enjoy the odd trip for a breath of fresh air outside.

The band are staying away from playing their older stuff, and start with songs from the 1994 release 'Clumsy' with a good handful from new release 'Trips', which has no one style and swings from soaring pop punk like their older well known stuff to more sombre slower tracks, and back again.

As the band play us out with 'Full On' there is a mass exodus for the exit and less warm air. The band who have had in the past Green Day, Blink 182 and Bad Religion as their support acts have always kept it real as these other bands take off, and seeing them selling their own merch at this sold out gig makes me smile, as their feet are totally on the ground after all this time, even if their food presentation skills need another look at!

80 West
Clean
September Holiday
Sunshine
Wisconsin
She Found You
Mudhill
Mexico
Nightly
Factory
Stepson
Dead
Take Care
Dull
Capsized

Get It Right
Super Brava
Full On

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.