Well,
Midway Still keep coming back! My 90’s “live” favourites, the UK’s answer to
the likes of Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr., The (early) Lemonheads and co. with their
hard rocking, riff-heavy grunge/ laze rock riffery aligned to seriously brain
hugging tuneage, the band who, after a decade or so of relative inactivity,
returned to tear “Shiiine On” 2021 (gig 1,199) a new one with an utterly
incendiary set which still remains my favourite “Shiiine On” set ever, and who
followed that up with a short UK sprint last Summer, calling in at Bristol on
the way (for gig 1,289)… and are back for more this Summer! Maybe it was so
much fun last year they thought they’d do it all over again, but whatever the
reason, I’m up for more Still, so I grabbed tix for their Portsmouth gig on
11/7, the nearest to the ‘don on this jaunt. However, a chance to go to the
overlapping 3-day “2000 Trees” Festival (gig 1,336 – watch this space!) then
scuppered that plan, but as I’m a bit mad, me, and was still up for The Still,
I booked for a shlep up to Birmingham on Festy Eve. Yikes!
Unfortunately, fellow Still aficionado Tim couldn’t make either date due to a pre-booked holiday, so I drove solo up the M5, taking a couple of goes to find a parking spot due to fucked street meters, but eventually finding a lot around the back of the venue. The gentlemen of the Still were chilling on the seats outside the venue, so we caught up and chatted punk rock, vocalist Paul also confirming that yes, they did have so much fun in ‘23 that when the promoter proposed more of the same this year, they needed little hesitation…! Got the round in for a thirsty band before we (well, Paul, drummer Dec and myself anyway, Irish bassist Russell having no dog in the fight, as it were) sat down to watch England’s Euro 2024 Semi-Final game against the Netherlands with Kay, a chatty fellow Still punter. So, sorry to supports Mega Fishy Four and Dealing With Damage (who sounded pretty decent from a floor above) for ditching you in favour of the footy…
The Still were due on at half nine, so I ventured downstairs, with the footy still midway (!) through the second half and delicately poised at 1-1, and took a front and centre spot in this small but happily well-attended room. The boys were tuning up onstage then the lights went out, Paul querying, “have we started then?” Straight into the rocking and robust descending hook of “Note To Self” to launch matters, the sound in this compact room sounding clear, balanced and much better than Bristol last year; not that that mattered so much to the Still, who were giving it loads and rocking out as hard as ever, Dec in particular having a ball, sporting a huge grin as he bashed away on the early, laconic Lemonheads-esque “Jamie And Gigi”.
“What’s
the score?” asked a semi-interested Paul before a janglier yet ragged “Daylight”,
before introducing the band as “Tittingford Interchange! We changed our name to
Namibian Wizard but there was another band with that name...!” An amphetamine
hurtle through “Counting Days” was followed by cheers from upstairs greeting a
late England winner in the footy, so we could all then relax into the gig.
“Kemper” was ace, the growling Dead Kennedys hardcore vibe of “Fuck You” was,
“as punk as it gets for us!”, but the subsequent “Better Than Before” was again
a glorious, euphoric loose-limbed singalong and mega set highlight for me, as
usual getting me seriously sweaty dancing down the front in this little
pressure cooker venue.
"We’ve talked so much we’re running out of time!” announced Paul as they bumped up to the hour, which was true, the relaxed, self-effacing band banter often as entertaining as the rock! So, they furiously hurtled through final numbers “What You Said” and the savage, incendiary run through MBV’s “You Made Me Realise”, as usual interspersed with the whole of a crashing “Come Down” and a Bob Mould-esque squalling noisefest, before leaving with a cry of, “hooray for England! Bollocks to everything!”, along with (tongue-in-cheek, maybe?) promises to be back next year. I unfortunately missed out on a list this time, with some asshat swiping Paul’s list as Midway Still were still midway (!!) through that epic last number – that’s not what you do, bunky! Cognisant of my potentially early start tomorrow for “Trees”, I then bade fond farewells and fingers-crossed “see you next year!”s to the guys before hitting the road for a meandering cross country journey via Evesham, Kay’s earlier warning about Motorway closures proving prescient, whilst listening to England fans inexplicably phoning in a radio show and complaining about Gareth Southgate’s tactics in getting England to that final! Mad! Home about 12.30, sweaty and pooped, but happy to have had another round of The Still… fingers crossed this does become a regular thing!
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