1,359 SPIZZENERGI, Kicked In The Teeth, Death Pop, Swindon The Victoria, Friday 29th November 2024

 

A bona fide original punk legend makes a first-time visit to the ‘Don, so, given that Logan and I had travelled to London a couple of years ago to see him rock the Camden Underworld (April 2022, gig 1,218), I’m sure we can shlep it up the hill to the Vic! Sci-fi referencing, surf-punk mutant dayglo nutcase Spizz (the legend in question), announced a “First Farewell Tour” for November 2024, taking in a few more far-flung spaces than his usual North London stamping grounds, and we were up for it, myself having been a fan since my “epiphany” night at Under-18 Brunel back in 1979, when my 14 year old nascent punk-loving self was first exposed to the ramshackle classic (and Spizz’ signature toon) “Where’s Captain Kirk?”

Unsurprisingly, Swindon’s own dayglo punk rock legend, our Debs, was up for it too (wouldn’t surprise me if she’d chatted up Spizz at the Blackpool punk festy Rebellion to play the ‘Don in the first place)… Debs was unable to drive due to a recent eye op, so we picked her up for the trip up the hill, grabbing a drink in the main bar before the openers at 8.30. “We’re Death Pop and we’re from all over the shop,” announced the veteran vocalist after a couple of short, snappy proto- punk openers, initially recalling those swathes of primitive second division first wave punk bands, such as The Drones, The Shapes et al, with intermittent sax from Debs’ mate Saraan giving them an X-Ray Spex/ Essential Logic feel. Not too bad, but overall, I preferred their slower tracks (a moodier, gothier and well-constructed “Fall From On High” recalling UK Decay for me) and their one-liners, such as “Tomorrow we’re having a rehearsal! That should be interesting…” and closing line “we’re Death Pop so you don’t have to be!” Kicked In The Teeth, next up in short order at 9.20, were a more incoherent howl, veering towards the superfast hardcore/ UK82 end of punk rock, basically the type of “punk” that drove me away from the genre in the first place. This time it just drove me and Logan back to the bar, hanging out with Deb and her crazy mates Amy and Emily!

We all wandered back into the happily full and anticipatory back room for the arrival of the black-clad band just after 10, the rotund Spizz strutting on last, fluorescent rings flashing from his fingers, the man nailing his influences to the mast somewhat with an early rambunctious cover of David Bowie’s Ziggy-era “Hang On To Yourself”. Puzzlingly no more than a cult punk act back in the day, never reaching the dizzy TOTP-level heights of the likes of contemporaries Siouxsie, Buzzcocks etc. Spizz nonetheless retains punk hero status in the ’Don thanks primarily to his 70s/ 80s’ Under-18 Brunel Amphi dancefloor-packing taut, rhythmic masterpiece “Soldier Soldier”. And a very punked-up, harder-edged version of this particular choon formed an early highlight double with the ascending swirling fanfare of the soaring and brilliantly powerpoppy “No Room”, prompting a compliment for Swindon from the man himself before “another dystopian song – I seem to have a lot,” the moody military march of “Here Come The Machines”. 

Spizz was in fine fooling tonight, interacting with the crowd (commenting, “we’ve got some ladies dancing down the front – it’s been 1,000 years since that happened!” before another Bowie cover, a deep cut “Valentine’s Day”) in his fey, slightly “Carry On” Kenneth Williams persona, baked up by a remarkably tough, well-practised and together band. He donned his trademark diagonal sunglasses for the “All The Young Dudes”-esque “Christmas In Denmark Street” (a lament for the old Tin Pan Alley) which prompted Logan to do the same with his green-framed versions, Spizz commenting at the end, “give that man a hand!”. Another couple of mutant punk covers later (Kraftwerk’s punked-up “The Model” and the amphetamine-fast and repeated ending of “Virginia Plain”, Spizz challenging us to be noisier than Stoke!), the terrace chant of “Clocks Are Big” segued, with a slight hiccup, into the inevitable, brilliant and rabble-rousing “Where’s Captain Kirk”; then the toughened-up cod-reggae verse and speedy gabbling chorus of “Spock’s Missing” and another cover, this time the classic fist-pumping bad-boy anthem “I Fought The Law” (can’t fault Spizz’ taste in covers!) rounded off a superb and enthusiastically received set from a highly proficient band and a supremely entertaining frontman.

A quick chat at the merch stand with the man (getting both my list and Logan’s sunglasses signed!) before bidding Debby adieu, and home just after midnight via the kebab van for late supper. Great night – the band were superb, and Spizz as ever was a total natural. One of the most “fun” gigs I’ve been to in ages… if this is actually Farewell (“First” or otherwise), then Spizz is going out on the highest of high notes!

1,218 SPIZZ ENERGI, Healthy Junkies, Articulate Outburst, London Camden Underworld, Friday 8th April 2022

 

The second of a boy’s gig double-header was a trip oop The Smoke for this potentially mental one… despite discovering Spizz Energi (one of many band pseudonyms for complete punk rock fruitcake Ken “Spizz” Spiers) as a 14 year old on my 1979 Under-18 Brunel “epiphany” night, falling hard for his mutant Sci-fi punk rock classic “Where’s Captain Kirk?”, I’d seen him/ them “live” only once, back in 2013 at The Fleece (gig 891) on a barmy night out. An irregular gigger at best, Spizz, I’d nonetheless kept an eye out for any future shows, and had actually seen him out and about in London a couple of times last year (in the distance for Heaven 17 at the Roundhouse, and at the Hope And Anchor bar for a chat at The Starjets). I’d even bought a rare “Athletico Spizz 80” tshirt off him earlier this year, being sent some even rarer promo badges in the process. Chap! So when I got wind of this Friday night Underworld gig, I was well up for it, and also happy to expose my “gig buddy” son Logan (at 14, the same age as me on my Brunel “epiphany” night, and to whom I’d been playing “Where’s Captain Kirk?” since he was about 6!) to some Spizz tomfoolery!

 A teacher training day meant no school for Logan, so I took the day off work and we made a day of it, parking in our Kentish Town spot just after 2 p.m. and hitting Camden for some shopping, splendid Thai/ Chinese street food and an overall great father/son afternoon out. Hit the deserted venue about 6.30 – it’s as oddly shaped as I remember! – and wandered through to the main hall to catch some of openers, Leeds’ inappropriately named Articulate Outburst at 10 to 7. Their hefty Selwyn Froggatt soundalike vocalist led them through a passable cover of “Blitzkrieg Bop” for starters, their set then unfortunately degenerating into noisy, one-dimensional oi/street punk, sadly the kind of inarticulate howl that put me off the genre in the first place, and causing us to retreat back to our spot in the bar! Still loud from there, their “Is There Anybody Out There” featured a ramalama repetitive hook and was easily their best number, before another run-through of “Blitzkrieg Bop” bookended their set. Nice guys (as we later found out) but sadly not my cup of Upstart...

 We noted that most of the mainly leather-jacketed punker punters arriving were sporting either Spizz t-shirts or painted Spizz motifs on their leather jackets; a small but highly dedicated collective here tonight! The man himself then arrived, greeting all and sundry just before we took another wander in to check out main support Healthy Junkies. Featuring a Daisy Chainsaw-alike female vocalist, their opener “This Is Not A Suicide” set the tone for their set with some Iggy/ CBGBs sleazy and glammy proto punk, quickly followed by the bratty repetitive hook and effects-pedal led riffery (the guitarist liked his pedals, of that there was no doubt!) of “I Don’t Give A Damn.” Infinitely more palatable than the openers, but I wasn’t in the mood for bratty teen defiance played by a decidedly older band, so we once again retreated to the bar!

 

Stirred into action just before ¼ to 9 by noises emanating from the main room, we wandered back in and took a spot front row, house left, along with a half-full but dedicated and eager crowd. The band took the stage first, the rhythm guitarist sporting a cossack hat and Joker make-up and immediately getting in our faces with a manic laugh; then Spizz theatrically joined us with a flourish, sporting flashing neon rings and an electronic display belt buckle playing a lurid green “Spizz Energi” across it (then getting stuck on the “S” for most of the set. Whoops!), leading us into the call and response “that’s what I said!” hook of opener “Shallow End”. “Good evening motherfuckers!” greeted the man; “We’re in Camden… where we live!”

 A hometown gig, a room of devotees; this demanded a stellar performance, and boy, did we get one! Tonight this Spizz Energi incarnation not only sounded tight and dynamic, but visually were striking, all-action and kinetic, delivering a proper performance. And Spizz, as ever, was a total star; posing, pouting and preening like the proudest of punk rock peacocks (if that’s not too much “p” alliteration for ya!), his slightly camp “Carry On” ooh-er missus persona would have been entertaining enough, but when augmented with antics such as letting off numerous confetti cannons, discarding his flashing rings into the crowd (Logan happily snagging a couple!), pulling USA and Russia flags out of his trousers before a brilliantly tough sounding “Soldier Soldier”, and reading the mood of the room perfectly with a brandished Ukraine flag and a pointed “Ding Dong, the witch is dead” barb on this, the 9^th anniversary of thatcher’s death (and yes, no typo there… she doesn’t deserve a capital “T”) he was an utterly riveting presence. You couldn’t take your eyes off him!

The 60’s B Movie car chase of “City Of Eyes” was an early highlight, then Spizz threatened to, “scare the living daylights out of you happy campers!” with the sinister metronomic beat of “Here Come The Machines”. The verses for “No Room” were a little messy and garbled, but the hook was still irresistible and the middle 8 magnificent, Spizz then ironically quipping, “I forget what’s next,” before an angular and savage, moshpit inducing “Amnesia”. As previously mentioned, “Soldier Soldier” sounded brilliantly tough, and a rampant “Virginia Plain” was given 3 finishes as Spizz chastised the crowd for not singing the hook loudly enough! However, the highlight was to still to come, of course…

 Following the call and response of “Clocks Are Big” (“machines are heavy!”), they careered headlong into a frankly astonishing “Where’s Captain Kirk?”, the sci-fi punk classic sounding as fresh as ever, the chanted hook raising the roof. Wow. A quieter, almost ballad-like “Denmark Street” calmed things, before a couple of covers – a faithful, metronomic “The Model” and rambunctious, rabble-rousing “I Fought The Law” ended a supremely entertaining set. Utterly superb!

 

Then, just to augment a brilliant night (and thanks to a kindly steward), we barged our way backstage, meeting the bands and having our pix taken with the friendly but utterly crazy Spizz Energi guys. A wander back to the car and a difficult drive home through a sodden capital and 2 sets of M4 closures (bah!) then saw us home at a red-eyed 20 to 1. Yipe! But no matter. This was a gig – and overall, a day out – for the ages, a brilliant boy’s night out thanks to the mesmerising mutant punk rock madness of Spizz Energi!

891 SPIZZENERGI, Stella, Bristol Fleece, Saturday 19 October 2013

Halloween 1979; I was a 14 year old pseudo punk rock kid, off to a nightclub for the first time, namely Swindon ’s legendary Under-18 “Nappy Night” at the Brunel night spot! It’s no exaggeration to call that evening a musical epiphany for me, as I heard a whole raft of wonderful punk and post-punk bands and songs for the first time that night, leaving the club with a metaphorical record shopping list as long as my arm. And right at the top of that list was “Where’s Captain Kirk?”, a slab of scattergun sci-fi mutant punk by SpizzEnergi, who sounded less like a band, more of an Eastern European industrial complex. A superb singles band whose quirky cartoon punch never worked as well over a full-length, I never saw them first time around, but here in 2013 they’re another band scratching that reunion itch. So why not?

So, this vintage punk rocker was joined by another couple of vintage punk rockers, Deb and (eventually) L8Z, to see these vintage punk rockers (hmm, seeing a pattern develop here…), rocking down the M4 this early Saturday evening and parking up just before the venue doors opened, then popping into the pub next door for some entertaining chat about those Nappy Night days. Hit the sparsely attended venue about 8.15, in time to catch support Sheena. Not a girly punk rocker as we’d previously joked, this was a group of four painfully young looking kids straight out of 6^th form (or maybe not even there yet…), who actually peddled some organ-fuelled 60’s mod/ psych numbers with darker, almost Joy Division-ish undertones, apart from a startling drum-dominated third number which recalled The Birthday Party! Some impressive diversity and driving rock from such a seriously young bunch, a name to watch methinks…

Took a wander down the front for the entrance of Spizz, in front of a 2/3rds full Fleece crowd comprised of old punkers and devotees. The band took the stage to a backing track of Star Trek (Original Series, of course) voiceovers and sound effects, kicking into the growling guitar opener “6,000 Crazy”. Then Spizz appeared… Dressed in black with glowing logos splattered liberally about his form, sporting crazy green goggles giving off strobe lights and with 2 LCD displays on belts low-slung under an impressive paunch, the peroxide pantomime punker Spizz cut a dramatic, eye-catching figure as “6,000 Crazy” morphed into the speedy terrace chant punk of “Mega City 3”, before welcoming us to the “fucking brilliant” show, and introducing the fuzzed-out soaring powerpop gem that is the overlooked “No Room”. And we’re off…

Thence followed a supremely entertaining, ridiculously and riotously fun hour’s sci-fi punk rock nostalgia. Thankfully concentrating on that clutch of classic singles (A and B sides!) rather than the more drawn-out albums material, Spizz, effusive and entertaining throughout, all high energy, dramatic gestures and wide stance, led his band through a kinetic, riveting set with his unique, high-pitched nasal vocals, and the verve of a man half his age. “Soldier Soldier”, kicking off with the “Star Spangled Banner” and featuring some militaristic drumbeats, was an early highlight; the “very moving love song!” of “Spock’s Missing”, alternating between the swish of the Spanish guitar verse and the thrash punk chorus, was a thrilling mid-set highlight, and the thrash through Roxy Music’s “Virginia Plain” referenced Debbie Harry and Bristol’s own Beki Bondage in a couple of false endings. But the set was all building up to one thing…

Spizz schooled the crowd in the correct call-and-response to “Clocks Are Big” (“Machines Are Heavy!”), then the unannounced bass intro heralded “Where’s Captain Kirk?”, a thrillingly committed version of this all-time sci-fi classic, Spizz and his equally ridiculously kinetic and photogenic guitarist Phil Ross giving it loads onstage, and the crowd joining in as much as their creaking knees would allow (or am I just speaking for myself?). A couple of well chosen covers to finish; Kraftwerk’s “The Model” and a Clash-faithful but riotously singalong “I Fought The Law” closed out probably the most fun set of punk entertainment I’ve seen since The Dickies.

Picked up a couple of setlists afterwards – props to the band for signing them all beforehand! – then had pix with the man afterwards (he’d previously announced that he was going to be hanging out afterwards to say hi, and true to his word marched offstage at the end of his set and straight over to the merch stand – props for that too!) before hitting the road. Waaaaay better than I’d expected, this was a wonderful evening’s entertainment from another vintage punker who, like Adam Ant and Peter Murphy earlier this year, proved tonight time doesn’t diminish the star quality of a born performer. Spizz, I salute you!