Posted on November 16, 2009 - by Editor

Street Dogs + Civet + Strawberry Blondes

Street Dogs @ Groezrock 2009 © Tom Tronckoe

Islington Academy
London
5th November 2009

The Strawberry Blondes, regular Welsh support act to great touring bands in the UK play to a small crowd who remain largely unenthusiastic. I do often sense from people that the band is disliked but I genuinely don’t know why. Their sound is a little stylized yes, and they could be more entertaining live and animated but based on their music and most recent record they have enough good material to get stage divers going and fists pumping, and despite their best efforts only receive a limp response.

Civet, comprising four pretty young ladies from LA are hitting the UK for the first time and amongst the ogling male fans there are younger female fans too, but the majority want to see if their branded and stylized look can deliver in the sound department. Thankfully they do and the ball busting quartet, pretty looks set to one side, play a pretty awesome punk rock set from their onstage intro of “These Boots are made for walking”.

Their gritty rocking music combined with often subtle cheeky antics are side shows to what is a good show, with songs that sound better than the record suggests and they quickly settle any debate to this being purely a factory line eye candy group thrust with instruments they can’t play, as they each rock and fucking roll.

Mike McColgan and his merry Street Dogs open up their set to a crowd sung roof raising rendition of The Ramones “Hey Ho, Lets Go” before playing through their own set of old and new. From the onset they raise the bar for energy and before long the circle pits are claiming grinning victims.

Mike himself remains a dynamic frontman but each of the band are a piece to the energized puzzle and from heart breaking, throat lumping “Final Transmission” to The Skids cover of “Into the Valley”  and other band favorites like “Not without a Purpose” the band transcend emotions and genuinely get them running high with their own impassioned performance. The lighter side of the band of course is on display as Tobe has a drink off with a fan from the crowd, as the obvious prelude to “Tobe’s Got A Drinking Problem”.

Mike announced the band has just finished recording their next record due in 2010 and emphasizes their strong working man/union allegiance by dedicating a song to the British Postal union with the ongoing strikes.  Amongst the chants of “Yankees suck” from a few Boston locals in the crowd and Mike climbing his way to the top of the rigging to get a bird’s eye view of everyone waving and singing along to the band, The Street Dogs never fail to deliver as a live band. As soon as encore sing along “Fatty” ends, Mike makes his way through the crowd to wait at the back of the venue to give anyone who wants to, a chance to say hello, and most take the opportunity.

Somewhere in the set Mike announces that punk saved his life and turned a angry man focused. As long as people like Mike McColgan and bands like The Street Dogs do what they do, I will believe in punk rock.