CBGB’S NEW YORK CITY
SUNDAY JULY 27TH 2003

Scarred For Life
Life Today
Legion Of The Damned
Next Victim
Blue
Born To Lose
Violent Streets
Deathrun
Vendetta
Routine Machine
Traitor
Death And Destruction
For Your Country
Still Share Your Fears (911)
Got No Choice
Stop It While You Can
So who would ever have thought it? 4 “saffhogs” from Stoke (its a local thing) not only playing at the
legendary CBGB’s Club NYC but doing a 14 date tour as well on both coasts of A freakin’ Merica.
Well, it meant alot to us, that much infact, that we decided to show you our....
”video diary” of the tour, and, of cause, to let you see and hear for your selves how
good/bad (delete the appropriate) we actually weren’t.
SO HERE IT IS AT LONG LAST LIVE AT CBGB'S DVD!!!
In addition to the CBGB’s show, there is over 2 hours of edited bonus tour footage, songs from most of the venues they played on their 2003 USA tour,
behind the scenes, interviews, travelling, drinking, the odd brawl, commentary from
“The Tilt”
Features the 4 original members of The Skeptix,
also stars the USA PUNKS.
Life on the road with The Skeptix,
a must for any Skeptix fan


A REVIEW OF CBGB'S

It was rather exciting when UK greats The Skeptix came on. These guys who expose socio-political ills with such deftness in a majority of their songs and have a penchant for filling their material with anti-war messages, first hit the streets in ’78 and have put out a bunch of great stuff, culminating in their “So The Youth” LP in 1982 before fading out shortly thereafter. But, the guys are back now with a new record that just came out this year titled “Hate And Fear." Having not heard anything from this album yet, I was curious as to how it would sound. Well, the Skeptix played a couple off it and let’s just say it’s in the same manic hardcore punk-as-hell vein as their legendary early material. Some of the new ones included “Blue” and the quite heavy “Death Run,” which features pleas of "Why, why the waste of lives?" But, the bulk of their intense set was comprised of older songs, which was obviously more than welcome.
They kicked it all off with the hectic “Scarred for Life,” and just pummelled the audience with one fine slice of raw, ramshackle streetpunk after another. From “Next Victim,” to “Traitor,” the Armageddon-like “Violent Streets,” “Death and Destruction,” which decries the horrors and uselessness of war as does “For Your Country,” and the slightly slower but still powerful “Born to Lose” - we got it all. Well, mostly. I found myself not alone in hoping they’d play “Another Day,” a true tour de force, which I heard being shouted by one very persistent fellow. “Such Is War” would have been a great addition too. In any case, they played that old standby, one of their best known songs, “Routine Machine” as well as “Vendetta,” which vocalist Snotty asked if people knew and apparently they did because there was a lot of singing-along going on during this angst-ridden number, and ended their set with “Got No Choice.” The Skeptix came back for a short encore, cranking out one I was also wishing they’d play, “Stop It While You Can,” one of their greatest with it’s memorable opening guitar riff. So, yeah, by the sound of their new material and the abundant energy they brought with them to the stage, it’s safe to say the Skeptix are back - a “return to hell” if you will.

Reviewed by Janelle. www.rebelnoise.com
CBGB'S

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This live album/DVD is significant for a bunch of reasons: 1. It's a recording of The Skeptix' brilliant July 2003 NYC showcase, which was a stellar set, indeed! (Don't believe me? Read the wonderful review of this set in the liner notes - man, that's a good writer!) 2. This disc is a massive 72 minutes, meaning it goes the distance, and if one is so inclined as to hit repeat mode, he/she will be kept entertained for quite a while… 3. Of course the legendary U.K. punk band play old favorites like "Legion of the Damned", "Born to Lose", and "Routine Machine", and even more outstanding ones like "Death and Destruction", "Got No Choice", and the wonderful closer, "Stop It While You Can", but the band also showed off NEW material released on last year's 'Hate and Fear' (Thunk Records), like "Blue" and "Life Today", which undoubtedly prove they still know how to write a killer song. Everything is played in a rough, raw, intensely furious manner, the way it should be. 4. Great liner notes - a foggy recollection of the tour from the band.

What's extra nice here is that not only do we get the CB's set from 2003, but also extra live recordings from 1983 - which is definitely cool to hear, meaning we can witness how, really, they've kept up the same unbridled energy after 20 years and still totally sound like their hearts are in it, which is quite a feat in my humble opinion. (Happily, it seems quite a few of the old great punk/hardcore bands have still got it: D.R.I., D.O.A., GBH, Murphy's Law, The Vibrators, Buzzcocks, are some that come to mind…!) Some wonderful songs not included on the CB's part are featured here on the second half of the album, most notably "So the Youth", "Such Is War", and "Curfew". Truly, a must-have for those who were smart enough to get their asses to this show so they can relive every moment whenever the need arises, as well as any fan of The Skeptix' old or new material. Hell, if you're into genuine old-school hardcore punk, this is well worth the money.

-Janelle

 

THE AUDIO SOUND IS AWESOME (CBGB'S ENGINEERS ARE THE BEST)