An account.
We were understandably cautious leading up to this gig having read comments that the pub has been "very quiet" of late. As I stated in my blog plugging the gig this was our first time at the Werneth as a 3-piece without our now ex-singer Gaz and his usual entourage coming over from Ashton which more often than not made up a lot of our audience. In all the times we've played there I don't think its ever been what you could call 'packed out' (I hate that term anyway), it just isn't that sort of pub where everyone in the area drinks, mainly due to it's location on the main Manchester Rd. carriageway and the vast amount of pubs in Oldham itself means people have a choice. Don't know about anyone else but The Werneth is your typical hit & miss venue, one week it could be busy then next completely dead, if you've been lucky enough to experience a busy Werneth it can be one the best gigs on the circuit, if you've experienced a quiet Werneth it can pretty much be a paid rehearsal. We've experienced both over the last few years, but its the good ole rough with the smooth scenario and the landlord Danny has always supported us since day one.
Last night was a pleasant suprise to say the least, we really were expecting a paid rehearsal after reading recent reports of the pub being very quiet. By no means wall-to-wall but I can honestly say it was 'busy' and one of the most enjoyable gigs we've played at the Werneth to date. Maybe we were just lucky I dunno, we'd like to think some came to see us. Whatever the reason, one thing we were especially pleased about was that we felt we kept the punters in the pub till the end, including a group of 'rockers' who stayed from start to finish even though Punk wasn't necessarily their first choice of music - for much of the second set they were on their feet in front of the band and by the extended encore more had joined them. At full flow we even succumbed to a friendly but demanding request from a certain young female for 'Teenage Kicks'.....and why the fuck not, she'd been there all night supporting us...not our favourite song granted but the Bullets are not above all that if it means people have a good time. The 'rockers' didn't sit down at that point either, one could say they were "in the zone man!". A good show, a good night out.
Set list:
Pretty vacant
I fought the law
Another girl another planet
Eton rifles
Babylons burning
Silly thing
Ever fallen in love
At the edge
5 minutes
Blitzkrieg bop
Tomorrows girls
Suspect device
EMI
Shot by both sides
Smash it up
Staring at the rude boys
Doesnt make it alright
London calling
Tube station
Last night another soldier
Saints are coming
Sound of the suburbs
God save the queen
No more heroes
Teenage Kicks
New rose
If the kids are united
Holiday in cambodia
Encore:
Tin soldiers
Hurry up harry
Anarchy in the uk
Whilst the band itself has changed and lost members during it's 3 year life, the 3 of us now feel this is the best line-up: it's tight and to the point. The 3 of us work well together and our guitarist Phil's new lead singer role has defintely stepped us up a level in terms of song adaptability. We're happy to be playing and happy to be part of the NW community.
This review is merely an account of what we experienced 'last night' at the Werneth, some may think its a load of b*****ks based on their own experiences but in the words of Roy Walker, we can only say what we see.
A break ahead of us now till end of August...jollies time!!
Cheers.