Dossers: Live At The Green Room

Two top gigs in a week and this is the one that somehow holds the spot in my head as “this could quite well be something very special”, Saturday the 4th of May it is, a day that holds plenty of occasion for many Star Wars fans, so heading out to this illustrious venue in Stockton-On-Tees it felt like a force was pulling me in, “music that will entertain you it is” I hear.

Having checked the time and being still on the bus at 7.12, the 1st band due on at 7.15, things were getting a bit real here. A brisk walk along a strangely quite High St led me through the narrow alley way past the back street revellers of a nearby bar and on to the door to The Green Room, upon opening I was greeted by the very loud and very powerful throngs of explosive Punk sounds, yes they’d started, luckily it was only about half way through the Tin Ribs set. This was a spectacle for sure, a four piece band who’s lead singer was hell bent on spending the entirety of the gig in and among the audience, giving  what can only be described as his every last ounce of energy to every song and then carrying on to the next somehow. This was my first time seeing and hearing this band live, and what a way to start that adventure. If you placed a hand grenade in a room full of fireworks, you’d be hard push to cause any more chaos!, Songs like ‘The Ratman Of Hustlers Bridge’ and ‘Eggs Benny’ have so much more depth and social meaning than they first appear to, go check em out, you won’t regret it.  

This was always going to be a night of many values, a time for music of all kinds to shine, so after a quick bit of refreshment and chat, it was time for The Hazy Janes to crack on into their two piece Guitar/Drum rock/blues/pop sound. This was an infectious raucous sounding slice of psychedelic wonderfulness, a sound that has you totally enthralled and reeled in, this is sharpened to a frenzy when the duo is then joined by a bass player that adds even more rhythm to this heavy grunge laden set. It’s only when you take a second to look around that you are made aware of just how in the moment everyone else is in the room. A band that should and will grow with every new fan that has the pleasure of catching them.

Four bands on the bill and not much time to breathe, it was just after spending some hard earned cash on supporting a venue and artist, cider in hand and a copy of the headline band’s first and only piece of merch for the moment (a wonderful little zine), its now onwards to the stage for a band that I’d witnessed about four weeks earlier at Stockton Calling. End Credits crammed their four member onto the very small stage in this venue, and packed with just as much energy as the two previous bands. Formerly incarnated as Whitenoise, they have a vaguely similar approach to their sound as the previous band, but with a much edgier sharpness to their delivery, a Kula Shaker kind of sound is how I’d describe them to those who haven’t seen/heard them. I read a little while back that the last single Outsider could stand to be a little shorter, believe me, when you see this band live, having the songs any shorter would be a travesty, life’s hardships are always worth being put to bed fully and not just pushed back temporarily.

After three totally fucking amazing bands, how or who could even follow that. Another pint thrown down my neck and some sweat wiped from my brow, I’m now ready for one of the only bands that could follow that, Dossers of bloody course! The room is heaving with not just people by now, its also swimming in sweat and anticipation as this Teesside phenomenon of a band take to the stage, its like having Slipknot in your front room is all I can say. As they smash into ‘Easy’, The Commodores cover I believe it was, and the room erupts, you just know this is gonna be special. We are all now witness to a band that wears Teesside on its sleeve, with songs that delve into just how amazing it is to live here, but just how fucking shit it is too, they rage quit literally against the machine and this audience gets it 100%. After the likes of ‘Emily’, ‘Mundane’ and ‘Witness’  we are then given the wonderful ‘Man At The Bar’ which kicks off with an insane guitar and then drops a Queens of the Stone Age esque bass and rhythm, this is a slab of heaven and hell wrapped up in Punk Rock violence for the ears. By the time we get to the newly released, and best damn single of the year by a long way, ‘Trash’, its apparent that we are not gonna get out of this room unscathed, as the opening bass line slaps us around the chops, the place just descends into a mess of mosh, I had to glance up for a second just to make sure the roof was still there!!! Not having chance to come down (and not wanting to) the last song ‘No Thanks’ throws the flash bang into the crowd, the drum kit has made its way to the edge of the stage and its impossible by now to see who is the band and who is the crowd, and who cares. That was it, Vesuvius has just erupted, covered us all in the fallout and damn, we don’t wanna leave anyway.

After that performance, there should be no doubt what so ever that this is a band that needs/should be on the radars of all the best promotors, Rebellion Punk Festival, Manchester Punk Festival, Bearded Theory just to name a few, don’t be too slow, go get em. 

If your waiting for the next big thing, I’ll just say a huge Fuck You! to the mainstream, here at the Punksite and all the better media, we beat ya to it!! 

Gig of the year so far………

Go Listen HERE