Live Review: Thirteen / Wasted Life / Benefit State / Same As It Ever Woz – The Salty Dog, Nantwich, UK, 6th May 2018

Tonight sees us journey over into Cheshire in the Spring sunshine that has unexpectedly arrived for the bank holiday, I’ve refused the numerous offers of barbecue and beer gardens to attend tonight’s free show at Northwich’s The Salty Dog that features a quartet of bands from across the U.K. including tonight’s co-headliners in the shape of Stoke’s Wasted Life and impressive Scottish punk outfit Thirteen, who are supported by two band’s from Salford, Benefit State and Same As It Ever Woz. Once we get over the shock of free parking next to the venue we head into The Salty Dog, a venue with a very impressive beer selection that is celebrating its first anniversary.

The sun is out, the beer is cold and The Salty Dog is full of people you wouldn’t expect to attend a punk show that indicates the venue enjoys a somewhat schizophrenic existence and switches from daytime pub to venue as it heads towards the evening. Opening tonight’s show are Same As It Ever Woz, the first of two acts from Salford, they kick things off with a set that carries elements of old school punk rock and post punk, the rumbling bass lines sit alongside guitar lines and riffs that are inspired by The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers and, like bands such as Hi-Fi Spitfires and First Wave, they are bringing a bit of the spirit of ’77 back into the scene and they mark a promising opening for what promises to be a noisy and sweaty evening.

Next up are Benefit State who have also made the journey from Greater Manchester for tonight’s show, they bring a hard edged oi influenced set to tonight’s line up. I caught Benefit State supporting Loaded 44 earlier this year and tonight they sound sharper, heavier and more muscular than my initial exposures to them, and impressively they sound like a different band to the one I caught just a few months ago. The punk and oi sits alongside influences from crossover and hardcore that means that Benefit State are a full blooded punk rock heavyweight from the streets of Salford, who provide a set that sits somewhat incongruously in this leafy Cheshire suburb.

Wasted Life and Thirteen have been sharing headline duties on their brief tour together, tonight sees Wasted Life take the penultimate spot on tonight’s line up as the sun begins to go down. I’ve not encountered Wasted Life prior to tonight and what they bring is an impressive set of full tilt hardcore that is as good as anyone I’ve seen in recent years from the UK’s hardcore scene. Mid set they launch into a Thirteen cover and are joined onstage for this track by Thirteen’s frontman Dolly Robinson, which demonstrates the camaraderie that exists between tonight’s co-headliners and this is a another factor that has has added to friendly and inclusive atmosphere that is present in The Salty Dog tonight.

Wasted Life are guaranteed to appeal to fans of everyone from Agnostic Front and Rancid through to Criminal Mind and The Restarts. To say Wasted Life were impressive tonight is an understatement, part of the joy of covering suburban shows like tonight’s is discovering new bands, and Wasted Life are a band that any fan of hardcore and the harder edge of punk rock needs in their life. They close their set with a muscular version of the classic Stiff Little Fingers track that the band’s name is derived from. I talked to the band briefly afterwards and surprisingly they felt this wasn’t one of their best gigs, if this is the case I really need to catch them again as tonight Wasted Life delivered an impressive and all too brief set.

Wasted Life leave Thirteen with the difficult task of following their explosive set, but it’s a challenge they rise to, I’ve wanted to catch Thirteen ever since I heard their impressive Spirit Of Resistance EP and they don’t disappoint with tonight’s headline set of punk rock ‘n roll. The Salty Dog is a sweaty as hell by the the time of Thirteen take the stage and they deliver a set culled from their debut album and their recent EP that is a perfect snapshot of where Thirteen are right now. The material from the Spirit Of Resistance EP is delivered are the volume level where the frequencies are felt rather than heard, which of course is exactly how things should be on night’s like this.

Dolly Robinson’s vocals are a cross between the attitude and growl of Joe Keithley from DOA and Jake Burns defiant tones, like the band that preceded them they deliver a full tilt Stiff Little Fingers cover, this time Alternative Ulster is belted out, and it’s clear what one of the biggest influences on tonight’s co-headliners is. Thirteen return the favour to Wasted Life and they are joined onstage by Wasted Life‘s frontman, Sean Yearsley. They close with a trio of tracks before returning for a final encore of a revved up version of Neil Young’s Keep On Rocking In The Free World to round out what has been an impressive and sweaty night in Cheshire.

Thirteen‘s website is here and their Facebook page is here

The Punk Site review of the Spirit Of Resistance EP can be read here

Wasted Life’s Facebook page is here and their Bandcamp is here

The Punk Site review of World War Zero can be found here

Benefit State‘s Facebook page is here

Same As It Ever Woz‘s Facebook page is here

Live photography is by Dean Unsworth, his Instagram account is located here and you can click on any of Dean’s photos to view a slide show of the images