Manchester Punk Festival – Saturday 30th March

After yesterday’s chillier start to the weekend Spring appears to have kicked in, so we’re heading back into Manchester without our big coats for day two of Manchester Punk Festival. We ease into the day at the Sandbar in the company of Birmingham’s Saffiyah Khan, she recites poetry that channels her frustration with the mundane, whether it’s toilet cubicles, small dogs or having to explain why she’s a Socialist. Her poems are short and sweet, someone from crowd shouts out that she is the Ramones of poetry, this pretty much nails it as it’s just hit after hit of spoken word without pause. This is heartfelt and written from personal experience, and this is the calm before a storm that is blowing in from Barcelona in the form of Acid Snot. 

Disconcertingly Acid Snot make their way onstage in The Bread Shed to a house mix of Oasis, the very thing we come to Manchester Punk Festival to get away from, but this gives way to a brief interlude from the homeland, then we’re off with a half hour of driven melodic punk, one that embraces skate punk and hardcore along with the occasional metal embellishments. Acid Snot have a deceptively melodic touch with a distinct influence from across the Atlantic, more so than you might expect with a band with their moniker, maybe something was lost in translation? Regardless this final date on their European tour provides the early afternoon wake up call we all need after the excesses of the first day. 

Keeping our day of contrasts going we head over to the Zombie Shack to catch the cheerily named acoustic duo Hello Mabel. The declare they are going to play “some songs about feelings”, this is just harmony vocals and acoustic guitars, this is as stripped back as you’re going to get and it’s a rather wonderful and unexpectedly mellow interlude that is reminiscent of acts such as Ogikubo Station and Even In Blackouts. They are almost certainly the only outfit to have their band name tattooed across their knees, well at least half of the outfit has taken this brave step. If Acid Snot were a storm blowing in then Hello Mabel are the eye of that storm.

Vintage ska punks The Planet Smashers are making their Manchester Punk Festival debut over on the main stage at The Union, ska punk might be doing them a disservice as their sound is more akin to the vintage sounds of the two tone scene, this is all bounce and groove and there’s an energetic skank down the front before the first song is done and dusted. Their second song, Life Of The Party, sees those tired feet from yesterday start to move right across The Union, the beach balls have made a return from yesterday and the party is well and truly underway once more. In short, The Planet Smashers are the perfect soundtrack to a warm Spring afternoon in the increasingly sweaty Union. 

Whilst enjoying a beer in the late evening sunshine in between bands, a clown with a plastic fish down the front his trousers tries to sell me a Manchester Punk Festival beer token, it was a slice of cucumber! This was one of the more surreal encounters I had over the weekend, I see similar confusion occurring as he finds new victims outside the Sandbar. Once clown related confusion has passed we head back into The Bread Shed to catch Animal Byproducts, who bring their own unique brand of trumpet fuelled rage to The Bread Shed, one they term “patriatrchy-poking parp punk”. Discordant and unique, their brand of ‘soft punk’ is one that straddles not only the boundaries between punk and indie, but also the one between Yorkshire and Manchester, one that is often seen as divisive, maybe this is the olive branch the counties need? 

After bumping into half of Rites Of Hadda and celebrating the reunion with a few beers in the Sandbar and we solve the first major clash of the weekend by splitting the difference, which means we only catch the opening numbers by Smoking Gives You Big Tits. Vocalist Helen Bradley is initially dressed up for the home town crowd with full on sparkly glamour, the rest of the band look like they’re fresh off the beach. They proclaim their arrival in true rock ‘n roll style before kicking into their own anarchic brand of pop culture centric punk that almost defies description. They were a hidden gem of Manchester’s punk scene but the turnout in The Bread Shed suggests that word has spread. Mesmerising and unpredictable vibrant punk one minute, the next it descends into doom breakdowns, also the only band (so far) to use a kazoo. If you aren’t familiar with them, well you should be. 

After a quick march down Oxford Road we’re in the compact space in the Zombie Shack for Hertfordshire’s Caution Elderly People. Like Novacane yesterday this is a young band, and further proof that Manchester Punk Festival does champion the next wave of punk bands like no other festival. Caution Elderly People are a full tilt assault to the senses, this weirdcore quartet bring an energy and confrontational approach that you rarely get in the larger venues, this is up close and personal. No punches are pulled, they are politically motivated and rage against, well, pretty much everything, with a frenzied and chaotic set that is reflected in the pit. This was their first visit up North, it should not be their last. Punk was born of teenage rage, it’s only fair it should be its future. 

At this point The Union is one in one out, which decides our decision as to the next band. Whilst Hot Water Music were on our wish list we’re defaulting to Witch Fever, as we can get in to see them without queuing, which, given the state of our wrecked feet, seals the deal. At this point coffee tequilas started flowing, so my memory is hazy from this point, but there is an intense garage punk vibe as lead singer Amy prowls the stage like a caged animal. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on not catching Hot Water Music, well maybe a bit, but the shots are flowing and Witch Fever are delivering a pulverising set to a packed Bread Shed. This is the essence of Manchester Punk Festival, the random company will dictate the bands you catch, as will venue capacity, but you aren’t missing out, all is well across Manchester City centre wherever you are. 

Witch Fever’s constant twist between the ethereal and the intense is the perfect backdrop for the end of day two, this was an accident, not design, and sometimes you just end up where you are meant to be, tonight was one of those nights. More shots arrive with members of Caution Elderly People and Rites Of Hadda, and the end of Saturday is messy, but we’re not done yet. We’re staying right where we are as Clobber are next up, they are utterly brutal, with their old school hardcore kicking in whatever adrenaline I have left. Their set includes an unlikely cover of Blur’s Parklife and ends in a rousing chorus of fuck the tories and a shower of beer, these are two themes that seem to be universal across Manchester Punk Festival. What is clear is that it doesn’t matter who’s playing or what venue you’re in, wherever you find yourself at this celebration of the current punk scene you’ll have a absolute blast.

The UK’s punk scene is something to be treasured. Tonight I have met punks from across the UK, Europe and beyond, all are unified by the UK’s punk scene and its inclusive attitude and approach. Maybe I shouldn’t take this for granted, maybe I should treasure what we have, which it must be said is something very special. We have one more day and I fully intend to make the most of it.

Manchester Punk Festival will return in 2025 for it’s tenth anniversary, why not grab yourself a bargain early bird ticket and be sure to keep an eye on their socials for line up announcements over the coming months.

Live photography courtesy of Gary Hough from Shot From Both Sides and Scott Bradley from Phukin Photos.