Reading and Leeds: Lock Up line-up released
Posted by jamie on Apr 17, 2012
Announcing the line-up for the Lock-Up Stage has improved this year’s Reading and Leeds festivals no end.
Highlights ought to be:
- Social Distortion and Random Hand (Reading on Friday, Leeds on Sunday)
- The Skints, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and Less Than Jake (Leeds on Friday, Reading on Sunday)
You can get tickets here.
Random Hand, Dirty Revolution: Camden Underworld
Posted by jamie on Dec 12, 2011
Random Hand, Dirty Revolution, Smokey Bastard
Underworld, Camden
10th December 2011
Jamie
Originally booked as part of Big D’s planned headline tour, this was one of few shows to survive, Random Hand stepping up to headline with labelmates Dirty Revolution and Smokey Bastard in tow as well as Chas Ikstan and the Bon Bon Bons and Beat the Red Light.
This was always going to be an emotional show: most obviously, of course, we had the sad news that Big D’s David McWane has been diagnosed with throat cancer only last month. Reb’s pregnant, and Random Hand are getting old - their words, not mine – so this also the last we’ll see of them and of Dirty Rev until festival season of 2012 at the earliest. Oh, and it’s Adam Dalton’s birthday. Almost. It all ends up turning in to a bit of a love-in.
Thanks to my own incompetence, I arrived to find Chas Palmer-Williams being congratulated by all and sundry on what was, apparently, an entertaining and very enjoyable set. I missed it completely, and didn’t see Beat the Red Light either, which was gutting, but, at 19:00, the Underworld is already uncomfortably warm and the air is heavy with sweat and drunken enthusiasm and that can hardly be a bad thing.
Smokey Bastard are in their element. They open with My Son John, one of my favourites from their stunning second album Tales from the Wasteland, a delightfully surreal sea-shanty-cum-folk-song sung in four-part harmony. From there, they set off at breakneck pace and scarcely look back. Their energy and presence on stage is infectious, and they’re clearly having a wonderful time romping through their catchy little songs and poking fun at the semantics of whether or not vampires can haunt if they’re not technically dead, and the bemused faces standing hushed in the half-light in front of them. Something in that banter sparks the crowd to life, and they quickly have the front few rows jigging about and the rest of us spinning in circles like Cotton-Eyed Joe. The brilliantly epic quick-slow-quick “like songs should be” Aspirations, I Have Some and set closer Wasteland, in particular, are highlights of a delightfully irreverent set of high-speed folk-punk played at speed and with feeling. They’ve definitely made a few friends here.
Dirty Revolution enter to a giant roar. They’re much loved here, and in fine form as well. They’ve toured Before the Fire for some time, and everyone here knows the songs from that. They open with Years and Years, System and Where are the Police? before eventually taking a little break. Reb has to ask a few very large, and very drunk, men to please calm down. As mentioned, she’s six months pregnant and has spilt some water on stage. Happily, she reassures us it’s from a bottle and she’s not about to give birth, but could still do without being clattered by any of the boisterously clumsy crowd-surfers all fighting to get on and off of the stage. There are lots of them, and some, in fairness, look very heavy. No offence, lads.
50p is an instant hit, and the glorious sunshine sound of new song Down Low, straight after, is greeted as enthusiastically as the promise of a new album we’re to expect in 2012. To keep everybody safe, some of the girls are lifted out of the front row to have a little skank on the stage during Rude Girl before I Love Reggae and Permanent Damage bring the set to a triumphant close. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dirty Revolution play better.
And so to Random Hand. Bigger and better with every live appearance, they’re at their belligerent best throughout what’s effectively a greatest hits set, wringing every last drop of energy and beery sweat out of a delighted pit. Robin stops to pay tribute to David McWane, to all of tonight’s bands, and to his adoring London crowd for braving the cold weather, in amongst a high-speed stomp through the anthemic Scum Triumphant, Devil’s Little Guineau Pig and a gigantic rendition of new single Floating Ghosts.
While there’s plenty of material from latest record Seething is Believing, with 3 from 6 even more brutally splendid than the rest, it’s testament to the sheer power behind their sound in 2011 that all of their back catalogue sounds as just as enormous. If proof were needed, Random Hand also have so many stage invasions to cope with that it actually becomes a problem. Matt has to explain that he will actually knock someone out if they damage his guitar, and then lightens the mood by performing a funny dance. It’s not that funny, but in the moment it’s absolutely hilarious. Robin tops it, though, by promising and then retracting £40, cash, to anyone who achieves it.
A naked man runs on stage. He tucks his rude bits back between his legs to make himself look like a woman (he’s got the hips for it, in fairness). He runs off. Hilarity ensues, but he doesn’t get knocked out. And then we all sing happy birthday to Adam Dalton. Random Hand wrap up with Anger Management, obviously, and then Bones. They actually return for an encore but then change their minds and leave the stage again, apparently for technical reasons. It’s a strange end to triumphant set that epitomises everything that skacore, at its best, ought to be about: racing through their biggest songs with terrifying pace and power, and performing knowing comic turns in between. It’s impossible not to love Random Hand as a bunch of blokes, and they’re entertaining during an emergency change of strings, but in concert tonight they’re at their exhilarating, enormous best. Definitely not for the faint hearted, but a real treat for those who dare.
We’d like to send all of our love and support, once again, to David McWane, to Big D and the Kid’s Table, and to all of Dave’s family and friends. Get well soon.
Big D: UK dates CANCELLED
Posted by jamie on Nov 23, 2011
You may have heard by now, but Big D and the Kids Table have cancelled the remaining dates on their UK/European tour after Dave was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer, a cancer of the throat.
Here’s the full statement from Hidden Talent, their promoter:
I’m very sorry to inform you all of the cancellation the Big D & The Kids Table / Random Hand tour.
Yesterday Big D’s singer, Dave received a phone call informing him that he has throat cancer and must return to America immediately to have an operation. The band are currently driving from Barcelona to the UK To fly home. There isn’t much else they can do as I’m sure you will all understand.
Dave is a very positive guy and I know he’ll fight this.
Of course, we wish Dave all the best for a full and speedy recovery and hope to see him soon.
Random Hand / Big D: Underworld show
Posted by jamie on Sep 12, 2011
Big D and the Kids Table are back in the UK this December. They’re going to play with Random Hand, among others, on a super-exciting looking bill.
You can get tickets here.
See it on facebook here.
Big D / Random Hand: UK & European tour
Posted by jamie on Jul 22, 2011
Big D and the Kids Table are taking Random Hand around the UK and Europe with them. It kicks off in Kingston in November and finishes just before Christmas. You can get tickets here.
DATES IN FULL:
NOVEMBER 2011
15th: KINGSTON PEEL
24th: WERMELSKIRCHEN AJZ BAHNDAMM (G)
26th: ULM BETELGUEUSE (G)
30th: WINTERTHUR GASWERK (CH)
DECEMBER 2011
3rd: DUNKERQUE LES 4 ECLUSES (F)
4th: NANTES LE FERRAILLEUR (F)
6th: PARIS LES COMBUSTIBLES (F)
7th: MELECHEN METTEKO (B)
10th: LONDON UNDERWORLD w/Dirty Revolution
11th: PETERBOROUGH CLUB REVOLUTION
12th: MANCHESTER MOHO LIVE
13th: LEEDS COCKPIT
15th: BELFAST SPEAKEASY
16th: DUBLIN GRAND SOCIAL
17th: HIGH WYCOMBE NAGS HEAD
Random Hand: Camden Underworld
Posted by jamie on Jul 6, 2011
Random Hand / the Have Nots / Dirty Revolution
Camden
Underworld2nd July 2011
Jamie
There’s been a surreal atmosphere to most of today, and it didn’t end with this, a joyously boisterous romp of a skacore show on an otherwise quiet weekend, slap in the middle of a capital city that’s been smacked by a giant heatwave.Our crew rocked up having first been down to see acoustic reggae urchins
Gecko record the video for stunning new single Safest Bet. Halfway down a bustling Brick Lane, we met Will Sanderson-Thwaite in a tiger suit and his film make-up, and it just got weirder from there. Melting, we rushed back to the Underworld and in through the side door. That’s the one that usually gets used when no-one’s turned up, but inside Dirty Revolution had a sizeable crowd and kept them nicely entertained. Dirty Rev are always impressive, and seem to get better every time I’ve watched them, but tonight was a landmark performance for them in the way that they went out and performed: it really felt like everyone had come to have fun, and that extra energy was infections, certainly shared by everyone on the dancefloor.
The Have Nots, up next, are equally impressive: they play an edgy yet melodic take on original, 70s style, street punk: it’s not as snotty as Rancid or the Distillers, and is more faithful to conventional pop songwriting than some of the classic punk and post-punk bands. With the hooks just where you’d expect them, duelling guitars and soaring harmonies and choruses, they’re a pretty instant hit. The Have Nots are a new band on me, but instantly accessible and entertaining to watch live. They’ve been on all of Random Hand’s tour and clearly feel thoroughly at home. They’re confident, almost nonchalant, and it shows.And so to
Random Hand. There isn’t much that hasn’t been said about them, and yes, we do almost know what we’re going to get. This, though, is the first time I’ve seen them tour the monstrous Seething is Believing, though, and they’re bigger and better than ever. Like the Have Nots before them, Random Hand are in dominant, confident mood and swagger on so brimming with belief that it’s like they’re arriving in to their own front room in their trackies and slippers.It’s an intriguing transformation, actually: I’ve always sensed that part of that blistering rage was fuelled by a sense of some sort of frustration or inadequacy, the sort of angst so prevalent in first-wave punk. Here, though, they bowl casually on to the Underworld stage looking for all the world like they know exactly how gigantic their performance is about to be.
“Come on, don’t be shy, we’re all friends here” Robin grins, his toes curling over the very front of the stage. “Come forward”. Over the course of the set he spends a lot of time there, leaning right out over the top of the front few rows. Later on he steps on someone’s fingers, but apologises afterwards.From the very off, Random Hand fairly race through a set consisting mainly of the newer material, of which 3 from 6 and Bones are particular highlights. With their stature and tunes so enormous, and coming to the end of a long tour, a little over confidence is surely totally forgivable. To test this out, Robin embarks on a couple of epic rants: one which started out about Sean‘s technical issues with his drums and ended up being about his (fictional) menstruation problems – in fairness, he immediately apologised for this one – and an ingenious effort about strikes and then how many unemployed people they’d had at shows on their tour and eventually how “it’s our [punks on the dole] fault that the country’s in the state it’s in – single mothers are starving, and you’re having a dance?” and finally creasing us all up with the hilarious and outrageously inappropriate “we need another Thatcher!”.
Most poignantly, though, the lads pause briefly to pay their respects to the late Oli Smith, and his and their friends in Anti-Vigilante. There’s a quick show of hands as to who was at Thursday’s show*, a memorial to Oli and a benefit for
the Willen Hospice, where he was cared for. The magnificent Not a Number is dedicated to Oli and to Mouthwash, who, in case you’d somehow missed it, have announced that they’ve split. It’s all very emotional.From here on, it’s a bruising end to a powerhouse of a headline performance: a hilarious tale of how they’d never actually played the last song at all, throughout the whole tour, having not been called back for their encore -“we’d sort of over-egged our own popularity a bit. They’ve all just shrugged and gone home” – introduces first Anger Management and then that elusive encore, Scum Triumphant. And Random Hand fully deserved that encore: their new material in particular, is so incredibly powerful: every element of it, notably the three-part vocals, is enormous. Together, it’s positively anthemic. And they clearly had fun too: I’ve never seen them so blasé about it all. It’s like they were toying with us.
We weren’t at Thursday’s benefit for the Willen Hospice. However, Alex from Punktastic has covered it nicely in his review here.
Apologies to Tyrannosaurus Alan and Broken Nose. We got caught out by the early stage times, but we’ll come and watch you soon.
Dirty Rev: July tour dates
Posted by jamie on Jun 30, 2011
Our friends in Dirty Revolution have sent us a little reminder about their tour dates for July. A stunning array of support acts includes Random Hand, Tyrannosaurus Alan, Anti-Vigilante, Broken Nose and the Have Nots.
JULY 2011
2nd LONDON UNDERWORLD w Random Hand, Have Nots, Broken Nose, Tyrannosaurus Alan
4th LONDON VIBE BAR
9th CAMARTHEN PARROT MUSIC BAR w Broken Nose, Tyrannosaurus Alan
10th CARDIFF UNDERTONE w Broken Nose, Tyrannosaurus Alan
16th ASHTON UNDER LYME WITCHWOOD w Anti Vigilante, Broken Nose, Tyrannosaurus Alan
Random Hand: Seething is Believing reviewed.
Posted by jamie on May 31, 2011
Random Hand
Seething is Believing – Bomber Music, 2011
31st May 2011
Jamie
Random Hand don’t really do hype. I have fond memories of watching Robin Leitch apologise, as his band nigh-on obliterated the Man on the Moon pub in Cambridge, for not being as articulate as Barney Boom. If it was a rare moment, during a relatively brief support set, that he found time to stop and talk, it was also typically and unsurprisingly candid. The no-nonsense cliché is usually just that: a cliché, and, ironically, mostly nonsense, yet for Random Hand it rings refreshingly true.
For what it’s worth, I felt, and still feel, that Robin did himself a disservice there. Not many of us are blessed with a wit as dry or as sharp as Barney’s, after all, and Random Hand were, as he spoke, just pausing to take one short breath as they laid waste not just to a pretty little olde-worlde pub, but to duck ponds and cricket greens for miles around. Perhaps it was a tribute to his mate, but Robin was actually talking himself down mid-carnage, and carnage it was.
It’s unusual, then, for Random Hand to beat their own proverbial drum, and, while the clamour for Seething is Believing wasn’t entirely of their own making, there was a risk, given the anticipation, that, were it to be anything less than enormous, the long-awaited follow-up to Inhale/Exhale could prove to be something of a damp squib.
In case you did, you needn’t have worried. From the first few seconds of the very first play, Seething is Believing is an absolute beast of a record, about as gentle as a punch around the ear from an angry grizzly bear. In a good way.
Seething is Believing is something of an assault on the senses: from the first movement first to last, it comes with a rush of pure adrenaline backed by the brutal power in the music, driving itself right in to your consciousness.
It’s only forty-something minutes later, well and truly breathless, that we’re able to take stock and marvel at the quality of the record. Beneath the speed and strength, the power of the drum beats and the unrelenting brutality of the monstrous riffs lies a magnificently album. The volume and power could easily have been enough on their own, but no need.
Despite his own claims, Robin’s lyrics are sharp in their analysis and merciless in their unflinching assessment of the establishment and the assorted other targets of the band’s wrath. The excellent Not a Number is possibly the best example, but the words are incisive and, you guessed it, articulate, throughout.
This is Random Hand just as you remember them, only better. It’s all here: the way that they fuse metal and skacore just so, the skank-friendly, foot-shuffling trombone lines, and the same sentiments to the same targets. Here, though, they’re bigger, angrier and scarier than ever before. That instant change of pace, the capacity for all-out assault, has grown even stronger than before. Everything’s here that we’ve ever loved about Random Hand, only now all of those qualities have grown. It can’t have been easy to fit them back together afterwards, but somehow they’ve managed it, and the result, inevitably, is a bigger and more powerful follow-up to the already excellent Inhale/Exhale.
There’s more there too: album closer 42 Days Off the Records is startlingly mature, almost epic. The scratches are an excellent little touch. Sons of Robots sounds almost - almost – dub, just for a second.
The songs of Seething is Believing become bona fide anthems time and time again because of this – they’re instantly honest and totally true, immediately engaging to the point of being catchy, and just huge: fists-in-the-air rabble-rousers to a song. Bones, of course, is another prime example, as is Start the Fans, but, for its lyrical content, its soaring choruses, its overpowering sense of unity through common identity, the stand-out anthem here must be Henchmen: it’s the Close Minded of its generation. The son of Scum Triumphant.
This is a wonderful record: instantly addictive, if only for its pure power. And then, once you’ve learned to handle that, there’s so much more. The gang vocals that keep on reappearing are infectious. The horn lines are excellent. Robin’s words are incisive, and every single chorus is irresistible as it is anthemic. Seething is Believing is peerless: an absolute monster.
Random Hand: merch sale..
Posted by jamie on Apr 28, 2011
News from our muckers in Random Hand..
We have put up some online exclusive merch deals for you all to take a look at, also there are some bargain leftovers at £5!!!
See it all here.
King Blues / SB6 / Random Hand: killer live photos
Posted by jamie on Apr 28, 2011
We’ve just been shown this photo album of the King Blues/SB6/Random Hand show at KoKo.
If you missed it, we reviewed the gig here. Thanks to Joe Duncan for the pics.
