Peter and the Test Tube Babies / Murphy’s Law / F.U.’s / Revilers / Uprisers
Club Lido, Revere, MA 4/1/2012
TNB (Slimedog, Andy and JT) trek’ed out to Club Lido on Sunday afternoon to check out legendary UK punk rockers, Peter and the Test Tube Babies who played their first Boston gig since 1998. Huge props go out to T n’ A Productions for bringing these dudes back to Boston to entertain us along with an awesome line up of local bands.
Club Lido is conveniently located next to the MBTA Blue Line, so JT thought it would be cool to take the train into the show. The idea was to meet up at the downtown crossing stop from our various starting locals (Slimedog from Forest Hills, JT from Mattapan and me from the western commuter rail).
Slimedog and I managed to meet at downtown crossing and waited 30 minutes for JT to arrive, but he never showed. We tried to reach him, but his answering machine kept kicking in. Since JT can be quite elusive at times, we decided it was best to trek on without him.
When we got to the club, the vibe was a bit weird (…and I had to take a mean piss). There seemed to be a strange tension in the air, but maybe it was just the lingering hangovers from the night before. The first dudes we ran into before entering the club were Bob, Richie and Jones of the F.U.’s. Slimedog’s been trying to get an interview with the F.U.’s forever and begins throwing around some ideas with Bob.
Meanwhile my bladder is about to explode so I decide I’d better go inside. I hastily head to the front door but am abruptly stopped by the doorman who decides to perform an extensive body search for weapons. I thought it was a bit much, but to his credit he did manage to find the machete I had hidden up my anus (…no one usually finds that one). Eventually I get inside, pay the cover, find the men’s room and re-afix my floating back teeth. I then find Slimedog at the bar and order a beverage, while the first band takes the stage.
The first band up were the Uprisers out of Portsmouth NH, whose members are seasoned veterans of the punk rock scene. Their bio describes themselves as a true working class punk rock band and I’d have to agree with that assessment. I thought they had a real good energy and sounded a bit like Stiff Little Fingers. Unfortunately their set was plagued by sound problems that made it difficult for me to get a real good feel for them. Hopefully I’ll get another chance to check them out in the future.
Next up were the Revilers, who TNB is very familiar with. They’re an awesome band that sports a cool punk/speed metal vibe. With all the sound issues resolved, the Revilers put on a great performance. The crowd is diggin’ their straight ahead hard rockin’ edge and the energy in the Lido definitely cranks up a few notches. A couple of their songs remind me of vintage Motorhead. After their set is over I bought their new CD for later review.
Suddenly my cell phone rings and it’s JT at the other end. He apologizes for not meeting us at downtown crossing, but says he’s a bit dazed and confused after partaking in a large bottle of Jägermeister with some dudes he met on the train. He thinks he might be in Philadelphia since he sees a number of Amish folks working in the fields outside the train window. For some strange reason he decides to FEDEX the Jäger to the club and says he’ll join us later. The phone goes dead ….
The next band up was that legendary punkin’ hardcore band from Boston, the F.U.’s. We’ve seen the F.U.’s countless times over the years, but I think this performance was hands down their best ever. With John’s unique vocals and the bands high energy attack, It’s hard to find another band that brings it as much as they do, show after show. And tonight they were certainly firing on all cylinders. Bob (guitar) really got into it, leaping onto amps and then into the crowd. Great set.
The 4th band of the night was Murphy’s Law form neighboring NYC. These guy’s have a knack for combining awesome hardcore vocals and rhythms with ska-like instrumentations. Sort of like Minor Threat meets the Bostones. Both Slimedog and I are fascinated to see Providence favorite, Drunk Robb on stage with his son sporting a shiny trombone. Suddenly, without warning, a FEDEX delivery guy runs up to the stage with a large bottle of Jäger and hands it to Jimmy G (lead singer). After a few sips Jimmy gets into a heckling match with Drunk Robb’s 7 year old son which turns into the highlight of the set. In between heckles, the band plays an awesome set replete with lots of moshing fun for all. The huge bottle of Jäger is passed around from person to person at the front of the stage and by the time the set ends many have become visibly inebriated.
The last band of the evening is, of course, Peter and the Test Tube Babies. First a little history lesson (taken from Wikipedia):
Peter and the Test Tube Babies are a punk rock band that was formed in the small town of Peacehaven, England in 1978 by Del Strangefish and Peter Bywaters. Due to their humorous tongue-in-cheek lyrics, they have been considered part of the Punk Pathetique subgenre. Peter and the Test Tube Babies were first featured in Sounds magazine in July 1980, and after a John Peel Radio One session, made their vinyl debut on the Brighton compilation album Vaultage 78. They also had two songs on the seminal Oi! compilation Oi! the Album in that same year. They favoured absurd lyrics and strange titles, such as “The Queen Gives Good Blow Jobs”. In 1982, they covered the chart-topping Gary Glitter hit “I’m the Leader of the Gang (I Am)” on their album Pissed and Proud.
This is the first time we’ve had the pleasure of witnessing Peter and the Test Tube Babies and, cutting to the chase, they were fantastic. They combine an old school 80’s punk rockin’ style with an echoy guitar reverb (which was big in the early 80’s, i.e. the Edge from U2) that creates an incredibly sharp, hard edged sound. They play a really cool, long set, to the immense enjoyment of all. I must once again reiterate major kudos to T n’ A Productions for putting on such a great show.
As we get ready to leave the club, it was clear that the Jäger had affected a lot of the crowd in full force. Folks were getting unruly and needed escorting out of the club (some even in headlocks). Random brawls were breaking out in the parking lot. I overheard one of the bouncers muttering about killing whoever distributed that “huge bottle of Jäger”.
All of a sudden a strange car pulls into the parking lot at high speed, jams on the breaks and spins out in front of us. The doors swing open and JT yells out, “Hey, where’s my bottle of Jäger?” Slimedog and I look at each other and then at the swarm of club bouncers descending upon us and quickly jump into the car yelling at JT to step on it. JT hits the gas and quickly speed out of the parking lot….
As we speed out of town, Slimedog and I look over at JT and realize he has no pants on (yet again). JT looks over and says, “What, what?… I was hot.” Slimedog and I look at each other in disgust and shake our heads. I ask JT where he got the car and he says some Amish guy loaned it to him for the night.
JT drops us off in front of Slimedog’s pad and quickly disappears out of sight. With jaws agape, we stand frozen in front of Slimedog’s pad for a few moments. Then finally, Slimedog turns to me and says, “Hmm…, a night like tonight kinda makes me want to give up drinkin’… ” After a brief pause, we simultaneously look at each other, smile and say, “Nah ….”
(Andy Bang)
