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Evan
Attard was
only 4 years old when The
Boys
split up in 1981. On 20 June 2003 he caught them live for the
first time at the HITS in Morecambe as The Boys
played only their second UK date since 1981. Photos are supplied by Jalle Jardland
and
Alison Southern.
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Casino
Steel & Matt Dangerfield
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Prior to September 2002 I had never heard of The Boys. My excuse
is that at the height of punk music in 1977 I was one year old. In my
adolescent years my best mate and I got into the Sex Pistols, the Jam
and the Clash but that’s as far as our ‘punk’ listening reached. It was 16 September 2002 when I first met Steve Metcalfe, having just transferred to Manchester with my job. Steve happened to be my new boss and I never could have imagined that my outwardly mild mannered boss was a fan of punk music. One day in conversation Steve told me about a web site he ran for a group call The Boys. “Never heard of them,” I said. He showed me The Boys Website like a proud father and offered to sell me a Boys album! The next day we gathered around a PC in a quiet corner of the office and Steve put a CD in the disk drive. The first Boys song I ever heard was “Weekend” and I was blown away. What a song! “These guys should have been bigger than the Beatles,” Steve told me and I could believe it. I was amazed that I had never heard “Weekend” on the radio or seen The Boys on TV. As soon as Steve told me that The Boys would be playing Morecambe I was straight on the phone for a couple of tickets. The guy who took my order said “bloody hell, not another Boys fan! What is it with you guys?” My fiancée Alison and I got up early on Friday
20 June. Steve had reminded me of the date everyday I saw him in the
preceding month. He was excited to say the least and his excitement
was infectious. I had booked a double room at the Lothersdale hotel. I
knew Alison would have thought that the Ł70.00 a night was a bit
expensive and would be better spent on a deposit for a summer holiday
so I kept it quiet. I had only been to Morecambe once previously as a
schoolboy so it was nothing but a distant memory. I had found the
Lothersdale by pure chance on the Internet and I was surprised to be
told by Steve that it was the hotel at which The Boys would be
staying. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Honest John Plain
and Vom Ritchie had room 15, the room opposite ours. They had a
picturesque sea view across Morecambe Bay, while all we could see from
our window was part of the hotel’s car park, but hell they were the
stars! After a few unintended diversions (we got lost twice!) we arrived at the Lothersdale. It was a cloudy but bright day, one could almost say inspirational as the views across Morecambe Bay towards the Cumbrian Hills are a sight to behold and not the type of place you would expect hoards of punks to congregate. Steve had asked me to store a few boxes of his Boys albums in our room and was waiting to greet us. Steve dropped off the boxes and soon disappeared to his less exclusive hotel. Alison and myself quickly unpacked our things and headed off to exchange our Holidays In The Sun day tickets for wristbands. We followed the groups of well-behaved punks towards the Market Arena; this was where you collected your wristbands and was also to be the venue where The Boys were playing later that night. There we both stood, surrounded by black leather jackets and green and red mohicans as far as the eye could see. We were wearing smart jeans and t-shirts and stood out like two sore thumbs. Both of us wondered what we had bought tickets for but when we saw an old lady in an electric wheelchair ask a group of punks to have their picture taken with her we couldn’t help but laugh at the atmosphere around us. After a brief walk around the town we decided to go back to our room before getting dinner. It must have been around 4:30pm when we reached our hotel and walking down the corridor I could hear music coming from a room close to ours. I listened closely and we got to our door I could clearly hear an acoustic version of “Weekend” coming from the opposite room. I knew The Boys were at the same hotel but surely they weren’t literally on our doorstep. A quick phone call to Steve confirmed that it was indeed The Boys doing their usual pre-gig rehearsal. I stood in the corridor as they played “Kamikaze”, “Cast of Thousands”, “Brickfield Nights”, “First Time”…14 songs in all!!! Basically they played the nights set list but we missed the first four songs, “TCP”, “Rue Morgue”, “See Ya Later” and “Terminal Love”. |
 Evan At The Rehearsal! |
It was like our own private concert, a real exclusive for which no tickets were available. Alison propped open the door to our room with a chair as I stood with my ear to the door like a peeping Tom, hoping that if they opened the door and found me there they would have a sense of humour about it. They sounded fantastic and rehearsed diligently. Not having met them before I couldn’t tell who was saying what in between songs. |
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We were tempted to clap and cheer
between songs but they sounded so professional that I don’t think we
would have been welcome guests. Anyway I didn’t want to get moved on
from the free show! We went to a pub for
our dinner. I forget its name but (like most of the pubs in Morecambe)
it faced the bay. Whatever its name the curry and Budweiser are an
excellent choice! The Boys would be playing at the Market arena at
9:50pm so to kill some time we spent a few quid at an amusement
arcade. My mobile rang and it was Steve reminding us that The Boys
would be on soon so we made our way over to the arena. As we went into
the arena the stage was to the right, there was a bar in a back corner
and a t-shirt stall at one side. Ari Up’s Slits were coming towards
the end of their set. The arena could hold perhaps 1,000 people at
capacity but the Slits didn’t play to anywhere near that number. We
met an enthusiastic Steve and he introduced us to a couple of Boys
fans equally enthusiastic and obviously on a high with anticipation.
The arena began to fill with punks who had obviously been waiting for
The Boys and the whole place had a hungry atmosphere. The Slits ended their
set to an enthusiastic and by now near capacity crowd. We followed
Steve to the front of the stage and waited for The Boys to make their
entrance. Duncan Reid was the first to appear followed by Matt
Dangerfield then Honest John Plain, Casino Steel and Vom Ritchie. They
all took position and the arena waited for the first chord to strike
but nothing happened. The band looked at each other; the crowd looked
at each other and the sense of anticipation intensified. A few roadies
appeared on stage and then disappeared. Suddenly the arena filled with
the sound of guitar, bass and drums blasting out “TCP” and the
crowd shouted and clapped their appreciation. The band looked good.
They all wore black or dark clothes and looked like a tight unit. Time
has been easy on them and Duncan in particular. He could still justify
his “Kid” nickname. They played and sounded tight; I guess they
couldn’t have been much tighter back in ’77. Considering how
little they have played together over the past 20 years “TCP” had
lost none of its youthful exuberance. The crowd showed their
appreciation of the band with a thunderous round of applause and
shouts of support. Duncan said a few words of introduction and then it
was straight into a cutting version of “Rue Morgue” with its sharp
rhythm guitar riff. It wasn’t one of my favourites but I have since
revisited it based on the strength of that live performance.
Fantastic! “See Ya Later” was third on the set and it had the
crowd pogoing for all it was worth. The band seemed to emanate energy
and the crowd picked upon it, responding to Duncan and Matt’s
acrobatics with their own efforts. The bass drum of “Terminal
Love” began a frenzy in the crowd that continued throughout the gig.
Until this point we had been yards from the stage but beer, glasses
and people began to fly so we were forced to retreat back towards the
middle of the arena. “Terminal Love”, the bands poignant salute to rock’s lost heroes really got
to the audience and the atmosphere shifted up a gear. “Weekend”,
my personal favourite hit the spot and the crowd revelled in its
catchy chorus. From the reaction it received an onlooker would have
easily assumed it to be a well known standard. |
Honest John Plain
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“USI”, “Cast of
Thousands”, “Kamikaze”, “Independent Girl” and “Box
Number” were next up and all hit the mark. “Kamikaze” was
notable for Honest John taking the lead vocal. He was on the right of
the stage with a Les Paul guitar and looking every inch the star! I
really like the song with its gruff narrative and John really did it
proud on the night. “Independent Girl” was the slow song of the
set. I wasn’t sure how the crowd would react to such a sudden change
in tempo of the gig but it went down really well. Then without a word
of warning the driving riff of “Box Number” kicked in and heads
were banging (mine included) and punks were pogoing, as the music took
a hypnotic hold on the crowd. Next up was
“Brickfield Nights”. The distinctive rhythm of the bass drum began
beating out and the crowd roared in approval. This is Steve’s
favourite Boys song and I could make out his silhouette near the front
of the stage as he fought with those around him to jump highest and
shout loudest. Beer rained down on where we stood and I was given a
hard push that nearly knocked me over but in the spirit of things I
just pushed back twice as hard. The Yobs reared their ugly heads in
the form of “Worm Song”, which is the perfect song to let go to
and the crowd willingly obliged. “Soda Pressing” and “I Don’t
Care” went down a storm and you would have thought that it
couldn’t get any better until the opening notes of “First Time”
burst out from the PA system. The crowd erupted pure and simple. The
band played at a furious pace that seemed to mirror the emotions of
the crowd. The crescendo effect was simply amazing and the crowd loved
it. They tried to repay the band with applause but they should still
be applauding as I write for it was an awesome display of live music. |
 Vom Ritchie |
“Living In The City” was the final song on the set but by this time The Boys could have played nursery rhymes and the crowd would have shouted their praise. And then it was the end. The band thanked the crowd and as quickly as they had taken the stage, they had left it. For a moment the whole arena stood motionless. Shouts of more and encore suddenly broke the silence and didn’t stop until the band reappeared and strapped on their guitars. |
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Cheers rang out and the band obliged with an encore of “Cop Cars” and “Sick On You”. The Boys were on top form and both songs were a great way for them to end such a fantastic performance. Alison and myself made
our way back to the hotel both agreeing that it was a brilliant
performance. We arrived back at the hotel; Steve had said that The
Boys would meet up with fans back at the Lothersdale so I wasn’t
surprised when my mobile phone rang at 12:15am. It was Steve telling
me the band had arrived and reminding me to bring the boxes of CDs.
Alison was fast asleep by this point and I knew she wouldn’t have
appreciated being woken up as we had to leave early that morning for a
wedding, so I quietly (well I thought I was quiet!) crept out loaded
with boxes. As I closed the door and turned around I ended face to
face with Honest John Plain going into his room. I don’t think
either of us expected to bump into anyone outside our rooms at that
time in the morning. I told him that the gig was great and asked if he
was going to the bar. He said that he was so I went off in amazement
at our first meeting. Steve was waiting in the bar with several other
Boys fans and as soon as I had put down the boxes of CDs he was
selling them! For those in the know this is typical Steve, and I
should know as I’ve bought all their albums from him! The Boys fans were
enthusiastically discussing the gig and buying some rare CD’s that
Casino Steel had brought with him. Steve told me that the band would
be with us shortly, apart from Vom Ritchie who stayed on at the Market
Arena to watch the Damned. Honest John was the first to arrive and
pulled up a chair next to me. Duncan, Matt and Casino were not far
behind. Duncan sat the other side of me with Matt next to him and
Casino sat opposite me. For a first meeting I was unlikely to get any
closer to the band. I found John to be excellent company and a real
laugh. A guy who had got talking to Steve on the street and was a big
fan of John’s solo stuff came to the hotel to meet John and I was
impressed by how much time and interest John had for him, especially
at 1am. I bought Duncan a pint and asked him about his present job. He
came across as quite a distant character, polite but not over
engaging. At about 2am he said he was going to bed and just walked
off. On stage he is the most exuberant personality but in person he is
the opposite, cool…a real star. Casino like John was a warm and
funny character, I remember him smiling and laughing the whole time, a
real pleasure to be with. Matt was very witty and also very laid back
and cool, the sort of person who appears never to be phased. I headed
off to bed at around 2.30am so I didn’t get to meet Vom but Steve
has told me since that he was very drunk and very funny. We had to leave early
so we were waiting for at breakfast for 8:30am. John had warned me
that the portions for breakfast were miserly and boy was he right. I
left the table with more of an appetite than when I had sat down.
Duncan walked in looking none the worse and said hi. On our way back
to our room we bumped into John who said he felt rough. I told him he
was right about the breakfast and we laughed. I wished him well with
his solo album and left with a handshake, he’s a real gentleman. All
that was left was for us to load up our car and head for home.
Listening to The Boys in the car on the way home I reflected on what a
superb gig they had played and what a great bunch of guys they are. I
have seen quite a few live acts in my time and the performance put on
by The Boys is certainly one of the best, especially when you consider
how little they have played together in the past 20 years. The songs
themselves have stood the test of time extremely well and still sound
fresh and vibrant. Steve
was right they really should have been bigger than The Beatles! Evan Attard |
The Boys Deliver!