28/11/2014 Dedwardians & Scraps at Some Weird Sin @ Buffalo Bar

Three great bands tonight, but still rather a sad occasion as it's the last ever time the Some Weird Sin club will be at the soon to close Buffalo Bar on Highbury Corner. This is a great shame as this is one of the best rock/indie/punk club nights in London. The door price is always really cheap at around a fiver and gives great value for money with several bands playing each night. Unfortunately the actual bar in the venue doesn't provide anything I actually want to drink regardless of price and I won't buy those silly little bottles of beer even if there was something decent in them - so I'm popping in and out of the adjacent Wetherspoons before and after the show, and inbetween bands as well. All they needed to do in the venue was stock bottles of Newcastle Brown or similar (at a reasonable price) and I'd have spent a lot more money in the venue over the past couple of years or so, but the management in many venues just don't seem to 'get' this point. It's hardly rocket science...

Anyway, once again the Some Weird Sin guys have put an excellent punk/rock 'n' roll bill together. The first band is Scraps. These guys are new to me but very good.

This is old school 1970's style punk rock brimming with attitude and with great songs. If this lot had appeared in 1977 they would probably have ended up on Top Of The Tops.

Scraps play fast but tightly - they know what they are doing and look like they are having a good time doing it. There may be only three of them but they make a great racket. Snotty and noisy they might be, but they have some good tunes - this is a band I'd like to see again.

I think this is the third time I've seen Dedwardians and they have impressed me each time.

The band formed from the ashes of the Glitterati - a promising Glam/punk outfit who never got as far as they deserved. This band is nothing like the Glitterati though - this is far more of a raw rock 'n' roll band distilling the essence of the 50's and 60's.

Their energy level is very high right from the start - this is a band who throw themselves into their set with wild abandon.

Tonight's headline band are also excellent, but due to the tightly packed venue and some crazy dancing by people at the front I didn't manage to get any pictures of Atomic Suplex. They are another (very) high energy band influenced by 1950's rock 'n' roll - but played at shattering and distorted volume with loads of feedback. The singer/guitarist dispenses with the traditional mic stand in favour of a jet fighter pilot's crash helmet with attached microphone - enabling him to run around like a loon while singing and playing. He falls over and writhes around on the floor, but carries on performing the song. Like the previous band this is about the third time I've seen this lot and they haven't disappointed me yet. Atomic Suplex are definitely worth catching if you get the chance.

It's with regret that I leave Buffalo Bar for probably the last time ever (although the Some Weird Sin Club will be reappearing at a new home) as we lose yet another small music venue - we have already lost Nambucca further up Holloway Road earlier this year, and the unique 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street will be closing in January. Where will it all end?