22/7/2023 Pump It Up! Powerpop weekender @ The Finsbury. Day 1

I always enjoy these events put on by the guys from the Some Weird Sin club. This year their Pump It Up! powerpop weekender is taking place at The Finsbury pub in Manor House.

It's a nice little music venue almost next door to Manor House tube station - so it's easy to get to for a lot of people. There are usually some decent real ales on draught - a bit pricey, but as it can take an incredibly long time to get served at the bar you won't spend as much as you probably would if you could get served quickly... Fortunately I'm here for the music not the beer. The back room where the bands play has a decent stage, but no bar.

For reasons I can't remember (probably me being a disorganised idiot who can't get his shit together) I miss the first band Continental Quilts - but knowing this event's previous track record I'm sure they were good. But I do see some cool 1970's style punky NYC style rock 'n' roll from BBQT.

'And now for something completely different' as they used to say in Monty Python. This is Food Fight and they are from France. I had no idea what to expect from them but they were really good! I think they take their influences from the geeky side of late 1970's British punk and New Wave and have really good catchy pop songs. They reminded me of the Undertones and Buzzcocks.

Their image was pretty weird - I don't know if they were being 'ironic' or whether that sort of thing is or ever was cool in France? One thing is for sure though - it really made them stand out from the crowd. And that is important if you want to get people's attention or to be remembered. I don't think a lot of bands get this. But in this case the band's performance and songs were excellent and left me wanting to see them again.

Next up was something also rather different to anything else to be found in this current scene. I have known singer Jimmy for many years from his old band Anglo/Italian punkers The Roolettes and later GABBA so I was interested to see what he is up to now. The band name Young Francis Hi Fi is confusing and doesn't give you any clue what to expect. So I wasn't expecting what appeared to be a bunch of 1980's NWoBHM relics wearing badge and patch festooned denim cut-off battle jackets to clamber onto the stage! Double denim? Yes!

Then when they unleashed their uncompromising aural assault on us I got another surprise - they sound absolutely nothing like they look! Irony seems to be alive and well in Manor house tonight, but they sounded fantastic! Instead of 80's metal they blasted us with fast and furious tuneful punk rock. A definite Ramones influence, but I'll never have a problem with that. This was the most fun band of the day.

Then next we again get something completely different, but still something very much influenced by bands of the band. But this time it predates punk and hints at bands like The Faces and 1970's Glam rock. And also the 1980's as band leader Marc Valentine was also in Last Great Dreamers - peers of The Quireboys, but a band who never quite got they breaks they deserved at the time and disappeared into oblivion. Until 2014, but that's another story....

After reforming, touring and releasing more well received albums Last Great Dreamers went on hiatus while Marc and guitarist Slyder took time to record solo albums and tour with their own bands. Marc has been the most prolific of the pair and put an excellent band together. Although this is a rock band, Marc has a good ear for writing a catchy pop tune while also being a charismatic frontman. This is quality stuff.

Fittingly today's final band are The Speedways - a band featuring Some Weird Sin club's Mauro Venegas on guitar and were only originally put together for a one-off show as a previous Pump It Up! event. But went on to play many gigs and record some albums.

The Speedways are a really good powerpop band with excellent stage presence and a bunch of tuneful and catchy songs. Well worth catching them if you get the chance.

So that was fun! Back for more of the same tomorrow...