A programme celebrating punk and DIY wouldn’t be complete without a gig featuring bands from the heyday and aftermath of punk hailing from Bristol and the surrounding areas. Bringing together three sterling acts who are still active, this riotous gig celebrates Bristol’s punk / post-punk history.
Chaos UK are a hardcore punk band formed in 1979 in Portishead, near Bristol. They are associated with legendary Bristol label Riot City Records and played their part in revolutionising the hardcore punk scene at the time with their raucous, energetic, oft-political and in-your-face take on punk.
They continued dragging pre-crust punk kicking and screaming through the 80s and 90s to the present day with ranting commentary about the state of society which remains ever more poignant today as it was back then.
Expect high-energy, noisy, thrashy pogo-punk songs, with crackling guitar submerged behind a super-quick rhythm section, all to a shouty growling vocal to get both excited and angry to all at the same time.
Experimental post-art-punk legends Blurt were founded in 1979 in Stroud, Gloucestershire by poet, saxophonist and charismatic puppeteer Ted Milton and have never really gone away.
When Milton picked up the alto sax for the first time he experienced catharsis, and after his short-lived sax teacher told him he couldn’t play, he formed Blurt in 1979 with brother Jake Milton and drums and art teacher Peter Creese on guitar. The sound was rough and urgent, yet not unfinished. Their sparse vox-sax-guitar-drums instrumentation and schizo-disco-scapes revealed a claustrophobic and fresh new sound exploring abstract and minimal musical territories. Fronted by a wild man blowing his sax to shreds, Miltons lack of interest in smoothing out the sound belied a stronger mind than most intrinsic in this wild three-piece.
Blurt have remained active since 1979 with various members led by Ted Milton. Hear Milton talk about the bands approach to instant composition, music making, Blurt’s current sound and more HERE
A legend on the Bristol scene, Rita Lynch’s songs are an explosion of sexual, religious, and social imagery driven by an energy that comes across just as strongly in an acoustic set as when she plays with her band. Known for her insurmountable stage presence, Rita performs with her three-piece band as well as solo and has spent time as guitarist for Bristol art-rock band the Blue Aeroplanes.
After leaving school in the late 70’s, Rita started her own band ‘Rita and the Piss Artists’ – an all-female punk band, playing bass guitar as it seemed the easiest choice and she has been making music ever since.
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