It’s off to Corby for Unity Fest, not to be confused with the LGBTQ event held up the road in Newark. It’s a festival organised by Unite the Union and is raising money for several good causes. There’s even a foodbank drop-off point. The Steel Mill is part of Corby Town football club so for anyone travelling there’s a surfeit of free parking right at the venue’s door.
Stevie Harrison
First up it’s the appropriately named First Wave. It’s an old school look with an old school sound. This is a band that grew up listening to The Clash and The Damned. Stevie Harrison is up next, doing a set of originals and covers. For such a young singer, and when I say young I mean she still isn’t old enough to drink, her songs have a strange maturity to them reminiscent of early Kate Bush. She does a fantastic job, especially as she’s only here at short notice. Somehow the bands are getting younger. Decadence only have one original song so it’s a set of covers from them starting off with some Queens Of The Stone Age. Judging from their original there’s definitely some talent there, it’s got a distinct Soundgarden feel to it. Next up is Kid Klumsy who are as fun as their reputation that precedes them. Who says punk has to be serious? Well it never has been really so they’re just carrying on the great tradition of the Buzzcocks and Vibrators. There’s even a guest appearance by Mr Badaxe who tells us he’s Seen Cliff Richard’s Arsehole. Kian McIntyre brings us some more acoustic music for the day. He’s fresh off signing to a music label so we can expect more from him soon but it’s too early to tell if he’ll be the next Ed Sheeran.
Healthy Junkies
Gestalt have some issues at the start which mean they have to borrow a bass guitar from Healthy Junkies, they eventually get it all sorted and put on a great set of old school punk rock. Healthy Junkies do what they do best, pure rock and roll with plenty of French sass from Nina and Phil hamming it up for the crowd. Nina even comes into the crowd to help liven things up. Family Of Noise are a two piece, instrumental noise combo. Just bass and guitar with a backing track of drums. It’s experimental punk that seems to go down quite well. Guitar Gangsters are back to classic punk rock and roll with a pair of guitarists. They’ve borrowed a drummer for the night but you wouldn’t have guessed it, they sound great. Yur Mum show you don’t need every instrument in the shop to make music. It’s just bass guitar and drum and still sounds great, even after having to swap out part of the guitar pedals. It’s an energetic show. It’s almost the end of the night and it’s time for Danny Wildheart and the UK Reprobates. There’s a few new songs off their latest EP as well as plenty of old classics, including the Wildheart’s song Anthem. Great rock and roll from the Geordie’s new band. Last up and it’s XSLF from Belfast. Don’t be confused by the acronym though, it means exactly what it says as it’s ex-Stiff Little Fingers formed by original band member Henry Cluney. It’s back to the beginning of punk, with some of the biggest classic punk songs from 1977 and beyond.
Danny Wildheart
Overall the day goes well, even after a couple of technical issues. Chris York has helped put on a great line-up with plenty of variety. None of the bands seem out of place and it’s great to see so many young and talented local artists getting a chance to play what is a surprisingly large venue for this kind of festival. We may not have seen any crowd surfing, but there’s been plenty of dancing and everyone having fun. And plenty of money raised for charity as well.
Review and Photography: Mark Bestford