Live music this month at The Craufurd Arms

Recognised as one of the founding fathers of the punk era, Eddie & The Hot Rods have been playing loud, fast, in your face Rock n Roll since the ‘70s. They preferred that attack rather than ‘bad mouthing the Queen or fermenting anarchy,’ and even without that middle finger in play they struck a chord – their single Do Anything You Wanna Do was eventually withdrawn by Island Records after sales of more than 475,000 kept it in the charts for the whole of the summer of ‘77.

Punks loved their attitude and energy, and everyone else was smitten by their RnB, rock and blues components.
The loss of frontman Barrie Masters shortly before the pandemic was tragic, but fan support helped the band reach the decision to continue, with Ian Dean now at the mic.

The band even released a new album this year; Guardians of the Legacy is their first for 16 years.

The band rounds off 2023 with three December dates, and The Craufurd Arms has the first of them (Dec 1).
Transmission (Dec 2) will play the sounds of Joy Division with a set delivering the best of the Unknown Pleasures and Closer albums.
When Ian Curtis took his own life in 1980, his death brought the curtain down on the Salford unit, but couldn’t curtail their legacy, and more than 40 years on fans still want to relive the dark, cavernous sound of the band, and this is the perfect way to do it.

Metallers Urne head out of the big smoke to join us in the new city (Dec 9), as they continue to celebrate the summer release of their ‘savage’ second album, A Feast on Sorrow.

The elpee took shape against a background of decidedly difficult times for Joe Nally, the band’s frontman and bass player.

There were a lot of dark times,” he sighs, reflecting on two family members affected by degenerative illness. “Losing people is a horrible thing; when reality hits, it shocks you. I was full of pent-up emotion – anger, confusion – and I could only seem to release that through aggression. That means this record is much more aggressive. It’s a lot darker. There were quite a few ‘fun’ elements to our first LP Serpent & Spirit. There aren’t many of those here.

“It was an incredibly cathartic experience to be able to write this album, to scream it, to hear it back – and for other people to discover and take from it what they need, too. I’ve got my emotions out. I’ve got my meaning out. I’ve got my message out. What I needed to do is done.”
The Girls, Gays & Theys club promotion returns the same evening, when the inclusive event for 18+ delivers a Zand DJ set.

The band I Am Kloot might have been retired a good few years back, but frontman John Bramwell is still active. Indeed his promo material says he has been on a ‘never-ending rolling adventure,’ and it sounds like our kind of blissful: “Travelling in his VW Campervan with his dog Henry…John has been able to develop his solo sound and ideas, at his own pace, in the way he likes, with the fans he holds close.’

The man that the New York Times declared to be ‘The UK’s finest export,’ will play the Wolverton venue on December 14. John’s sophomore album will be cut loose in the new year.

London riff-meisters Hang The Ba**ard (Dec 15) are followed by the new city’s Space Pistol (Dec 16), who can’t wait to shake you up in the best fashion as they see out a fab year: “This is going to be a celebration of such a great year for us as a band,” said Dan, “Hitting our stride with a new found confidence as a three-piece, new songs, an album, and a killer set which always leaves us exhausted and absolutely fulfilled! When dressed in pink boiler suits, we aim to put on a show and just enjoy being a band who isn’t fu**ing around anymore, to stop caring about what others think and just play like it’s the last time we will ever get to do this.”

And they were doing just that when they put in a sterling performance as support to The St Pierre Snake Invasion earlier this month. Energy ridden excitement with the songs to match.

The Get Gone, Broken Castles and Black Talons will support Space Pistol this time around.

Jesus Jones return (Dec 22) with their indie dance meets rock mash-up that delivered earworms like Right Here, Right Now and Real Real Real, and on Christmas Eve eve (Dec 23) the venue presents a Grunge Spectacular with Nerdvana, Smashed In Pumpkins and Freakshow.
It’s the big pre-Crimbo bash with one grunge smash after another. This will be busy and festive.

Taking the reins for the post-Crimbo bash will be the folks behind the Headcharge promo for a New Years Party happening a little before New Years Eve (Dec 29).

The big bill features organisers Torus, Ocular, Balter, Beaucats, Scarper and KC Blackwater.

“Everyone is very excited for this date, which will be a perfect way to end the year before we head into lots of exciting things in 2024,” said Torus frontman Alfie Glass.

“KC Blackwater is a new band with immense live energy, and frontman Cam plays in our mates’ band with Alfie Templeman, Scarper is a brand new group fronted by another Templeman live collaborator, Joss Shepherd. Our drummer Jack is also helping them out with live shows, so that will be great to see.

“Beaucats will be performing epic new material with a new sound, and super talented young musicians from Northampton, Balter, will be on the stage before jazz fusion, the experimental group Ocular who will showcase a lot of new material to promote their debut album – my brother fronts them!”

Alfie and Torus are wrapping things up with new sounds to slide into your ears.

“We’ll showcase what we’ve been working on this past new year,” Alfie promised, “It has been a long 2023 and it has been hard at times, but we have some very exciting things coming in the new year. And we mean that,” he said.

Head to thecraufurdarms.com for more.