Hackfest #1

Back to 2017, where this whole sorry mess began!

You never quite know how it's going to go your first time, but I think we just about got away with it! We booked up Randall's Bar at our beloved Bath City FC on the night before New Years Eve, got our pal Marick in to do the sound, and the brilliant DJ Panter – who we'd met at another all-dayer a couple of months earlier – on the decks to do the disco between the bands. Then we hoped for the best!

Unfortunately we lost our planned headliners Eastfield to a terrible bout of sickness the night before the show – and any of you who know them will know that they rarely ever blow out a gig for any reason at all, so it must have been bad! But the beautiful Kearney's Jig stood in at the last minute, and we pumped Pizza Tramp up into the pimp slot. 

As the gig was at the football club, we offered cheaper admission for  any season ticket holders, and we got a whole bundle of very confused old boys at the back watching the unhinged nonsense that unfolded before them. But what a bill it was, with a fifty year age gap between the youngest and the oldest performers!

Unfortunately, the one thing that we forgot to bring was a light show, so some of the videos might look a bit dark and gloomy – but on the night it all added to to underground atmosphere.

Most of the videos that follow are courtesy of Hackfest's great friend, Nick Foot.

The Line Up

Coitus Futon

These young lads from Bath had pretty much split up in the weeks before the show, but still ploughed on as a two-piece for a fantastic opening to the evening. Pretty much improvised from start to finish, frontman Roman Backwell pedal-twiddled and hair-swished his way through a blinding set that had some wag at the back shouting "Punk Floyd!". Sadly we've got no video or pics of their set, but if you know anyone that does, please do drop us a note! Here's what they looked like when they had a full line up, though...

Valdez

Our regular old gig buddies from days gone by had got back together for a couple of gigs, and we just had to get them on the bill. Another bunch of troopers, frontman Chris played on, despite hardly being able to speak. His lurgy was so bad that his throaty, guttural singing that afternoon has probably damaged his vocal chords for life!

Skinners

More Bath youths, but this time offering some of the most brutal powerviolence you ever did see. Short sharp shocks of high velocity angst, in between bouts of ear-splitting feedback, made jaws drop from the front to the back – none least from the bar staff, who were beginning to wonder why they offered to work that night! A teenaged tornado of noisy filth!

The Waterfront Buskers

We always love to throw a wildcard into the middle of the bill, and our lovely pals The Waterfront Buskers did exactly that. We'd played with them a few times before, and without fail the crowd spend the first few songs wondering what the hell they are watching, then the rest of the set singing along at the top of their lungs to the most unlikely acoustic covers of the punk rock classics. Absolutely love these boys! We've got no clips of them from that night, unfortunately, but here they are hammering it out at Roy's birthday show a couple of years earlier.

Kearney's Jig

So late an addition were they to the bill that they only confirmed they were playing on the morning of the show. So hats off to them for dragging themselves out of their sickbeds and playing a fab set of happy-go-lucky punky pop tunes – with plenty of joyful mucking about inbetween!

Sickpig

You can never go wrong with a bit of Sickpig! Stadium crust of the highest order from down county in Bridgwater, we love these kids like family, and they absolutely dissolved the first ten rows, invoking the most unhinged moshpit of the day – so far!

Hacksaw

Roy was so heavy with the bug that he could hardly see, let alone play. And the pressure is always on when you're playing your own fest – which is why we always prefer a slot nestled somewhere in the middle of the batting order. But good heavens it was a right good riot in the end! Here's the song that you probably know us best for, which also gives you a nice little look at the chaos that was going on in front of us, too!

Pizzatramp

You just know that some bands are a bit special the first time you clap eyes upon them, and so it's been no surprise to any of us how popular Pizzatramp have gone on to become. And so they were totally able to slip into the headliner slot and see the night off in style. They also got the most complaints from the by now pretty ear-battered bar staff, too – mostly for all that swearing! A fab way to end up a monster of a night. It's the incongruous Christmas tree that makes this clip!

Somehow, despite everything, the very first Hackfest was a terrific success. The football club made a record amount in sales over the bar for a one night event, the bands all loved it, and the punters were already asking us when the next one was going to be.

We'd better do another one, then...