Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Whichever city you go to, whichever small town you might find yourself in overnight or which village you could be transported to, there will always be a group of people ready to defend the Punk lifestyle, the ethic and the music, it is a right that anybody with good sense will do; even forty years after the emergence and apparent overnight death knell, the sound of the genre, crossed over, played around with and seeping into other varieties, never truly dies.
The reasons perhaps are many fold, it is still fascinating to hear a musician kick out a series of songs and know that the music is played with anger, energy and spirit, that the clothes of those who attend the night are worn with panache, a Devil may care but I don’t attitude which is the most refreshing of positive feelings one can reach when surrounded by the ripped tights and a scene verging on a low level steam Punk affair; it is glorious and colourful, the most alluring sense of passion you can be thrown into and smile for all that you are worth.
To have Villy Raze make his way to 81 Renshaw Street and perform is a healthy sign of the spirit of the movement, one that never seems to grow old, one that you can never really get enough of, one that lifts the spirit of intention and no matter what the outcome, one that you know has been happily received by those in sailor hats and various obscure T shirts, vibrant, styled and pronounced.
Opening with a cover of Your Loves A Circle by Eion Dolan, Villy kick started the evening, which was to include the great Tom Vamos, A Werewolf! and Elmo and The Styx, with great voice and rich guitar playing, the sound of character, of vigour and almost anticipated fizzing nature.
With songs such as Throw It All Away, Double Death and Ignite being played in his set, the once ill thought genre by those of limited observation and imagination, proved yet again just how energetic and animated it can be.
A great set, the promise of a tremendous night to come, made possible by the superb Villy Raze, 81 Renshaw Street ignited in activity and came alive in its bohemian embrace.
Ian D. Hall