7/31/2019 GBH @ St Petersburg Florida
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GBH - St. Petersburg (USA), State Theater, (27/07/05)
GBH. The name sounds like an illegal steroid used by athletes or
the acronym for some government
office. The truth is GBH is a punk rocks best-kept secrets. GBH
doesnt get the recognition like other
Second Wave punk bands such as Sham 69 or The Anti-Nowhere
League. However after seeing them in
concert, my only question is how you could keep this band a
secret for so long.
The venue, the State Theater is located in downtown St.
Petersburg, FL. This is an area that tourists
never see and locals often avoid. However, this former movie
theater turned punk/alternative venue
was perfect for GBH and their fans. For those of you in the UK,
the State is less than a two-hour drive
from Orlando, and just across the bay from Tampa. So if you want
to have a "Holiday in the Sun" and see
your favorite band, this might be a destination to consider
(especially with the advantageous currency
rates!).
It was an All Ages show, so the crowd was a bit young. With
school starting in less than two weeks, for
many of these kids it was the last blast of the summer and a
chance for one final go at it in the mosh pit.
There were also some older (21 y/o and up) people like myself in
attendance as well. This made for a
good mix of ages. The theater also had a well stocked bar, with
mixed drinks, wine and beer, so those
adults who wished to imbibe could do so.
GBH had the crowd in the palm of their hands from the opening
note. The surge from the mosh pit
alone was enough to alert a deaf person that this was a band to
be reckoned with. I took a couple steps
back, even though I was behind a barrier that was set in
concrete. For the next ninety minutes or so,
GBH gave a clinic on showmanship and music to the younger crowd,
as how to age gracefully as a punk
to the older folks (myself included!) in the house. This didnt
seem like a band that was on playing the
last night of their tour, but rather it seemed like they could
go another couple of months.
Lead singer Colin Abrahall took charge on stage, bantering with
the yobs (telling one of them, "Theres
no future in rap music!") without inciting a riot. Instead of
being irritated, Colin seemed to almostwelcome the back talk with a
true English punk sense of humor. He teased the St. Petersburg
crowd ala
Spinal Tap by saying "Hello, Ft. Lauderdale". Even when there
were stoppages for "the call of nature";
Colin kept the crowd on its toes.
7/31/2019 GBH @ St Petersburg Florida
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Speaking of the crowd, GBH was one of the most crowd friendly
punk bands I have ever seen. Though
not encouraged, no effort was made to stop the constant stage
diving. In fact there were several people
who made so many dives that they could have been considered band
members because of their time on
stage. At one point, a male kilt-wearing member of the audience
was brought on stage by the band in
honor of GBHs lead guitarist Jock Blythe and his Scottish
roots.
The highlight of the show was when GBH played two of their
biggest hits, "City Baby Attacked by Rats"
and "No Survivors". Rather than playing the songs by rote, GBH
extending the songs and gave them a
new life all of their own.
They finished the night with a cover of The Clashs "White Riot"
with members of The God Awfuls, their
supporting act for the tour, joining them on stage for the
backing vocals. Colin made every effort to
thank The God Awfuls and give them props for their performance
on tour. This action is a bit of dying artform; i.e., headliners
treating their opening band with respect. Its a shame its not done
more often.
While Im on the subject of gratitude, I would also like to thank
GBHs Tour Manager, John Fletcher and
Chris Bade, who handled publicity on this tour for all of their
help with obtaining an interview with the
band and giving me the opportunity to see GBH live.
So the next time GBH comes to town, go out and see them live.
Its time to let out the secret.
Reviewed by Robert Shuster (Retrograde Radio)
http://www.punkoiuk.co.uk/reviews/reviewmonth.asp?lstMonth=August+05
