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Monday 10 October 2011

Cramond Island of Punk

August 20th 2011

For those of you who have never attended Cramond Island of Punk, here's the score. The festival is usually held on the 2nd or 3rd Saturday of August. Cramond Island is connected to the mainland (the town of Cramond, just outside of Edinburgh), by a walkway. This walkway is a mile long and is only accessible at low tide and you must cross at the designated times otherwise you could be swept away into the Firth of the Forth by the current so make sure you're on time. It is an entirely DIY event and is FREE to anyone who wishes to attend. All that we ask is that you pick up your rubbish in bin bags and help to carry equipment to and from the island. Bring water, food, sun tan lotion (it seems to always be toasting hot) and booze if ye drink. Usually coppers on the mainland when we arrive and when we leave, so keep an eye out and make sure you're not caught doing anything stupid.


Blizna: Our first band of the day came on to as everyone was just getting settled in, but didn't do that great to start us off. Obviously at this point in the day the sound is still being tweaked etc and while they had some good riffs that seemed to have some good potential I didn't feel it was a strong performance. I'll be trying to catch them again though as I'm sure I didn't catch them at their best. 4/10

Sufferinfuck: A strong set from the Perth lads who set the pace for the day. This band scream strength and aggression through their music with an awesome ability to push the attitude onto their audience. 7/10

Dirty Knife: I struggled to get into the band at all. Their slow pace seemed to be a bit off putting for me, but they gave it their all. 5/10

Fifteen Dead: With microphone, leads and amp problems for the first 2 songs it never seemed it was going to go the band's way today. The crowd seemed happy enough however but I wasn't impressed. Last song Coalition Demolition was nailed with precision however. 5/10

Filthpact: A warm return to Cramond Island for Filthpact and pretty good set as well. Jeeves on drums contributes more than his fair share to the band with the output from his instrument, which in no way is taking anything away from the rest of them as they're all good musicians, it's just the man is a menace to drum skins everywhere. New songs Stasis and The State of Punk to come went down a treat. 8/10

Daddy No!: Another very impressive set from Daddy No captivated by the awe inspiring rage coming out the face of lead singer Catie. I don't care what she says, I like the sound of Nips' banter. Musically you can't knock this band. Daddy No EP is on bandcamp for free, get it in yer collection cause if you don't, you need it. 9/10

Motordead: The band came from Poland to play this gig, but for some reason the crowd didn't seem to get into them. And neither did I. Their stage presence didn't seem that brilliant and musically they weren't fantastic, but let's not take much away from them here, they still gave it a good go. Still disappointing however that they didn't get that great a crowd reaction despite coming so far, but these things happen. 5/10

Jockney Rejects: Nice wee bit of fun for everyone here with Deek of Oi Polloi fame doing a Cockney Rejects piss take, incase you hadn't guessed already. Good Fun 8/10

Happy Spastics: Holy shit did it all go wrong for the Spastics today. I've no idea what was going on with the guitar amp, but at times you could barley here it, but 95% of the time you just couldn't hear it all. Crowd still enjoyed themselves with the old classics of “War” and “Fuck the Polis”, but it's a far cry from how tight and impressive they were a few years ago. 4/10

Oi Polloi: In all fairness, when do you see this band not play a good gig. The obvious and paramount option to finish off the day and they did it with a illustrious performance. Hoping to get more, but talk of catching the tide was floating around, it wouldn't matter anyway as the generator would run of juice before we could demand even more of an encore. 9/10

Best band of the day: Daddy No!

A big thank you first and foremost to Catie, Demain, Kari and Colin and the House of Crust for putting all the effort in in organizing the entire event. Also thanks to all the bands who played and who travelled to the event as well. I hope everyone had a great time, you certainly looked like it, and I'll see you all again next year. Hopefully the wasps will have fucked off next time.

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