Peroxide Gig Review
WORDS: Yasmin Begum (Youth Editorial Group)
Halloween. Some go trick or treating, others go on bar crawls. But my friend and I? We went to Aberbargoed and the Peroxide Gigs' Up The Duff Halloween Bash in The Duffryn Newydd pub, organised by two friendly local punks, Joe and Alice.
We caught the train from Cardiff Central and arrived in the mighty Bargoed after a 40-minute uneventful train journey, then took a wrong turn but eventually found the venue. At three quid on the door (or two if in fancy dress), it was a bargain.
The whole gig was delayed due to The Melephobes faliure to arrive on time, leaving a whole room filled with ghosts and ghouls thriving in the party atmosphere of the pub's basement, complete with background music from albums such as Dead Kennedys' Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables.
The first act up was dub/reggae solo artist, Gizmo. Covering such songs as Santeria by Sublime and Willy Mason's Oxygen, Gizmo set the vibe singlehandedly for the evening.
The Melephobes blasted their way through their disappointingly short set, but a few people were dancing up front, something that the evening had lacked before. With Cosmo filling on drums, their time onstage was triumphant and well appreciated by the crowd who were bobbing up and down. I was regretful that I had not checked them out before, when the singer told us that this was their last gig. R.I.P. the Melephobes!
Up next were Energetically Challenged, who alienated the crowd with their attitude and took their time on stage. Although their music was not lacking in energy and I enjoyed the Good Riddance-esque sound, they didn't make many friends with their highly cocky comments and arrogant stage manner. They happily announced that they'd never played a gig sober and "this wasn't an exception." Many headed to the bar or local chippy.
Last up was Cosmo, complete with costume consisting of a pink miniskirt (complete with diamante black poodle, nonetheless!), stripy black and orange tights and socks, with ? last but not least ? a stripy black and red safety pinned t-shirt. Inviting the crowd to join in with his Hungarian hip hop, he had attracted a fair bit of attention when a man from the crowd came up to accompany him on the drums, introducing himself as "Mr. ******* Cash to you!" With a revolving door of singers, musicians and onstage ranting, Cosmo was the perfect end to a great night in the dimly lit Newydd Duffryn. He ended, as always, with his infamous song (that, for the record he did not actually write) Oi, Mush! that had not one person in the crowd failing to join in with its absurdly catchy chorus.
The hosts of Peroxide Gigs, Joe and Alice, ended up raising £118 for their chosen charity Everyone's Child, based in Romania. The night was a success, my only botheration with it was that in was in Aberbargoed. Just imagine what could happen if there was a night like this in Cardiff.
