I arrived at the Star & Garter at about 7.30 in plenty of time to have a chat and give out flyers for The Partisans gig i'm putting on in April. With beer being so ridiculously priced at the Star & Garter i'd made my own arrangements on that score and I think I wasn't the only one there who'd done the same.
Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man kicked the gig off at about 8.15. They have been playing quite a few gigs recently and it certainly showed because even though I thought they were pretty good last time I saw them, they looked more confident and the set they played was tighter. The place started filling up later into their set which was noted by their singer who said 'It seems to be filling up nicely now', to which I replied 'That's what my girlfriend said last night'. These guys are quite versatile and that should give them more scope gig wise. In the 18 months they have been around they are progressing nicely and soon they should be getting higher up the order.
Next up were Scouse scallys Down & Outs. I have seen these guys 4 times in the last year and each time they have been superb. It is always good when a band has a distinctive sound and I think that is part of Down & Outs appeal. In the few years they have been on the scene their fan base has really grown rapidly and it's not hard to see why when you hear them live. Every time i've seen them live there are plenty of people up dancing and a lot of the established bands can't achieve this.At gigs i've seen them play on in the past they seem to bring more people to the gig than the headline band and that rarely happens at any gigs. The set they played was tight as always and they were very well received. They ended their set with what is now widely recognised as their anthem 'We're Down And Out'. Down & Outs show that Liverpool isn't just a place for football and a place where the wheels get nicked off your car.

Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man	Down & Outs

On stage next were geordie punks Crashed Out. The first thing I noticed was the singers t-shirt which had 'I Choked Linda Lovelace' on it. For anyone who doesn't know, Linda Lovelace was the star of the 1970s porn film 'Deep Throat'. Pure class.
I have seen these guys 3 or 4 times in the last year and they are always good value. Their latest album 'Pearls Before Swine' is excellent and they played some tracks off it, 'Murder On Sunset Strip' being the best of the whole set, a real good singalong which in my opinion is the best track off the album. As usual their set was tight and they went down well with the crowd which by now virtually filled the place.
Well next were the headline band, the band i'd mainly come to the gig to see. The Briefs who I last saw at Wasted Morecambe last year are over from Seattle on tour and this would be the first time i'd seen them at a smaller venue. When they are play over here it is usually at one of the larger faceless venues that you need a telescope to see them with. I'd already bought myself a Briefs T-Shirt and the band took to the stage in their trademark sunglasses. Their music is all fast and furious and dominated by Ramones style guitar. They really got the crowd moving with their onstage antics, leaping into the air at every chance. The best of what was a good set were 'She's Abrasive' and 'Poor And Weird' but unfortunately my favourite 'Orange Alert' wasn't on their set list. I thought they were far better in a small more intimate venue and hopefully they'll cross the pond to do more gigs in venues like this.

Crashed Out	The Briefs

Well I thought the gig which was promoted by Ageless Chaps was good value at £6 and the place was packed. There were quite a few faces there that I hadn't seen on the circuit before but all the die-hards were there too. OMD was pissed out of his skull and thankfully it wasn't him writing this review because QC, Newcastle Brown and Boddingtons Bitter mixed (Class) would have made this review very short.

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