Backyard Babies – Astoria 2005

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Last time Sweden’s Backyard Babies came to London they were blowing Velvet Revolver off the stage at the Carling Hammersmith Apollo in front of rock guitar legends Jimmy Page and Brian May. This time it’s the first night of a short European jaunt with punk legends Social Distortion. This was the only UK show the pair would play together before one show in Holland and a ten date trek through Germany, during which time the Babies would play five headlining dates of their own, ensuring they were touring for the whole of August. A full US headlining tour also saw the band on the road for the whole of June and half of July.

Unfortunately, these kinds of shows are not the ideal situation for the Backyard Babies. They are the archetypal dirty garage rock band, never more at home than in a small sweaty club, belting out raunchy punk-infused rock. They also need to be playing for ninety-odd minutes or more, in truth. They, and the crowd need to get going before the energy can really be felt hanging in the air. They managed it at the Velvet Revolver show, which was a big result for them. Perhaps they were so excited to be supporting such a big band that they hit the stage running. But whatever it was, the crowd were won over in the space of two songs.

Tonight, the crowd didn’t need winning over. They needed thrilling. Given the rather subdued hair-style situation, this didn’t look like being the colourful punk event one might have expected. Granted, whoever had come on the stage after the dreadful opening act Cooper were going to be well received, but the crowd needed lifting. A trio of Offspring-rejects peddling their weak brand of pop-punk to a largely disinterested audience for thirty minutes did not start the night well. So when Backyard Babies walked on stage at 19:15, they were greeted with a mighty roar. Not, I suspect, as big a roar as Social Distortion were to later enjoy, but big enough. The bars mostly emptied and the standing area filled up nicely as the Babies tore through Earn The Crown and obvious crowd favourite Brand New Hate. Given the overall mood of the masses, Everybody Ready!? would probably have served as a better opener. It certainly worked well last year. But the same effect seemed to have been achieved.

This was about the point at which the band seemed to get pumped as well. Singer/guitarist Nicke Borg had ditched the ill-advised backwards baseball cap he was wearing over his bandana and was clearly starting to get excited. Bassist Johan Blomquist seemed pretty bored for most of the set until the last couple of tracks, but Nicke and lead guitarist Dregen were full of energy and seemed to be delivering the songs with passion and vigour. The crowd response was getting bigger with each track, and the cheer that greeted the intro to Minus Celsius was huge. This song also marked the first, last, and only time Nicke handled a guitar solo. It was arguably a lot more emotive than Dregen’s, so perhaps he should do a few more.

The eerie intro to Highlights marked the beginning of what would indeed be the highlight of the night before the Babies closed the set with evergreen favourite Star War and former show opener Look At You. The band have a new compilation album entitled Tinnitus due for release in the coming months, and will be returning to London on September 1st to play a full headlining show at the Islington Academy. The final 15 minutes of this 45 minute set really demonstrated the energy and power a Backyard Babies show can achieve, and with the additional breathing space of a headlining slot they should pick up steam quicker and have more time to maintain it.

“ dirty garage rock ”

Setlist: Earn The Crown / Brand New Hate / The Clash / U.F.O. Romeo / Song For The Outcast / Minus Celsius / One Sound / Highlights / Star War / Look At You

Written by Andy Lye
More: Gigs, Hard Rock, Backyard Babies