Thursday 19 April 2018

Top Tens: The Manchester Punk Festival Collective's Top Ten Special Performances


Here at MPF we don’t like thought of music being competitive as we feel we are all in it together as a community. So we’d like to stress that this isn’t a ‘top ten best performances at MPF’, but just ten performances that have all been a bit special for a particular reason.

We are as happy to see our favourite less-established bands smashing it to a packed room (we hope these are the headliners of future events) as we are seeing headliners that we never dreamed would want to play our event. The list would be endless if we listed all our favourite moments and I’m sure this would change every time we wrote it.

Also, not everyone in our collective has contributed, so you could get some very different lists depending on who wrote this.

But here are 10 performances that we’ll remember fondly.

PAINT IT BLACK (2017)
I’m including Paint It Black for the sheer ridiculousness that they were playing the third MPF. How did we manage that? Kieran

MIGHTY MIDGETS (2017)
Years ago, when I was still doing TNS Fanzine and I used to get sent stuff to review. I had a CD turn up in the post that I was truly blown away by. It was 'Raising Ruins For The Future' by Mighty Midgets from Denmark. It turned out that they did many of the same things as TNS did in their hometown of Aalborg - a DIY label (5 FeetUnder), promoted gigs and also played very fast music. We became friends and swapped loads of stock and even released a split EP. But then they split up before we got to see them live. Thankfully we got to catch their incredible live set when Revenge played in Denmark and they did a one off set, but it always frustrated me I'd never got them to Manchester. Last year, we managed to remedy that and not only was it one of my favourite MPF moments but also one of my favourite live music moments too. Andy

ONSIND (2017)
Punk rock has always been political for me, and ONSIND are one of the best around at balancing politics with socially aware lyrics. A basement full screaming "never trust a Tory" was inspiring. Kieran

BOBBY FUNK (2017)
I’m getting emotional in my old age and seeing one of the up and coming bands tearing it up to a packed room so early in the day always brings a tear to my eye. It’s so amazing to see the MPF crowd filling venues all day long and giving new music a listen. Bobby Funk are one of the most exciting underground bands in the UK right now and it made me very happy to see them getting such a great response. Plus seeing Ollie flying around stage with his leg in a cast (don’t dance to Cyndi Lauper - it’s dangerous). Andy

THE FILAMENTS (2015)
It would be hard to leave them out of this list. They always have the room bouncing around wherever/whenever I have seen them with a great live show that never fails to impress. It’s always great to have them on as they show up with smiles and leave you smiling with nostalgia. Tom

MR BLOBBY (2016)
It’s a shame he could only perform one song, although does he have any more? Not sure. He was very much deserving of the capacity crowd at our 2016 after show. It’s also very special for the other bands to be on the same bill as a living legend. Punk as fuck. Andy

CLOWNS (2017)
Watching Clowns tear apart the venue at the after-party. All our work was done, we could finally relax and party. Performance of the weekend for me. Kieran

MARTHA (2017)
Playing just before Paint It Black to a capacity crowd at Gorilla. It was brilliant to see a room full of smiles and fake Durham accents for one of the best and most promising bands in the country. Kieran

2 SICK MONKEYS (2015)
This much loved band headlined the Ducie Bridge on the first night of the first MPF and the atmosphere was incredible. The venue was absolutely packed. I think we all had that ‘we are actually doing this’ moment. Another one that bought a tear to my eye. Andy

THE FLATLINERS (2016)
They were our first real international 'headliner' and the emotions going through my head during their set were wonderful. A great band, packed crowd and one to really solidify why we do this. Kieran

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