50 years of PUNK at 100 Club
A homage to Punk: still raw and explosive 50 years after a legendary gig
Photo by Jamie MacMillan
On Monday of this week 100 club celebrated the anniversary of their 1976 punk special: when The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, Siouxsie & The Banshees, the Buzzcocks, the Vibrators, Subway Sect and Stinky Toys all shared the stage over the 20th and 21st of September. 50 years later they pay homage by matching the 1976 ticket price at just £1.50 a ticket. Sunday featured Sprints, Crows and Bathing Suits. I attended Monday's stacked bill with Maruja, Opus Kink and Wax Head.
Photo by Miyuki Wang
I arrived at the venue, to an already fiery atmosphere. Wax Head on stage in full swing and in complete control, the energy wasn’t missing with pits already forming. Fresh off the release of their debut album ‘GNAT’ the noise rock quartet were the perfect opener to set the tone for what was to come.
Opus Kink were up next, a band I saw headline a sold out Electric Ballroom last November. The six-piece genre blending and chaos inducing outfit were quick to ramp up the tempo and fuel the room. Not to be fooled by the ballad-esque opener of ‘Come Over Do Me Wrong’ from their debut album ‘The Sweet Goodbye’ Opus Kink quickly showed their ardent intensity with ‘I love you baby’ and the room burst into life. Opus Kink knows how to perform and sit entirely in their own boat in terms of sound and showmanship.
Frontman Angus Rogers closed the set with a theatrical sobbing on the stage as his fellow band members left before he departed and quickly rejoined the crowd for Maruja to take the stage.
Photo by Miyuki Wang
Already battered, beaten and drenched in sweat the crowd's anticipation does not fade, this is my sixth time seeing Maruja and no band brings the pure excitement I have felt every time. The tension is at bursting point, Maruja takes the stage and like stepping on a landmine ‘Bloodsport’ erupts the room. If standing still was an option before it isn’t now, a tornado of bodies launches around the room . There is no sign of it slowing down. In what has become a staple moment in all Maruja shows saxophonist Joe Carroll splits the crowd in two, squats to his knees and silence fills the room for the first time, an ominous drone of his saxophone as he lunged forward and the band break in to their track ‘Thunder’. Joe quickly makes his way back to the stage and the room completely explodes. No remorse here.
Photo by Miyuki Wang
Their ‘2025’ debut album ‘Pain to Power’ is a testament to punk loud, raw and unapologetically in your face. Maruja are not the band to turn a blind eye and refuse to speak up on prominent political issues, mental health and the dystopian society we often find ourselves in. Through all the chaos and intensity of their show frontman Harry Wilkinson urges the crowd to turn to the person next to them and hug, a moment of solidarity in a crowd that could barely catch a breath moments before.
Harry goes on to exclaim ‘Although we may be aggressive our message is one of peace’, Punk is not punk without politics.
Photo by Jamie Macmillan
Maruja speak up for the people who lack a voice bringing attention to Yemen, Sudan, Ukraine, The Congo and Palestine and they implore the crowd to take action, speak up and to be united. Maruja close the show with ‘Look down on us’ and the crowd once again returns to high energy and flailing limbs, a song that attacks late stage capitalism and the wealth of the one percent and shows the bands anger and frustration to these problems but is later met with ethereal messages to do better and make a change ‘Turn pain to power put faith in love’. Maruja leaves the stage with a bow after a performance that captures everything that punk is and has become.
Words by Alex Kirkelton @kirkelton_
Alex is a sound engineer and spoken word poet who lives and breathes rhythm and sound.
Photos by Miyuki Wang @myksfilm miyukiwang.com and Jamie MacMillan @jamie_macmillan_photos www.jamiemacmillanphotos.com