Street Voice UK

5am starts are never the best but I had to put in a full days work before heading out for this show! Eventually I made it out and headed off home to sort out the camera before heading out to the train station!

For once the train was on time and on the journey I opted to listen to some Chrimbo punk rock tunes to get me in the mood and those tunes certainly did!

On arrival at the venue I quickly set up the camera and it was soon time for Pet Needs to hit the stage.

These guys came on and tore Wolverhampton a new one!

Their highly explosive set fused with cool punk, rock and hardcore tunes blew me away!

Pet Needs took no prisoners and I’m now huge fan despite the fact I never knew they existed before the gig!

Wow! Is an understatement – This UK based band are well worth checking out for sure!

I’m a huge fan of Bad Cop Bad Cop but in all the times they’ve played the UK we somehow manage to end up in different parts of the country. However tonight that was corrected!

After Pet Needs had started the proceedings with an explosive set I was left wondering if it was worth anyone else playing?

I didn’t have to wait long to find out!

Bad Cop Bad Cop hit the stage with the impact of being taken out by a nuclear warhead!

Yep this Californian Punk Rock n Roll outfit were on fire and I loved every minute!

Things started to heat up when Bad Cop Bad Cop tore into Pursuit Of Liberty where they made statements supporting refugees, safe passage and Antifa as well as mocking the orange one running the USA!

This is my favourite song by the band and so meaningful too! It sounds so cool on vinyl too – Go and buy their records!

If that wasn’t enough Bad Cop Bad Cop tore some more into the Trump which will probably see me banned from the USA just for being at this show and supporting the band 🙂

Not forgetting their pro-choice stance where they made their position clear before tearing into Safe And Legal.

The high octance rock n roll ofBad Cop Bad Cop is infectious and I was gutted when they left the stage!

An incredible set from this Californian four-piece!

After meeting Linh Le of Bad Cop Bad Cop and having a lovely chat it was time to head to the photo pit to catch the world’s greatest covers band Spike & The Gimme Gimmes.

Having missed Spike & The Gimme Gimmes last UK shows due to recovering from a heart attack I was so looking forward to seeing these guys as it had been a while since I saw them previously!

The stage set blew me away but as soon as Spike & The Gimme Gimmes hit the stage with Santa Baby I knew this was going to be as blinding show!

Spike was on top form delivering stories and banter with the crowd – Everyone in the room was up for it and the band were on fire too!

You couldn’t wish to be at a better show!

Spike & The Gimme Gimmes really did deliver the goods with top punk rock covers of Jolene, Country Roads and even covering Willie Nelson’s On the Road Again!

More banter from Spike where he suggested that a couple of audience members be ejected from the show for their poor choices of songs to cover!

More Christmas tunes were covered such as Feliz Navidad which is always a great song to hear live!

Song after song Spike & The Gimme Gimmes had the audience in their hands and from I saw everyone was having a bloody great time!

Hearing Karma Chameleon by Culture Club and Dancing Queen by Abba took me right back to the eighties. To be honest I don’t recall having heard these songs past 1989 as I was up and down the UK frequenting punk / ska venues!

After a hour or so it was time for Spike & The Gimme Gimmes to end the set and at that point I had to leave to catch my train home!

After 9 months of being seriously ill this was the tonic I needed to end the year on a positive note!

For me this show was theTOP show of 2025 by far!

Thank you to Melanie Kaye of Melanie Kaye PR / Punk Rock Museum for arranging this show and the interview for me.

Photos / Words: Kathleen Riot

Merry Christmas!