Three n Eights – Leopard Print Hearts – Album launch gig – Audio

Photographs of Corrupt Intentions, Rudebeard and Three n Eights courtesy of Chris Hogge Photography

Yeah, yeah, I know the old cliche, when that gig you’ve just been to is brilliant, nay, the best ever because it’s the one that’s on the forefront on your mind. When you’re on the way home and the memories are still fresh, the adrenaline is still pumping through you and the dopamine high is real, you feel like you can take on the world. We’ve all been there, and we’d all agree that feeling is palpable. All too often though that it is a fleeting feeling, the moment is gone after a short while and, boom, you’re back down to earth with a bang the next morning as reality hits and the vagaries of life return with a vengeance.

Then you get that gig night that feels a bit different, not just on the night, but in the whole build up, the day itself creeps ever closer the anticipation of the night grows. You feel it in your bones that it’s going to be an event rather just another gig… you just somehow know that things are going to be a bit special. Of courses, there’s always a danger that you’ll end up disappointed or deflated as things don’t meet the weight of expectation. But sometimes the planets align and everything is zen…

You’d have to have been living under a rock to not know Three n Eights were playing an album launch gig, I mean as if the fliers (there were fliers? I hear you say…) weren’t enough – if you’ve been at gig in Glasgow in recent months you’ll probably have had a shiny flier pushed into your sweaty palm, or if you’re a band that’s played a gig, you’ve probably been photobombed by a Three n Eights associate with their omnipresent fliers – the daily countdown posts on social media helped ramp up the excitement. There are too many bands that do nothing and expect people to just miraculously turn up to their gigs and are disappointed when they end up playing to one man and his dug…not so this band, their hard work paid off and they were presented with a rammed sold out venue from which the expectant party vibe was tangible, you could feel the electrically charged buzz crackling around Audio.  Three n Eights, and the wider Three n Eights family, certainly know how to bring the party, no-one is ever left behind, and this gig was no exception. No, that’s a lie, this gig was an exception, t it was exceptional, raising the bar even higher than before, the whole night felt like a celebration from the off, the air of expectation having had a positive effect on every single one of the bands who all pulled their performances out of the bag.

As an outsider looking in you might have been excused for getting a feeling of nepotism as you watched the first couple of bands, and happen to notice that several of the headliners members made their first appearances of the night… Two things to mention here then, firstly, if you’d started off as an outsider, by the end of the night you’ll absolutely have felt part of the Three n Eights inner circle as they exude that feeling of warmth and togetherness from the stage, if you didn’t feel it, then that’s on you rather than them, and secondly, I’m going to emphasise that family vibe again, because that’s what following a band like Three n Eights feels like. Every one of the bands added to the party atmosphere by bringing their own unique styles to the mix and bringing their own band of followers…

That mix of bands and their followers was a huge part of what made the night such a roaring success. Forget all the divisions on this rock floating in space just now, and granted with the current fucked up state of the world today, that isn’t an easy thing to do. But on this special Saturday night in a small sweaty venue in the best city in the UK, unity broke out… young and old(er) (let’s just all us the young at heart) punks and skins, ska and rockabilly, psychobillies and rockers, and the odd trombone thug, all skanking and pogoing, and throwing everything else in between into it… it was a veritable mixing pot of styles and subcultures, of ages and music scenes and an explosion of leopard print like you’ve never seen before…

From the sublime garage punkabilly of openers In the Plughole, and their mix of original songs and covers from everyone from Alien Sex Fiend, through the Cramps to Spear of Destiny, through the vibrant youthful energy and righteous anger in the furious speed punk of Corrupt Intentions, to the skanktastic effervescent party ska-punk of Rudebeard taking to the stage to their superb interpretation of the Rocky theme, there was something for absolutely everyone. It was going to be a challenge for Three n Eights to top that lot…but, to be fair, it was never a competition, more a gathering of people who were there with one thing on their minds, to gather with like-minded souls, to meet with friends, those they knew and the one’s they just hadn’t met yet, to let their hair down, enjoy themselves and forget about the shite of the day. Every band on the bill played out of their skins, each one playing their part in getting the crowd going in their own unique manner and in return they all got an immense response that just grew exponentially as the night wore on..

The inimitable cowpunk-skabilly of the peerless headliners was just what was required to top off an unforgettable night of unfettered joy and celebration. Bookending their set with classics from Johnny Cash and The Specials, which gives a great indication of their exceptional soundclash, their triumphant set was a breathless run though of songs from their superb debut album, mixed with their familiar selection of carefully selected covers along the way. All three vocalists were on the form of their lives, coming together as they shared the verses, and in doing so claimed the anthemic Flogging Molly’s Drunken Lullabies as their own, inducing a raucous singalong and chaotic scenes down the front. As I said before, no-one was left behind, and this celebration didn’t forget those who have fallen along the way, with tributes from the stage made to those we’ve loved and lost, and still hold close to our hearts. Their spirits were with us all as the venue exploded in a joyously anarchic melee of jubilant skanking and exuberant singing. I’m sure every one of the bands Leopard Print Hearts were bursting with love and pride as the gig came to its emotional conclusion with a roar of appreciation from the heaving mass of bodies with Cheshire Cat sized grins on their faces.

For just now at least Three n Eights are untouchable, the single best band on this planet, and of course this was the best gig ever witnessed, if you were there, you know, and days later, you’ll still be basking in the afterglow as I am. If you weren’t there, then look out for fliers at a gig near you for the next coming… in fact you don’t need to look too far… get yer arse out on the 17th April for another Shrunken Heads Promotions four band bill of Klingonz Klownz, Numbskulls, Three n Eights and Thrown Away, sure to be another guaranteed night of unforgettable joyful chaos. 

Three n Eights album review