Bad Nerves / Ultra Q - King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow Friday 20th December 2024

Back in April, I had come back from a punk weekend in Scarborough and forgot I had tickets to see The Hives on the night we returned. I got to that gig just in time to see the support band, you guessed right, it was Bad Nerves. They blew me away.

Fast forward to the end of a challenging last week of work before the Christmas break and Big Al, Andy and I met in Glasgow for our day out. A few beers and bite to eat at the Howlin’s Wolf later, we pitched up at Tuts.

This is one of my favourite venues, but not one I get to as often as I’d like. We arrived in time to grab a quick pint in the bar before heading though to the concert hall. This is a place with a capacity for only 300 gig goers; it is a small room and, tonight, it was bursting at the seams.

We caught the tail end of the support band, Ultra Q. Not one for Big Al but I enjoyed what we saw.

Bad Nerves hail from Essex and are making quite an impact in the world of fast music. Think Ramones and Manic Street Preachers fast and you are just about there. Bad Nerves have been touring incessantly this year and have become quite a hit on the other side of the Atlantic. Find me a band that doesn’t want to crack America and I will show you a band of fibbers. It looks, certainly to this listener, that Bad Nerves are well on their way to doing just that. They have all the vibe, presence and sound that you’d want to hear in a New York punk dive. Good luck to them, I say.

Tonight, their brand of music showed off Tuts, what I think is it's, best side. Grungy, packed, dry ice and backlighting like there is no tomorrow. This is how I like my Tuts gigs and Bad Nerves didn’t disappoint.

Bang on 9 o’clock the onslaught started. The show was only going to last an hour and there were 19 songs to cram into those few precious minutes. No time for chat or filler. “Baby Drummer” kicked us off and the crowd jumped to action, an early pit appeared.

A lot of feedback and a screaming guitar took us to the third song of the night “Don’t Stop”. This one is a cut from the second album, ‘Still Nervous’. All tonight’s songs are drawn from the bands two albums, the first, ‘Bad Nerves’ and, this year’s, ‘Still Nervous’.

By this point I had moved from my normally safe berth at the back of the room to the outskirts of the mosh pit. I’m cracking on and should know better, but this is the style of music I love and watching it whilst trying to stay vertical just added to the night.

“Radio Punk”, “Television” and “Mad Mind” proved to be a great three song mid set combo. Another three followed and then three more. With each onslaught the crowd jumped some more. I was surrounded by people who knew these songs word for word. It was great to be a part of it all. What I also loved was looking at the demographic. I was brought up on Green Day and The Clash and tonight’s sound were an echo of that with a modern twist. People my age were, thankfully, in the minority. This was a venue full of people who still had their own hair and who had not, yet, developed a beer belly. It is great to see the torch being passed to younger fans who will, hopefully, keep this style of music alive.

After the proper punk entitled “The Kids Will Never Have Their Say” the main set ended 45 minutes after it started. I was knackered. After a short break, the band were back, three more – “You’ve Got the Nerve”, ‘Can’t Be Mine” and “Dreaming” ended what, for me, had been a top 60 minutes. Big Al and Andy, who had, wisely, watched from the back agreed, a top night was had.

This is a band on their way up and are spanning two different price codes. The ticket price was £15 which I thought was a bit light, particularly given the quick sell out. The t-shirts were £30 which I thought was a bit on the dear side for a gig at this level.

By the time we were having a final nightcap in the hotel bar, I was goosed. My hips were starting to nag me for my mosh pit endeavours and I found a couple of bruises coming up on my arm where I’d been grabbed by random others. Forget that though, for those 60 minutes I was 16 again, I was down the front, I was bouncing and loved every second.

Bad Nerves can come again whenever they like, I will be there to see them, though next time I might listen to wiser heads and stay at the back.

On the other hand…1-2-3-4!