UK Subs / The Eddies - La Belle Angel, Edinburgh 24th September 2023

La Belle Angel in Edinburgh is packed out tonight, another sold out gig on the UK Subs final tour. Indeed, tonight is the last “on tour” bit of the final tour. After they leave The Belle they are travelling to London for five nights at the 100 Club and, well, that’s it.

Tonight is the only Scottish date of this farewell tour and it's great to see Scottish punks coming together for an evening that’s going to be a memorable one. The Scots are joined by accents from across the UK and Europe as some of the die-hards are keen to wring every last note out of this final travelling show.

There are a few old leather jackets on parade and even a some Mohawks standing tall. Tonight is a night for the punks to come out in full regalia to enjoy one of the bands who made it all happen.

Since 1976, and including the four we see tonight, around 83 troubadours have been able to describe themselves as a UK Sub. Some have been there for so short a period they didn’t manage to get their coats off properly. Others, like tonight’s bass man Alvin Gibbs, have been around much longer; indeed Alvin has been pretty much a there for the duration.

There is, however, only one constant. That great survivor of rock and roll, Charlie Harper. When he first kicked off the Subs he was in his 30’s and a veteran of London’s pub rock scene, a style you still hear coming through much of the Subs music.

Tonight, on his swansong tour, he is 79 years old, that makes him 5 years older than Ozzy and the same age as Keith Richards. He is also an unassuming guy. He is waiting for us at the merch stall. Happy to stand for photos and he lets the guy with the camera know where it’s best to stand. He is an accessible man who is clearly happy in his own skin. Just as I was chatting to him, the support band came on.

I have a vision in my head of Oor Wullie shouting “Jings, crivvens and help ma boab, PC Murdoch is runnin’ a’ the punks oot a’ Dundee”! I’m guessing that’s the case as tonight’s support is The Eddies, the third Dundee punk band I’ve seen in Edinburgh in the last few weeks. They were certainly worth ending a conversation to listen to; this five piece band gave their 30 minutes of stage time absolutely everything.

They kicked off with “Control”; the first verse and chorus were a bit rough as the sound was not all it could have been. The sound guy sorted it quickly and by the second verse the band were crystal clear, as was every note throughout the entire night. As we all know, that’s not always the case in small venues so props to the guy on the desk for doing a great job. The high point of the set was, for me, “Problem” a big bass intro then just a banging tune. It doesn’t matter what PC Murdoch gets up to, the last few weeks made it clear the punk scene in Dundee is strong. If you get a chance, go see The Eddies.

At 8:30 the lights went down, the band ambled on and that hallmark jarring punk rock guitar kicked in with the riff for tonights opening number “Scum of the Earth”. Charlie looks great and, with a big smile on his face, he kicks into “Rockers”. The energy is such you can almost taste it. Charlie and the rest of the band are grinning away and as he jumps around you’d never know he was in his 80th year. It's easy to celebrate that, but it's important to remember, regardless of his age, he’d not be on stage tonight if he wasn’t near the top of his game. The Subs are here on musical merit, there are too many studio and live albums to mention add to that the tonnes of EP’s over the years and there is a massive catalogue to pull from. The current team, including Steve Straughan on the six string and Stefan Haublein behind the kit, are a well-oiled machine who keep the whole show tight throughout.

They rip though “Emotional Blackmail”, “Kicks” and “Fragile”. The Subs keep the momentum of the show running. It's a bit like a Ramones gig - unremitting. One song bangs into the next like a seemingly unstoppable musical force.

There are some short “beer breaks” as Charlie calls them, but these are so short, there is hardly time for a couple of slugs before Stefan is banging his sticks together to set the time for the next wave of tunes. “Limo Life” and “Time and Matter” follow. This one nods to a bit of irony, this is the last tour, perhaps time does matter a wee bit more now than it did when it was originally written.

Next up, “Down on the Farm”. I’m here with my mate Pete, who is a walking punk encyclopaedia, he reminds me that Guns and Roses covered this one. Something that also speaks to the quality of the Subs contribution to music.

“Warhead” just about takes the roof off The Belle. This is a massively powerful singalong, that the band clearly appreciate. “Riot”. “Stranglehold” and “Disease” end the set. Another similarity to the Ramones; we have had 16 cracking tunes in just under 50 minutes. There must be more.

The band return and Charlie lets us know Wattie from the Exploited, another Edinburgh man, had been in to visit earlier. He tells us Wattie is in good health before leading the crowd in a round of “Exploited, barmy army”. Then, bang, “C.I.D.” (a personal fav), “I Live in a Car”, “I Couldn’t Be You” and “Party in Paris” bring the encore to an end and off they pop.

After a brief chat side stage, the Subs return. “Squat 96” and “Keep on Running” provide the opening songs of what is to be the final blast. The night ends, predictably and joyously, with “Teenage”. Here’s one I remember from Top of the Pops in 1980. I’ve no doubt, this is now delivered with a large spoonful of irony but is no less passionately played or well received for that. Then, 70 short minutes and 23 songs since the first appeared, the UK Subs are gone with a wave and four very big smiles.

As the lights come up, the fans are all still there and they’re all smiling too. Some of the Mohawks have began to droop due to the heat and exertion. They are clearly need the hair equivalent of a wee blue pill to perk them up again. Let’s be honest, given the demographic tonight, it's likely more than a few will know where to get such pick me ups! And that kind of sums up punk just now, we stand tall but are wilting a little due to age and an uncertain future. But we do perk up. The Subs are not finished, they’re just not wanting to tour any more, but you can be guaranteed they will be making festival appearances and doing one-off gigs. Perhaps this is the future for our genre as many of the originals are starting to disappear with few, obvious, replacements.

If this is the future, I’ll take it. I’d rather have it watered down than not at all. I’d rather hope to see the Subs at a festival than know it was over tonight.

Yeah, optimism. That’s the key. I’m smiling and looking forward to my next UK Subs gig, at whatever festival that may be. Punk’s not dead, it's just taking it a bit more easy but it's still there and making us smile.