Marske-based Down by the Jetty Promotions, via Big Figure, will bring Newcastle-based Punishment of Luxury to the Westgarth Social Club on Saturday 7th September.
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the release of their debut album ‘Laughing Academy’, the event will also include five other bands including the Blue Orchids who feature Martin Bramah, once of The Fall.
From a background working in left-wing English fringe theatre groups, Punishment of Luxury are a four-man post-punk band formed in December 1976 in Newcastle. Taking their name from an 1891 painting by Giovanni Segantini in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, the band initially consisted of Brian Bond (vocals & keyboards), Neville Luxury (guitar, vocals), Red Helmet (guitar), Jimi Giro (bass guitar) and “Liquid” Les Denham (drums). They released a single, “Puppet Life”, on the Small Wonder label in July 1978 which brought them to the attention of United Artists and in 1979 issued three singles and the album, ‘Laughing Academy’.
‘Laughing Academy’ is like a storybook: each track on the album tells a tale very different from the last one. It is the equivalent of watching a video or a DVD consisting of several different episodes of ‘The Twilight Zone’.
The main support for the evening comes from the Blue Orchids who were formed in Manchester by Martin Bramah and Una Baines after they left The Fall.
Initial releases came out on Rough Trade in the early eighties and the band even supported Nico at some gigs. ‘The Flood’ 7” single and the 12” ‘Agents of Change’ were well received by the established music press of the day.
The band split in 1987 and then reformed several times. This will be the third time they have played on Teesside in recent years.
Other bands playing over the course of the day include Newcastle female duo The Noise & The Naïve – a female White Stripes; scuzzy rockabilly-tinged psychedelia from Manchester’s Thee Windom Earles; melodic punk-rock from Sheffield’s Bones Park Rider, with local heroes Pellethead also appearing.
Doors open in the upstairs room at 17:00 sharp for this one.
Tickets, priced at £15.00 in advance, can be reserved on 07769 258035 by texting the word ‘Punilux’, or, alternatively, they can be booked through the venue itself or online at seetickets.com.
For further information, head to bigfigurepromotions.co.uk.
