I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than in The Globe Cardiff on a Sunday night just before Christmas to witness my umpteenth UK Subs show and as it turned out the final show to feature Stephen Straughan on guitar who bowed out on the morning after this final show of 2024.

Shame that because I thought Stephen was a great fit for the Subs and the last seven years might have flown by but he’s been a big integral part of the sound in his time and always a beaming smile to Charlies left, he will be missed but this is the UK Subs after all. anyway, the clock is ticking towards ten PM and Charlie leads the troops onto the stage for a blistering hour and some. It’s a set of classic Subs with the odd one or two deep cuts thrown in for good measure.

Having not long read Alvin’s third and final episode of his autobiography it certainly gave new insight into the band over recent years and much respect for the magnificently talented four stringer who delivers the solid thick rhythm this band thrives on and drives the songs onwards and upwards. I know it’s a cliche to say it but fuck me how does Charlie find the motivation to keep getting up and delivering the goods time after time at his age. He should have his trotters up enjoying doing a crossword or two and eating a mince pie in front of the TV at this time of year not sleeping around the UK in a van plying his trade to men and women who also should know better but continue to throw themselves around on a beer-soaked dancefloor but that’s what this music and this band does to you, God bless em.

Starting the set with an uptempo and rock solid ‘Rockers’ There’s no time for mucking about and straight into the business of the UK Subs who in 2024 are a lean operation, the chaos might never be that far away and Charlie might miss the odd lyric but when they’re on it they are a force to be reckoned with and when Stephen opened up the riff for ‘Kicks’ it just got even messier on the dancefloor. ‘Police State’, ‘Emotional Blackmail’ and ‘Rat Race’ sounded like the band was in a hurry and the Globe were appreciating what they were being served early on in this set. It was a band warming up and setting a blaze with a fury and verve that bands twice their size and half their age would do well to keep up with.

The setlist was a wonderful romp through a pretty spectacular catalogue spanning several lineups (obviously) and sounding as fresh as the day they were released an epic rendition of ‘Time And Matter’ alongside classics like ‘Down On The Farm’ (you know the Guns n Roses cover they do). There is also time to knock out ‘Kill Me’ from their last studio album ‘Reverse Engineering’ sitting in very nicely, its songs like this and ‘Quintessentials’ ‘Bitter And Twisted’ that I love hearing as much as the must-plays like ‘Warhead’ and ‘Live In A Car’.

After about a dozen songs its breaks off and classic after classic from ‘Limo Life’ through ‘Scum Of The Earth’ and ‘Barbies Dead’ the band are tight and really giving it some welly. Maybe slimming down their relentless touring schedule has made them a hungrier beast so when they do reconviene for these short bursts their batteries are fully charged and every second counts or that’s what it feels like tonight.

Charlie looks genuinely blown away by the rapturous reaction the band is getting from a very busy Sunday night in Cardiff. To be fair to the Subs they’ve always hit South Wales over the decades and that’s reason enough to bring me all this way and when they’re this good it’ll continue to be so.

Theres a quick encore to change the batteries and Charlie to put on his Santa hat before returning to the stage to lead the troops through a party favourite, potty-mouthed romp through ‘Hey Santa’ followed by the classics of ‘CID’ ‘Live In A Car’ and finally winding down with a blistering ‘Endangered Species’ and we were done. there are going to be some sore bodies in the morning but it’ll all be worth it when they remember how they got so sore thrashing around to the magnificent UK Subs.

Never give up gents and whilst there are some big creepers to fill on guitar these songs need to be sung. Have a break and see you in 2025. Oh, and good luck Stephen and thanks for your seven years as a UK Sub its been a blast.

Author: Dom Daley