Can’t believe its been several weeks since I saw a band live so what better way to break into 2025 than watching The Boys and Marc Valentine in The Exchange in Bristol, the venue with the best PA in all clubland.

Marc opened proceedings with a fine set of souped-up happy-go-lucky Rock n Roll and had the perfect foil in Richard Davies slinging round his telecaster. What you got was two broken strings in one support set, a Happy Birthday to the Bass player and a confident romp through forty-five minutes of great punky power pop played with a swagger because Marc knows he can write a tune or two and the likes of ‘Jinx Of Finchley Road’ and the set closer ‘Last Train Home’ hammered home that very point and I can’t imagine there was anyone in the busy Exchange who wouldn’t have been impressed with what they just saw.

Tracks from ‘Future Obscure’ stood shoulder to shoulder with songs from the more recent ‘Basement Sparks’ and a well-placed cover of ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ seemed spot on. A wonderful support slot and just what was needed to shake off the post-Christmas cobwebs. If you get the chance, go see Marc and his band they’ll entertain and have you chewing out the rhythm on your bubblegum for sure. Excellent Rock n Roll songs delivered with a smile and passion, great stuff.

Onto the main event and the Boys. Now I’ve seen the band over the last couple of decades many many times in all sorts of venues but it has been a few years since we last crossed paths so I was really looking forward to tonight. Joining Matt and Cas on second guitar tonight is Chips Kiesbye as well as longtime Bass player /vocalist Kent and on drums the powerhouse that is Martin H Son.

There was no messing about tonight and the band got straight down to business knocking out classic after classic with only the odd forgotten lyric or missed cue it always makes for a more human and real experience when these things happen and the ban are so relaxed about it and just get on with the job at hand. It’s only after the first dozen or so songs you realise how many bloody quality songs they have in their canon, It ‘TCP’ into ‘See You Later’. ‘Weekend’, ‘Terminal Love’, ‘Soda Pressing’ are all dispatched with aplomb and the appreciative audience is lapping it up.

It’s hard to believe that ‘Punk Rock Menopause’ is over a decade old as songs like ‘1976’, and ‘Organ Grinder’ sit so nicely with ‘Global Warming’ in the Boys catalogue. It’s not until ‘You Can’t Hurt A Memory’ that we get a breather of sorts as the band sounds fantastic be it from actually rehearsing or muscle memory or just Rock n Roll is in their bones but they just deliver the best of times with songs like ‘USI’ then follow it up with the fantastic melodies and harmonies that go into ‘I’m A Believer’.

Cas leads us into the home straight with a raucous Hollywood Brats ‘Tumble With Me’. Martin Signals the final flurry with the awesome beat that gets the hands in the air for ‘Brickfield Nights’ and the audience duly obliges with helping out on the vocals for an exceptional run through ‘Brickfield’. Its heads down for the final romp as ‘First Time’ makes way for a thunderous ‘Living In The City’ before we say adios amigos with Cas taking the lead vocals for ‘Sick On You’. Almost two dozen songs in roughly an hour and a bit delivered with passion and attitude that belies their ages. the Boys are a Rock n Roll phenomenon with a proud catalogue and the ability to still deliver excellent Rock n Roll live without the aid of a safety net or walking aids. It doesn’t happen very often but if you do get the chance go see them, they’ll impress you no question about it. What a top night to break in 2025. Marc Valentine and The Boys Diolch Am Fawr.

Author: Dom Daley