Saturday 6th June 2009 @ Academy, Bristol

It’s a Saturday night and the weather has turned its back on the summer again but that wasn’t going to stop the Academy’s main attraction tonight and Me First & The Gimme Gimmes took to the stage in Hawaiian shirts and bright white trousers, bringing a slice of sunshine with them. Those of you unfortunate enough to not have heard of Me First & The Gimme Gimmes should be ashamed; they are a punk band who cover many random songs from many genres and re-mash them into two minute long punk anthems! Their music is the perfect road trip or party music and tonight it’s the ultimate mosh music!

Nothing is safe from their tribute tyranny. Highlights from the almost 30 song set included such fan favourites as Summertime, Jolene and I Believe I Can Fly (with the awesome trademark ukulele intro). My personal favourite was the punk rendition of Science Fiction Double Feature from Rocky Horror and I was pretty pleased they played it.

Having never seen Me First… live before, I wondered if the energy of the songs would transfer to a live show well but it actually enhanced all the songs. The performance was just as much a comedy act as it was a live band show. You can tell that the band have a lot of fun when they are on tour and they let the fans in on every joke. Every time Spike, the lead singer, said “this next one’s a cover,” the joke never got old and the quips between songs and dance moves between band members were hilarious.

The best thing about this gig was that you could literally take anyone to it and they would have a ball. You don’t need to know their songs because chances are you’ve heard them already! It would be a perfect gig for anyone who wants to have a dance and sing along to some great music performed in a different way. If you don’t have them in your collection what are you waiting for? Summer is upon us and these guys will make it so much better whatever the weather!

www.gimmegimmes.com

Stu Freeman