To Penrith for what promised to be a good night of live punk and Oi.The first time I've been in The White Horse and it's a small pub in the town centre with a decent pint and quite a few punks and skins milling about outside enjoying the crack.

Gimp Fist kicked off the nights entertainment but the second song in disaster struck when the mics fucked up. Despite plenty of effort no one could get them working but this didn't put the band off though as they carried on and gave us a great instumental set comprising of classic ska and Oi covers they played the likes of 'Oi Oi Oi' by the Rejects, 'Someones Gonna Die' by Blitz and 'Madness' by Prince Buster among others. By now the crowd had got over the dissapointment of the vocals and were singing along. This carried on until the mics were fixed and then Gimp Fist continued with the covers only now with the vocals in full working order we had 'Nation On Fire', 'Skinhead Girl' and 'Chaos'.The crowd were now shouting for Gimp Fists own songs so they finished with the brilliant 'Just Another Country'.

No Thrills hit the floor and these lads are very popular not only in Penrith their home town but in Cumbria as a whole. Quite a few of the punters tonight were making the short trip from Carlisle and with no more mic problems they blasted through a great set of old favourites and a few newer numbers that soon had people bouncing about in appreciation. 'Fake ID' is a favourite of mine and Pez delivers his vocals with barely hidden contempt for the subject matter of this song. If you don't know what it's about check them out at http://www.myspace.com/nothrillsuk. They have a few gigs around the north of England before the end of the year so if you like good honest punk rock get down and see them when they play your town.

A night that could have fell apart at an early stage turned out very well and I went home with a copy of Gimp Fists great new album 'Your Time Has Come' and it's never been out of my CD player since.

review by Dave Bell (30 Sept 2008)