Cockney Rejects, Sick of It All and More @ Union Transfer.

Text by Billy Barton. Images by Mattitude from Modern Bropar.

Friday afternoons are an excellent time to get things done. So, once the drums were moved from Fishtown back to south Philly, after cold beers and Oi! tattoos in Point Breeze, brother Mattitude and I biked up 13^th street to Spring Garden to Union Transfer to see the legendary Cockney Rejects.

There were bikes, punks and friends everywhere, with everyone envious of our late arrival and thus absence from the Hub City Stompers set. We entered what is nearly the best venue in Philly (turn down the vocals a bit) as the Ducky Boys were setting up. A pint of Yards and a round of hellos and high fives to the West Philly boys and gals and then the Ducks started quacking.

Dark Days is an excellent album by the Boston mallards. It’s been a long while since those songs were new but their reputation as a band rests firmly on that release. Unfortunately they played the two worst songs off it and the rest of their set sounded like so much posturing for corporate radio.

Coincidentally the two bands who did kill it that night both have a set of brothers within their ranks. Third at bat was Sick Of It All and the Koller brothers. They opened with “Built To Last” and then hit it out of the park with “Good Lookin’ Out.” After twenty-six years of hardcore punk, they all looked relatively healthy and sounded excellent especially considering there’s only ever been one guitarist. Long set that luckily – for me – included every song I wanted to hear.

After getting the NYHC dose, everyone took a piss and grabbed a beer and you could feel the mass realization sinking in that indeed the Cockney Rejects were playing next. Initially uncomfortable and vaguely aggressive suburban dudes were now getting drunk and if they held it back for S.O.I.A., they weren’t gonna for the fightin’ Cocks.

The Geggus brothers and company took to the stage with class. Cockney Rejects formed in 1978, the year I was born. A lot of old punk bands are pulling it together nowadays for another go at it and while many efforts fall short (the recent, awful Reagan Youth set), some completely deliver (the recent, amazing Cocksparrer set).

I’m very happy to report that the Cockney Rejects fucking killed it. The playing was fast and tight, the vocals were strong and the lads all looked like they were having a bloody good time, throwing jabs and hooks between verses.

The charmingly unintelligible east London banter endeared the crowd between songs, the last of which was “Oi! Oi! Oi!”

Walking outside afterwards, everyone was in a positive mood, which carried through the now long hours of the night, through the balmy bike ride back south, through the remaining warm back-pack beers and exclamations of, “Damn! We just saw Cockney Rejects!”