THE PRINCESS PAVILION, FALMOUTH (16TH MAY)

NEW MODEL ARMY

(Reviewed by Crafty Pete)

Led by Justin Sullivan, (AKA Slade the Leveller), New Model Army bizarrely claimed it had taken them 25 years to get to Cornwall at their triumphant Pavilion gig... strange really because I saw them at St.Austell`s old Colisium (RIP) in the late 80s and they were often found at The Poachers pub in Roche throughout this time when recording and rehearsing. Justin must be getting old if he`s forgotton his Cornish history, outside of Lancashire/Yorkshire, the Cornish must have bought more of his band`s albums than anyone else.
Unsurprisingly after all this time, the original band members are all gone except Justin, some dead (Rob Heaton to cancer recently) and others merely fallen by the wayside. This is the reality of a longterm music career, but we take it in our clog-wearing stride and continue to relive the memories of younger days.
The old tunes revived our spirits, tracks like Stupid Questions and Here comes the War were sadly still relevant to today`s world and even more so the power of 51st State . Singing was loud and strong from those of us who`d been here the first time around, but the audience held second and even third generation fans who joined in the celebration.
Punk with a touch of folk is a rare combination, a bit of politics, (`...mynamesbeneltongudnight!`), and you`ve got the Army.
Bloodied and bruised, but unbowed, the message is still the same;

Don`t let the bastards grind ya down!