Stuntface - Spam Javelin - The Raging Mabels @ G21, Chester

We’ve played the city a few times before, but never in The Saddle. Out the back is G21, a cozy little room with surprisingly big sound – perfect for a night like this. The place filled up nicely, plenty of familiar faces dotted around, and the vibe felt right from the off.

First up were Oswestry’s The Raging Mabels, who set the tone with a riff-roaring set that leaned hard into their Queens of the Stone Age-esque stomp. Great stuff, though clocking in at a hefty 55 minutes! Their guitarist, Sparky, deserves special mention – he builds his own guitars out of chopping boards and worktops, all four-string beasts that look as wild as they sound. Their mini-album Obey! has been out a year now, and if you haven’t already, it’s worth a spin: The Raging Mabels – Obey!.

Then it was our turn – Spam Javelin (v3.0). Something just clicked for us this time. From the first note it felt tight, feral, and gloriously loud. We tore through our Farage-baiting set with sweat flying and no let-up, and though the universe clearly wanted to keep me humble (the only two videos online are of the two songs I managed to balls up – ‘Fatal Attraction’ and the brand-new, first-time outing of ‘Reformed Gammon’), it still felt like one of the most enjoyable shows we’ve done in a long while.

And then came Stuntface. What can you say about this band that does them justice? Life-affirming, that’s for sure. Seeing them alive, spitting, and tearing it up again was a joy – especially knowing that their reformation traces back to that night a couple of years ago when I dragged Wayne up to sing ‘Life Is Loud’ with us. Tonight, they returned the favour, pulling me up to join them on the same track. The last time I tried that I accidentally knocked Wayne’s tooth out with a mic, but thankfully no dental injuries this round!

Wrexham’s finest powered through their arsenal of top-drawer punk rock: the aforementioned ‘Life Is Loud’, ‘TV Told You So’, ‘72 Hours Deceased’, ‘Commando A Go Go’, ‘Time To Fly’, plus a brand-new one making its live debut. Every song hit like a fistful of firecrackers.

And then, as always, it was over too soon. Chester did us proud, G21 did us proud, and sharing the stage with The Raging Mabels and Stuntface was an absolute blast. Roll on Mad Saturday in Wrexham this December where the same lineup does it again – if it’s anything like tonight, it’ll be one to remember.