The Station- Ashton 8th October 2016

coming soon

0161 Fest 1st May 2016

"Crackin set. Just felt really short to me. Let's do it again sometime soon"

Steve Blackman

Thatched House Stockport - SAS 3 dayer / myspace blog

Next for me was AFS - utter class and a fuckin' great! Do you want me to go on

Thatched House Stockport - SAS 3 dayer

So to AFS.  This band I have been following since their early performances and in truth – I am a fan.  The approach is simplistic and the emphasis is on short, sharp punchy tunes with a few more cultured tunes thrown in for good measure and variety.  The Arthritic Foot Soldiers were bang on again and this terse, ten song treat oozed no-nonsense quality with some old faves on show as well as 3 new offerings.  The crème de la crème of today’s showing were the amusing ‘God Squad’, the ambiguous ‘Nobodies’ and the very classy ‘Dead Man Walking’.  Closing with 3 new tracks displayed "confidence and belief" – 2 expected ingredients I have come to know only too well.

The Gasworks - Voltage Records Night 23rd Nov 2007

AFS stands for Arthritic Foot Soldiers. Judging from the audience reaction though, it's a rather disingenuous acronym. The audience looked scared to death - these men had come to rape and pillage. There was nothing stiff or inflamed about this music. Just lean good old gnarly punk rock with lyrics that matter. They played songs from their new album, Delirium Tremors. My personal favourite being That's the Trouble With Bullets, which manages to be witty, angry and melodic at the same time. There's also a great song called Happy People - which is very down on our cheerful brethren - and rightly so. What have they to be happy about? It's just not on. AFS are a bunch of forty something skate-rockers kicking the collective arse of the youth of today, showing how to be outraged instead of apathetic. So come on young people - stop slashing your wrists and listen to some intelligent invective. AFS - some positive role models for you.

With a few hours to spare before visiting relatives in Bolton it was with a bit of luck that AFS were opening a show at The Alma Inn in Bolton. Complete with new bassist I was very keen to attend and turned up to be met by a band ready to strut their stuff. As a fan of AFS and already owning a copy of the new and excellent album 'Delirium Tremors' this evenings showing held much promise.

Kicking straight in with the Subs-esque 'Wouldn't Wanna Be You' the sound was spot on and 'Trouble With Bullets' casually breezed in and out before the always excellent 'God Squad' highlighted the bands comedic angle. 'Dirty Beer' blasted alon and only just held its own against the mighty 'Dead Man Walking'. Surely a song of anthemic proportions and one that gets the crowd well and truly settled.

This was as solid as ever and even though this was the bassist first outing and he was fairly static the playing and sound didn't lack anything in quality and ambience.

'Code Red' was class and is a meaty affair with 'No Hope' a melodic gem and 'Happy People' purely punk in delivery and nastiness.

'Nobodies' is a two-fingered salute to a critical cretin and is a persoanl fave and 'Tales Of A Drunken Generations' rounded off another AFS episode of excellence.

Shit crowd tonight but not a shit band and the fact that the attendance was poor reflects on a very shabby scene rather than a shabby band.

AFS are catchy, to the point and value for money so get yourself a few CD's, bounce around your living room and then get to a gig.

Fungalpunk/OMD

.....the Arthritic Foot Soldiers were away. One of the best bands around at the moment this was another fuckin’ belter with the only blemish being the volume of the bass for the first 3 tracks. The reason why this band is so good is obvious – each member knows his trade and the songs are sharp and instantaneously catchy. ‘Minimum Wage’, ‘God Squad’, ‘AFS Anthem’, ‘Nobodies’ and ‘Guns For Oil’ as well as the recently included ‘Dead Men Walking’ are massive examples of great punk rock songs that drip with a simplistic essence and spiteful edge. Why this band isn’t pulling more punters and enjoying greater success is blatantly apparent. Refusing to join any cliques and too much of a threat to a main band seem good reasons to me and anyone who hasn’t seen this lot is really missing out. A cracking start.

There’s not much I can say about AFS that I haven’t already said. For me this is a quality outfit that simply produces great song after great song. Despite being busy blokes and having various outside influences that dictate when they can play I think that they have done good by the tour and in return the tour has reciprocated by exposing them (perish the thought) to a lot more punters and given them a chance to establish a lot of good contacts and friends. Despite a few accoustic problems today they opened up with another good set and ‘Nobodies’, ‘Guns For Oil’, ‘Only Beer Can Save Us Now’ and ‘Duped’ were overall highs. 4 good musicians here that combine well and always give a good account of themselves. A fantastic start.

Next up were AFS who I first saw live at the punk4life all-dayer at the Thatched House in June 2005. They were good then but they have in a short time matured into a band who have something to say both musically and lyrically. I haven't seen these guys put in one bad performance, in fact they always put on a good show. All accomplished musicians they also have in Munki Boi the lead singer one of the most recogniseable singing voices on the circuit. AFS try to inject a bit of humour into their songs but they do generally have something to say. Some of the best songs on offer tonight were 'Anorexic Princess Of Pop', 'Hammer To The Head', 'Architecture Of Life', 'Guns For Oil' and my AFS favourite at the moment 'Minimum Wage'. I really enjoyed their set and they seemed to go down well with the rest of the crowd too.

Next the quality of AFS was apparent as these 4 poetic 'erberts did the stuff with ease and pleasure. Comedic, tuneful and very fuckin' entertaining the highlight was 'Guns for Oil' in a set that didn't have one dud number. I've never seen a bad un' from these fellars yet and that says it all. Live or on CD its class all the way that will surely carry these guys into a bright and heady future. Excellent.
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Arthritic Foot Soldiers, catchy melodic punk . Again heard the cds but this is the first time ive seen them live and they didnt disappoint. AFS didnt let the pace drop producing quality song after song pick of the batch Guns For Oil and Anarchy In Argos? Great Vocalist who seems right at home in front of the microphone and a guitarist who spent the set bouncing round the stage.

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Arthritic Foot Soldiers were excellent. Great anthemic punk, hefty singalong choruses and a tight as anything band

AFS - The Snooty Fox Wakefield 5th November 2005 (with Worm)

First on AFS (Arthritic Foot Soldiers), their first time the Snooty Fox and what a change to have a punk band that are tight that can play their songs. Not knowing any of their songs I was in store for some very funny moments and also some pause for thought with more serious tracks like "Guns for Oil", they blasted out one catchy tune after another, some being really short and some well crafted songs, but all having really great choruses, but let down by some slightly off key backing vocals if I have any criticism of this new band. But saying that, their live performance was over all was very good, and the band has such a odd look for a punk band and they have none of the standard looks that seems to be a must for an older punk outfit. AFS are somewhat clean-shaven and different, which should make them stand out and more accessible to music listeners.

It was announced that their set was being recorded so I'm looking forward to hearing that as well as there album, with so many sing-a-long ditties this band should be getting a lot attention, I for one will be keeping an eye on this lot of ageing punksters!

Issue 10 (Fanzine)

AFS (Arthritic Foot Soldiers) in case you were wondering) It;s refreshing to see a mondern punk band with a social/political consience who can still retain their sense of humour & bang out a catchy tune.

I enjoyed there set at Thatched House Stockport (October) in front of a quite good crowd - tonight they had they had the unenviable task of opening the gig in the half full Cellar Bar. They stormed into their set regardless & soon the handfull of punks in attendance were bouncing along, with the infectius guitar riffs, whilst curious Cellar Bar regulars started to fill up the back of the room.

Anyway a few more punters arrived and AFS (albeit a half hour late due to the slow turn-out) got things well and truly underway. Unafraid of being repetitious I feel once again that this outfit are pure, fuckin' class. Tonight I couldn't find one blip in the set and the whole performance was a melodic montage of punk rocks finer moments. Unassuming and lacking any airs or graces this 'erbertesque set is ultimately streetpunk at its best. Always a pleasure to work with (despite Carls fascinating impersonation of a coked up bumblebee) AFS reflect every ideal that punk should be. The highlights of the set were 'AFS Anthem' , 'Nobodies', 'Minimum Wage' and 'Guns for Oil' but the whole cacophonic pleasure was one permanent high.

As per usual - brilliant.

Back into the fray and the remarkable progress of AFS continued with yet another mesmerising set. This is quintessential punk rock and anyone in disagreement is a tone deaf cunt (a personal opinion). Like it or loathe it AFS produce a classic punk rock noise that encapsulates and combines a simplicity and skill of focused brilliance. 'AFS Anthem' (Katie says thanks), 'Guns for Oil' and 'Minimum Wage' were pearls amongst a jewellery box of delights and contributed to another classic. Of course in this world of punk critiques (piss taken) these affable oiks will always have their knockers but with confidence in their own ability and an unerring knack to produce one quality ditty after the other this lot should have too much ammunition for the unbelievers. Finally and going off on a complete but relevant tangent - I am currently thinking of making a B-movie and considering Munki Boi as the lead man. 'Attack of the Shite Jumpers' or 'Crap Pullovers from Mars' seem appropriate titles. If you see any photos of the said actor prior to the performance you may just well agree.

Well yet another punk gig at the witchwood and hopefully there will be plenty more to come after this recent influx. A bit of a mixed bag crowd wise as there were more DAs than mohicans on show.

Arthritic Foot Soldiers (AFS) were on first. After playing the punk4life all dayer at the Thatched House in Stockport in June I have really become a fan of this band and not only because they play good music. The band are a great example to other bands in the fact that they are in it for nothing else but the music. Too many bands these days look at how much money they can make by selling overpriced merchandise and charging huge fees to play. AFS could never be accused of doing this. The set they played was tighter than Ebeneezer Scrooge and whilst having some humour in their lyrics 'Anorexic Princess Of Pop', 'Anarchy In Argos' and 'God Squad' they tackle subjects that are important 'Guns For Oil' and Minimum Wage'. A lot of their songs have singalong choruses which always goes down well with the crowd watching. They ended their excellent set with 'Tales Of A Drunken Generation' the title track from their latest CD. The band really seemed to go down well with the crowd there and hopefully AFS will be get more gigs as a result.

Well to me the only saving grace on the night were AFS who were far and away the best band but that's my opinion. The £10 charged on the door was ridiculous to say the least and this was reflected in the small turnout. King Kurt are living on past glories and in my mind they never had any glories in the past. I am sure there will be plenty of other reasonably priced gigs at The Witchwood in the future, fingers crossed.

AFS graced the stage at the Buffalo Boards birthday party in Colchester Essex to a warm welcome ,punk rock as it should be-loud ,tight & fucking full on.

Opening with ' Skate to Live' a perfect track for the buffalo crowd,Carl wielding the the now famous SKA-TAR { a 'homewrecker' longboard that has been turned into a guitar-awesome!}. they indulged us with their material such as god squad','Guns For Oil',' Texas idiot,'- the list goes on & on ,I've never seen so many songs be delivered in such a short period of time ,watch out for their new album coming out.

Jon on vocals ,
Carl on guitar,
Jason on bass,
Rob on the skins

... is a great combination, for 30 minutes it was like 1976 all over again -anarchy rained supreme!.culminating in a punk version of buffalo soldiers written especially for us (thanx guys) we fucking loved it, a great live show that just gets better & better. AFS travelled hundreds of miles to do this gig & we were truly honored to have you on our stage when are ya coming back !?????
................................boomerdog.............. www.buffalolongboards.com

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