Mad Caddies / Random Hand

A night of ska punk awaits those in Leeds' Cockpit tonight as California's ska punk masters the Mad Caddies make a rare trip over the pond to entertain us. Random Hand are on hand to support the show.



The local ska band do a fantastic job of rallying the crowd, as the place is full and half of it is skanking to the Keighley foursome. Frontman Robin Leitch was born to perform, playing trombone and singing and basically bouncing about like Tigger with ADHD. His comical banter with the crowd goes down a storm, for which his requests for circle pits and people dancing at the front are granted by the eager crowd.

Many songs show their punk roots, but the set also includes many elements of metal, reggae, dub and hip hop. The musicianship is outstanding for just the four guys. Punk lyrics about minimum wage and anger management are cleverly written, and the chorus is sung along by many of the crowd, showing this band are gaining a huge following. One of the most appreciated support bands I have seen for a long time.



Mad Caddies were born of the skatepunk scene prevalent in mid-Nineties California, and joined the label Fat Wreck Chords as did many for this genre (after a stint on Honest Dons label with the likes of Chixdiggit and Diesel Boy). Not many others on the same label however played ska punk, and these guys do it so well they stood out for me and others amongst all the other fast paced pop punk.

Tonight's crowd show me too that they are still going strong. 'Quality Soft Core' was a staple album of my youth, but that was their debut 15 years ago, and most of these kids will have only been teething by then. That said there’s not many older tracks for me to recognise, but the line between old and new stuff is heavily blurred, and it all sounds great.

There is a technical hitch during the first part of the show but the professionals "roll on from the break." Nearly the whole room is skanking now. It's one way to keep your rising heating costs down this winter... spend the money on a gig ticket instead, because this place is boiling!



The set focuses heavily on the last album 'Keep It Going', which was out 5 years ago to be fair! The debut album previously mentioned is not aired at all… no 'No Se', 'Distress' or 'I'm So Alone'. There's a big roar for 'Monkeys' from their next superb album 'Duck And Cover', along with 'Road Rash', 'No Hope' and 'Macho Nachos'. The band have actually rerecorded 'Distress' for 2012, and it's awesome, hear it on their website.

Set list:

Without You
Falling Down
Tired Bones
Backyard
Leavin'
Villians
10 West
Spare Change
Lay Your Head Down
State Of Mind
Souls For Sale
Monkeys
Silence
Weird Beard
Drinking For 11
Contraband
No Hope
Road Rash
Macho Nachos
Why Must I Wait?
Coyote

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.