Artist: Punk Rock Factory, Adam And The Metal Hawks
Venue: Bristol, SWX
Date: 19 October 2023
"The venue is sold out for the lovely lads from Wales, a sea of mostly twenty and thirty-somethings eager to sing their little hearts out for ninety minutes. Before the band take the stage there’s a pre-recorded comedy intro that’s, amazingly, actually funny, letting us know that this may not be band that takes things all that seriously."
Due to some transport issues we manage to miss most of U.S support act Adam & The Metal Hawks, though amongst some lively originals they also throw in a fun cover of Donna Summer’s ‘Hot Stuff’ and manage to get everything going with Zep’s ‘Rock & Roll’ as a closer. Vocalist Adam Ezegelian has a good, lively energy that goes well with their songs, though his Brian Johnson-lite vocals are neither great nor poor.
The venue is sold out for the lovely lads from Wales, a sea of mostly twenty and thirty somethings eager to sing their little hearts out for ninety minutes. Before the band take the stage there’s a pre-recorded comedy intro that’s, amazingly, actually funny, letting us know that this may not be band that takes things all that seriously. It seems that the whole point of a Punk Rock Factory gig is to simply have fun and not care who sees you doing it. As they come out and launch into ‘I Just Can’t Wait To be King’ the crowd goes mental, everyone singing gleefully along to the Disney classic that’s being delivered at a few times its normal speed. Vocalist Peej spends the entire song in the front of stage pit with security and photographers, much to the delight of the front row. It’s the first night of their first real tour and they go for it, following the opener with well-known songs like ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Under The Sea’, whilst Disney are a constant presence thanks to the likes of ‘Under The Sea’, ‘You’re Welcome’ and more. Even Hamilton gets a look in as they liven the fuck out of ‘You’ll Be Back’, whilst Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ has never been so fun and my favourite cover ‘You’re The Voice’ is fantastic live.
As well as this sort of thing they also love a bit of TV theme tunes, and it’s way too enjoyable to hear themes from ‘Thundercats’, ‘Power Rangers, ‘Pokemon’, ‘Chipmunks’ and ‘Paw Patrol’. Did I mention they’re not very serious? Half way through the music stops and Peej dons a sparkly jacket to entice the audience to vote for the next track, courtesy of an online page. Yes, we all get out our phones and do as instructed whilst the theme from ‘Countdown’ plays. This is very surreal, but I’m well pissed off when the result means we have to have the ‘Gummy Bears’ theme when obviously the best track would have been ‘St Elmo’s Fire’. Curse you, under fifties!
Punk Rock Factory seem to have hit on a magic formula, giving audiences silliness plus tunes they know and love all wrapped up in a frenetic Punk style. Special mention must go to the guy who “surfed” on an inflatable all the way from the stage to the back of the venue and back again to win a T-shirt. Yes, this is the sort of thing to expect at a PRF gig, and it’s exactly why I’d see them again in a heartbeat (hmmm... maybe they’ll play the theme to ‘Heartbeat’). Tidy.
Review: Alan Holloway
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