LIVE REVIEW: PUNK N ROLL RENDEZVOUS FESTIVAL: SATURDAY AT THE WATER RATS, LONDON

HEALTHY JUNKIES/DESENSITISED/FRENCH TOAST/BAD MILK BLOOD ROBOT/SNM/GURU HONEY BADGER/JAZ SILVA

I made it along to the second full night of the annual Punk n Roll Rendezvous Festival, at the Water Rats in Grays Inn Road. Armed with camera and my very small brain, I felt strangely uneasy about what I was about to witness. And with good reason…

Jaz Silva came on stage first, and was anything but static, cavorting around the dance floor with a confidence that made it feel like the whole room was her stage. There was a unpredictable edge to her performance, and when she announced that things were going to “get messy”, it felt less like a throwaway comment and more like a promise. A bit of writhing on the floor followed, which to anyone that knows Jaz Silva came as no surprise at all. Her music sits comfortably between pop, R&B and something a little more left-field, with Silva’s expressive vocals giving the songs plenty of attitude. Actually, a lot of attitude.

Alternative doesn’t even begin to describe the next act on. Guru Honey Badger is the brainchild and musical project of burlesque artiste Marquissa Darq. Make no mistake, this is not a band, it’s a cabaret in badger’s clothing. Some grinding guitar sounds and a lot of badger style growling was accompanied by the appearance of possibly a real life zombie, and (a first for me) a couple of numbers where the guitar was played with a blue dildo. Surely a trick that has been missed by punk rock for all these decades. The reinvention of cock rock. Hard to believe that more fun has ever been had by three ladies on one stage for a whole half an hour.

How can anyone possibly follow Guru Honey Badger? Yet SNM, the next band on, was faced with this impossible task. And how they properly got to work on it: they hit the stage with high energy and proceeded to make a glorious racket. The guitar was suitably filthy, the grungy riffs in “The Factory” and “Hopscotch” hit hard and there was a dark, menacing quality running through the set. Mimi screamed like she had something to get off her chest, while the guitarist twisted and rocked across the stage like the riffs were physically passing through him. By the time they closed with “The People”, SNM had left the room suitably battered.

The relentless insanity of the evening continued with the arrival of Bad Milk Blood Robot. Describing themselves as psychedelic grunge rock, their music was an unruly collision of dirty guitars, driving grooves, synths and punk energy, with the band seemingly determined to see just how many different sounds they can cram into a song. There’s a manic quality to it all, but underneath the madness are some seriously infectious riffs and grooves, and they (like all the bands on tonight) were a visual feast for the photographers, with a demented frontman, clown bassist, as well as a cow and hooded guitarist. And a weirdly unnerving hand puppet, difficult to identify but maybe a rabid rabbit, called Mr Teeth. Completely mental but absolutely brilliant.

Who could possibly have any stamina left for any more? Didn’t matter, because French Toast were on next and they were going to blow away any thoughts of a rest after the Robots. From what I had read the sure thing about what to expect from a French Toast gig was to have no idea what to expect.. apart that is, from the human explosion of madness that is the band’s frontperson, Lily Riott. And she absolutely did not disappoint. The band’s blend of punk/soul/post-punk/theatre and general craziness was dominated by Riott’s command of the stage and much of the dance floor; she was all over the stage, in the crowd, just flying around everywhere. The editor of Joyzine asked me to avoid photos of visible nipples; a tall order indeed as anyone at the gig will testify – after much searching I managed to find a handful of shots that I could actually publish..

A return to some semblance of reality followed with the next band on, Rendezvous regulars Desensitised. “Ayup, we’re from Nottingham” they announced. Opening with “Emily”, Desensitised wasted no time showing just how tight a three-piece can be. Having played together since school, the trio are clearly comfortable in each other’s company and on the stage, locking into the riffs and rhythms with impressive precision. Songs like “Messed Around” and “Burn The Witch” are polished without losing their punch, with big choruses sitting alongside crunchy guitars and driving drums. After some of the evening’s more chaotic performances, Desensitised were a reminder that you don’t always need to throw yourself around the stage to put on a cracking show – sometimes just being bloody good at what you do is enough.

And for those who had survived through the entire evening’s debauchery, there was the headliner… The Healthy Junkies are never particularly interested in behaving themselves on stage, and their latest outing at The Water Rats was no exception. Opening with “Julie’s Got a Job”, they launched straight into their trademark collision of punk attitude, melodic hooks and sheer energy, with Nina throwing herself into the performance with her usual complete disregard for staying upright. “Self Conscious” and “Some Kind of Girl” kept things rattling along before “Son and a Daughter” and “Hypocrite” took the intensity up a notch. The latter is barely a minute long, but what it lacks in duration it more than makes up for in thrash – a gloriously frantic blast that arrives, causes havoc and disappears before you’ve had time to say hello. There was a new number in the set too, with the band putting their own stamp on Bass Drum of Death’s “Bad Reputation”. It fitted seamlessly into the set, adding another dose of punky swagger before “This Is Not a Suicide” and “Theft” brought things to a finish. Of course, Nina couldn’t make it through an entire show without spending a fair amount of time on the floor. By the end she was down there again, and as usual accompanied by Phil’s guitar, which seemed an appropriately chaotic way to round things off. “Oh La La” and “Theft” had already left the room buzzing, but the final image of Nina sprawled on the floor with Phil’s guitar rather neatly summed up the Healthy Junkies live experience: energetic, unpredictable and never entirely under control – which is really what the festival was all about.

What an unbelievable, amazing evening! Roll on next year’s fest..