State Radio @ KCLSU 20/05/08 with the Beat Union/Ill Scarlet

Considering the usually rabid following State Radio pull, the cavernous interior of Tutu’s is surprisingly empty, but U.S openers Ill Scarlet, pull all the stops out to try and get the initially sparse crowd moving. Although their pint-sized front man’s exhortations to dance go largely unnoticed by an indifferent audience, they play a solid, if hardly groundbreaking set of punk/reggae reminiscent of Sublime’s weaker moments. The Beat Union on the other hand have just returned from the states and are on fine homecoming form as their old-school punk gets the pit moving at last, the highlight being Heart Attack, a perfect blast of The Sex Pistols being channelled through Rancid’s Out Come The Wolves.
However, as State Radio wander on to the stage and set up the audience erupts, with newcomers cheering as excitedly as veterans from the Flag of the Shiners early-days. The band tear through the opening number as Chad leaps from the drum-riser to set the tone: politico-punk, raggedly glorious in its raging exuberance. Guantanamo, the first song off new release Year of the Crow garners the first mass sing-along with the crowd in fine voice that does not diminish throughout the set. Even People To People, perhaps the weakest song off Us Against The Crown, sounds incredible tonight and as the band launches into b-side Good Graces, there is hardly a voice not raised to accompany Chad’s aching lyrics. The great thing about watching State Radio is not only the great songs, or the raw sound of an intensely genuine band, but also seeing three friends obviously loving playing music together. Chad pulls out his guitar converted from a gas can for a raucous rendition of Man In The Hall while old classic The Waitress has one of the best receptions of the night, with every set of lungs in the room yelling the chorus ecstatically back at the band. The infectious grooves of C.I.A and Black Cab Motorcade set the floor dance floor heaving with moving bodies and give way effortlessly to Sudan, a rallying call to aid for the war-torn Darfur, and the tale of Camilo, a conscientious objector who was imprisoned after refusing to return to fight in Iraq. The encore is closed with rip-roaring run through of State Inspector but the crowd are reluctant to let the band go chanting “One more song!” and as Chad and Maddog argue with security at the side of the stage it looks they are going to get their wish. And so when Chuck Fay asks what song the crowd wants requests fly thick through the hot air. Eventually they play the fantastic Dylan-esque Fall Of The American Empire followed by a barnstorming Mr. Larkin which the crowd was baying for, bringing down the house and the curtain of their European tour in fitting fashion. The band even come out at the end to meet the fans, which is a rare enough thing nowadays, but then State radio are not your average band as the grin on Chad Stoke’s face betrays.