Live - London Astoria Rancid Reviewed By : David Ellis

The name Rancid has a very similar linguistic effect to the statement 'I'm not racist but...' since most sane and reasonable people will take a default position of revulsion to whatever follows. In their case however, it would be due to blind prejudice on the part of the latter than the former, for while Rancid remain the best and hardest latter-day embodiment of the punk ethic, they are also a truly sublime rock act. Not many bands of 20 years’ standing have so valiantly resisted selling out anything other than their blood-sweat-and-tears live shows (I for one believe there are mitigating circumstances with regard to Tim Armstrong's solo work and 'that' shampoo) in this case three nights at the Astoria.
 
They begin this stretch with an admirable two full hours onstage, tearing through well over 30 songs from their back catalogue, accomplished Operation Ivy 'Knowledge' as rapturously received as their own well-loved classics 'Roots Radicals,' 'Ruby Soho' and 'Old Friend'. The frenetic punk pace of the gig is broken only twice: by Freeman’s mesmerising ‘Maxwell’s Murder’ bass solo and  the acoustic punkrock social-inclusion ballad 'The Wars End' whose chorus 'Little Sammy was a punk-rocker' is chorused in almost religious unison by the devoted crowd.

They save their arguably most famous track, the ska-flavoured 'Time Bomb', for the encore, the intro accommodating multitudinous thanks and the news that they have been back in the studio again, which nets the biggest cheer of the night, lighting the touch-paper for the rapture of 'Time Bomb' itself seconds later.

An Astoria sell-out will always be an exercise in preaching to the converted. But, tonight at least, it’s deserved devotion, deserving in fact of many a more mainstream rock convert; let’s just hope the bad name doesn’t get in the way of the good word.