Concert Review - Bad Manners - Auckland - 16th April 2025

Presented By Metropolis Touring

Bad Manners at Auckland Tuning Fork - Photo Credit Ginny Cocks

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL BAD MANNERS GALLERY BY GINNY COCKS

Review By: Sarah Kidd

Artist/Band: Bad Manners

Venue/City: The Tuning Fork, Auckland, New Zealand

Date of Event: Wednesday 16th April 2025

School nights call for early starts and reasonable bedtimes, and a whole lot of skanking in between. Especially if none other than North London’s Bad Manners happens to be gracing your town with their presence.

Fifty years running and the boys still know how to bring the heat; sure, Buster Bloodvessel may be the last man standing from the OG line-up, but with that infallible sense of fun and banter that is unmistakable, Bad Manners is always a guaranteed good night out.

With the venue filled just nicely to almost capacity, Bad Manners – currently a seven-piece band – arrived on stage to raucous cheers and drinks raised in the air. The audience were ready and waiting, with the gorgeous sound of two tone permeating the air, the arrival of Buster himself was a heartwarming sight.

He may not burst out onto the stage anymore, running around like a crazy thing, but the man still has presence. His cheeky smile and a flash of that tongue that is still large enough to host a dinner party all of its own, his entrance is like that of a long-lost comrade.
Wasting no time, Bad Manners hit the crowd with a volley of hits, ‘This is Ska’, ‘Feel Like Jumping’ and of course ‘Walking in Sunshine’, its wonderful rhythmical feeling wrapping itself around the fans and making them feel like they should be pulling a pair of shades down over their eyes as they soaked up the rays from above.

Heads were down and feet were shuffling, the two step being replicated from front to back as people gave themselves over to the tune, Adrian Cox on saxophone especially taking the song to the next level.

When it comes to an end, everyone looks at Bloodvessel expectantly, they are hungry for more and he knows it, the cheeky grin appears, and with a nod of the head the band are straight back into it, ‘Exodus,’ and ‘El Pussycat’ revving them up. “I want to skank! Meow!” Buster bellows, and skank they did, the percussion section in particular pulling off some impressive, synchronised moves without ever missing a note.

Summer may have just departed Aotearoa’s fair shores, but it certainly didn’t feel like it within the walls of the Tuning Fork. This wasn’t a gathering of miscellaneous punters, this was a rally, where both young and old laid down their best moves and proved that ska and two-tone are still very much beloved.

And Bad Manners could see it, the more hyped the crowd got the more heat that poured from the stage; Bloodvessel taunting them every so often by asking if they wanted more, pivoting gracefully into compliments of how beautiful everyone was and how blessed he was to be there.

Soon Bad Manners moved into the territory of the compulsory sing a longs, the tracks where your voice was pulled from your chest without you even realising; like second nature. ‘Ne-Ne Na-Na Na-Na Nu-Nu’ is one such song. It was as if someone had reached over and turned the volume dial on the back of Buster’s back to full, his voice booming as he sang the title, the audience echoing it back.

A moment froze in time, no words were spoken, Buster gazed upon the rows of faces before him, and they realized that they would have to do better than that. Again, he made the call, and this time the room vibrated as the fans called back. Satisfied the song continued with renewed vigour.

“You Fat Bastard!” a man cried out, Buster giving it back as good as he got, the chant being echoed across the room just as ‘Skinhead Love Affair’ threw everyone back into dancing mode.

Bringing the set to a close and their cover of Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs track ‘Woolly Bully’ - a deeply infectious tune that will make even the most hardened wallflower shake what their mama gave them – and ‘Special Brew’ had the fans salivating, their cries for more nipping at the heels of the band as they left the stage for a momentary breather outside in the crisp night air.

Reappearing and Bad Manners had not just one, not two but a three-song encore, much to the delight of all who were present, Buster genuinely thanking one and all for being there before performing a few party tricks with his tongue.

‘Pipeline’ had everyone moving in time with the beat, the smiles on their faces saying all that needed to be said. The opening notes of ‘Lip Up Fatty’ were met with whoops of delight and pints of beer held high, the chorus sung word for word in time with the band, Cox shining through with the sax.

But all good things must come to an end, and how better to do that than with the ‘Can Can,’ the Jacques Offenbach classic that became an instant hit from their 1980 album ‘Gosh It’s … Bad Manners’, it was indeed the perfect way to close the night, with an absolute dollop of good-hearted English frivolity.

But in truth, the evening was actually summed up beautifully by one moment; as the crowd poured through the doors to make their way home, they all of a sudden came to a halt, mid-step, arms automatically outstretched to bring others to a stop as it was noticed that Buster, surrounded by his band mates, was making his way across the concourse towards the green room.

An ovation pierced the air, one that was brimming with pure adoration and warmth.

Because after fifty years, that is what Bad Manners still evokes within their fans and will continue to do so for undoubtedly many more years to come.

SET LIST
Echo 4 + 2
This is Ska
My Girl Lollipop – Cover Millie
Lorraine
Feel Like Jumping
Walking in the Sunshine
Sally Brown
King Ska Fa
Exodus
Red River Ska
Too Good To Be True – Cover Frankie Valli
Just a Feeling
El Pussycat
Ne-Ne Na-Na Na-Na Nu-Nu – Cover Dicky Doo & the Don’ts
Skinhead Love Affair
Inner London Violence
Don’t be Angry
Woolly Bully – Cover Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
Special Brew
Pipeline - Encore
Lip Up Fatty – Encore
Can Can - Encore

Bad Manners Tour PR 2025.

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