OK boys and girls,

Here's the first of what I hope will be many reviews of the 3 Tuns gig. Send 'em in and I'll post 'em! This is from my friend, Keith!

"My association with Punilux goes back to the late 1970's when I watched them perform Puppet Life on a local TV rock show called "Alright Now"
I then saw them live supporting the Skids and later in their own right headlining in Newcastle.

When the band split up, I followed Brian's music career with interest and attended most (if not all) of the Zoo Bazaar and early Punching Holes gigs around Tyneside. For a time, Brian gave up the front man role to play guitar in a reincarnated Punching Holes with Cathy on vocals. This too was a great period to be involved with the band.

The much awaited reunion gig at The Three Tuns in Gateshead was well worth waiting almost three decades for! The small venue was packed to the rafters with around 175 aging punks and it was good to talk to some old faces from the past.

The band started an hour long set with Puppet Life and the place bounced from one track to another. Brian wearing red eye make up and at times rubber gloves brought back all of the theatrical reminders of the past and a giant video screen projected images of the band over the years. The sound was every bit as tight as it was in the 70's and for me; it was as if I had gone back in time into a punk heaven!

Radar Bug, Metropolis, Secrets British Baboon were all there and of course classics like Jellyfish and Engine of Excess created a frenzy of dancing and pogoing. I was particularly pleased that the band had slotted in a brand new track which sounded modern and fresh as well as an old favourite of mine from the Punching Holes days – Sour Faced Valerie.
The last planned track of the night was Laughing Academy which again had every one singing along to.

A well deserved encore brought cheers and shouts for Brainbomb which brought the house down and a final reprise of Puppet Life sent everyone on their way happy and contented and wanting more gigs.

A word of warning about the venue – my car was broken into just outside which made a sad end to a fantastic night.

Punilux 1970's is dead – long live Punilux!"

Keith
www. highlights-public-relations. co. uk

And now this, from Space Relation:

http://www.myspace.com/thespacerelation

"it was like every old timer of geordieland was out on sunday night.gig was well sold out,but hey ,how many people can you get in the tuns? a..well over the max.band came on with a great big roar,the verticaly challenged saw nowt,hands went up holding digital cameras,so the v c could at least see some thing thru the small monitor screens.the air con could not cope with so many sweaty bodies bouncing up n down,its the floor i felt sorry for. they started slow ish,picked up pace after 3 tunes,by the time they got to radar bug/metropolis the police came about the noise. what to do?doors closed to keep "noise in" it was like a pressure cooker,some thing was gonna give but hey some new tunes thru most,a sudden calm across as what to expect next?"if they dont do jellyfish we are gonna kick off"i over herd,people drifted in to the bar,where a small crowd had started to round the end of bar.why? tshirts?posters? no,a small black n white tv cctv covering the stage,ideal spot.one old boy ,a local said he can remember buying this record"brain bomb"and he thought they were a weekend covers band and more bands should cover punilux. still a great gig ,i do hope some more come up,will have to geta bus sorted,like in the olden days .it was fun at futurerama 79,but mind blowin at tuns please xcuse the spellin,i am a bit worse for the ware . all the best ,punilux were the first live band i saw,i hope its not my last...golfe 43 newcastle,geordieland."