The Meffs
A band that remains true to their beliefs. They exude an energy and a passion that makes me want to keep coming back.
It has already been a busy twelve months for Colchester power-punk duo The Meffs. As well as filling a series of UK summer festival slots, including appearances at Glastonbury and Download, guitarist Lily Hopkins and drummer Lewis Copsey spent the Autumn of 2024 as tour support to Alice Cooper for a series of UK arena gigs. They also recently performed at Norwich's Epic Studios, first as openers for Frank Turner last summer, then returning to support Stiff Little Fingers in July of this year. And yet, even though the album 'What A Life' was released in September 2024, the duo are only just managing to set off on a UK tour to promote it. Norwich Waterfront Studio is the first stop of eight before they depart for dates in Italy and Germany.
Norwich has certainly taken the Meffs to their heart, and this gig is completely sold out. In recognition of the continuing spirit of punk, the evening begins with another Norwich favourite, punk legends Red Flag 77, the raucous full-on four-piece from Ipswich that still includes original members Rikki Flag on vocals and Malculm Powder on drums. The line-up also includes 'Kentucky' Kev Moore on guitar and John 'Fanny' Adams on bass. Formed in 1990, Red Flag 77 remain faithful to the spirit of punk, with a succession of short anthemic songs that many in the audience tonight clearly know and remember. There is also some friendly, football-related, banter relating to the colours of Norwich and Ipswich's respective football teams. However, by the end of the set, the resounding chant is one of 'Flag Army!'
The Meffs take the stage to the strains of Enter Shikari before quickly launching into 'Look At You', the first of five songs on the setlist taken from the duo’s double EP releases Broken Britain Pt 1 and Pt 2, recorded and produced by Frank Turner, and released in 2022 and 2023. Now re-issued as a single vinyl album, these are songs that continue to hold relevance, highlighting social and political issues that face us all, challenging misogyny and xenophobia, and calling into question the politics of big business. Tracks such as 'Stand Up, Speak Out', 'Your English Is Great' and 'Broken Britain, Broken Brains' sound just as relevant three years on, and Lily Hopkins' T-shirt, emblazoned with the slogan “We'll be less activist if you be less shit” still rings as true as it did when young climate protesters first started using it in 2019.
But, although politics is an important part of The Meffs' manifesto, so is having a good time, and Hopkins soon has the crowd involved as she encourages, and lays out the rules for, the forming of a large moshing pit right in front of the stage, and even joins them whilst continuing to sing and play guitar. She later oversees a series of reverse crowd surfing, with audience members carried away from the stage and towards the rear of the venue space.
Songs from 'What A Life', The Meffs’ album that is now already almost a year old, include 'Death Wish', 'Everything's Gone' and 'Stamp It Out', and are mixed with a couple of old songs that were only ever recorded as demos, and two more, 'Business' and 'So Modern' that are brand spanking new. There are also a couple of cheeky covers of Joan Jet's 'Bad Reputation' and The Prodigy's 'Breathe' chucked into the mix, before the set draws to a close with 'No Future' and 'Clowns'. And, even though the curfew is almost upon us, The Meffs manage to return and squeeze in a final, frenzied, version of the uber-cynical shocker, 'Sex Sells'.
Even though this is the fourth time that I have seen The Meffs live, they exude an energy and a passion that makes me want to keep coming back. Make no mistake, Hopkins and Copsey are the real deal, and their commitment to the music and the veracity of their message is infectious, and should not be construed as being in any way related to the brevity or the break-neck speed of the material. The Meffs are a band that remains true to their beliefs, embracing the sincerity, the spirit and the spontaneity of punk, and delivering with it a manifesto to 'always be anti-war, always be anti-genocide, and always be anti-fascist'. And you cannot disagree with that.
