15/07/2013 | Bam Margera, Ronin and Sirens – O2 Academy 2, Birmingham

Right from the announcement of this eclectic tour I had mixed emotions about what it would entail. On one hand the mix of Bam, Brandon Novaks, the CKY mob and the recently joined Alex Flamsteed of Guttermouth, this could be the embodiment of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll on a scale not seen for decades… Then again, on the other hand it could also be like watching various careers on freefall trying to grab at anything to slow them down. Really it was a little bit of both.

Local band Sirens kicked off the affair in a strong fashion enticing fans and prickling the ears of totally new listeners with fast-fret work and ear-piercing gutturals combined with a melodic hardcore edge controlled beyond belief. Performing both old and never before heard tracks, the band seemed humbled by the reaction from the crowd, profusely saying thank you and cursing nervously before leaving in a storm of hatred, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.

Next came soft-rock band Ronin, a massive anomaly in the line up but welcome none the less. They don’t encourage raucous behaviour, thrashing or anything of the sort. Their melodic and infectious vocal hooks encourage dancing and the wiggle of hips alike; most notably in their raw cover of the Destiny’s Child smash hit Survivor, which was both surreal and so bad as to be good. Powering through their set with a strong stage presence and visible connection with the crowd, the band left people baying for more, which is strange for a little known band and even stranger given who they were preceding.

To a room filled with chants of “CKY!” from an increasingly frantic crowd comes the finale we’ve all been waiting for… Brandon Novaks singing Phil Collins in raunchy underwear with a bottle of red wine. Really I should of known from the moment it was announced what this whole show would be like. A blockbuster of drunken antics with red wine being poured over the whole front row, Novaks and Flamsteed barely on stage and spending most of their time on top of the crowd thrashing violently, crude songs in the form of I Want To Bend My Dick To My Ass So I Can Fuck Myself and That’s Why I Fucked Your Mom. Charming.

Their set really was one of two halves. Covers such as Turbonegro’s All My Friends Are Dead tore the room apart with punk and rock’n’roll influences. CKY had control and precision, as well as hilarious and outlandish onstage antics, but then there were Bam’s own songs. It really was a letdown to see such a comedic legend many of the crowd grew up with through Jackass and Viva La Bam sink down to this. Drunken debauchery grew tiring  as the set wore on, and stripped back to the music alone you realise it’s just a bunch of rude words strung together in an attempt to be shocking. Its not often I leave a show early, but after catching all the perfectly executed covers I loved,  I just couldn’t stand another minute more of the original pieces.