Welsh punks FOREIGN LEGION frequently get lumped in with Oi bands, though I have never really figured out why. This shit is just quality drunken sloppy UK punk...there's hardly even a catchy chorus to raise a fist and sing gang vocals along to, and what self respecting Oi band would let that shit slide? NO self respecting Oi band, that's who! This 30 minute live set is a nice chunk of mayhem that gets steadily drunker as the night goes on. I'm not really sure why the band plays "Message From Nowhere" twice, because the crowd seems to have trickled down to just a few drunk friends by the end of the set (though there is one fan who really really wants to hear the "Hokey Cokey" a second time - by the way, we call it the "Hokey Pokey" in the states, I never knew of this other version until I listened to FOREIGN LEGION). Honestly, the inebriated disinterest of those in attendance is kinda my favorite thing about this tape, recorded in Reading in 1985. Good songs, don't get me wrong, but I rather enjoy trying to figure out whether or not FOREIGN LEGION even wanted to be at this show themselves. They are still active today, and have unleashed a few LPs since their activity picked up in the early 00s, so I suppose playing the odd clunker didn't dissuade them all that much, eh?
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