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LaDIYfest 2017 takes over Bristol’s Southbank Club

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Kiss Me, Killer were among a varied, ass-kicking lineup of bands at this year’s LaDIYFest, which took place at the Southville Club, Bristol.

LaDIYfest, if you didn’t already know, is a non-profit, DIY collective, celebrating the achievements of self-defining women and people of oppressed genders through a festival of music, arts and skill sharing. There’s an international movement of such festivals, stretching back to the first Ladyfest in Olympia, Washington in 2000.

During the daytime attendees could enjoy workshop on a range of themes or browse stalls from a wide range of activist groups and artists. Kiss Me, Killer’s Cat had been on hand all day among the volunteers and our drummer AJ produced the funky poster.

In the evening the festival moved from workshops to live music. The organisers had hired in a great PA and Kiss Me, Killer sorted cabs and amps for bands that needed to travel light.

First band on were local Bristol guitar’n’drums band Spunking Octochoke who served up a varied, manic set of songs that calumniated in the audience chanting along to signature tune, Power pussy!, which I now sing every time my cat wanders into the room. Anyway, the band really warmed up the crowd and got them ready for what was to come.

Next up, and many people’s ‘find’ of the night, was Dispute Settlement Mechanism who’d come all the way from Leamington Spa. The bass, drums and vox lineup served up pounding, primal beats, distorted basslines and searing vocals with lyrics exploring trans feminism and other political themes. They really went down a storm.

We took to the stage next, our first live performance for over a month, but we were in pretty good shape, powering through all the songs on our forthcoming EP and more besides. Cheri, our photographer and merch grrrl extraordinaire, managed to capture some incredible shots, including some of Nat and Holly getting up close with the crowd – definitely one for the Kiss Me, Killer coffee table book.

Members of Drunken Butterfly were instrumental in creating LaDIYfest 2017 and took to the Southville Club stage with their folk-punk mix.There were furious bits, then softer bits, then more furious bits. A great, great set.

London band Screaming Toenail had to pull out due to ill health but, no matter, as Young Adventurers proved a brilliant headline act. If you thought Devon was all about taking your Nan for a cream tea, think again – Exeter is clearly a hotbed of incendiary new rock bands. The band met at an event called School of Frock, which encouraged women to pick up instruments and form bands. That was three years ago and the Young Adventurers are now a brilliant live act combining riotous rock with brilliant melodies. Singer/guitarist Catherine sported a beautiful Gordon Smith GS1.

With one band pulling out there was even time for an impromptu disco at the end. A great gig!

LaDIYFest Fundraiser blows minds at the Exchange

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KMK, The Menstrual Cramps and Drunken Butterfly stormed The Exchange, Bristol with and explosive night of riot grrrl thrills to raise money for this year’s LaDIYfest event.

The gig took place in the venue’s bar area and was soon utterly rammed as people poured in for Bristol’s seminal all-female band, Drunken Butterfly. We soon spotted an unfeasibly prolific Bristol gig-goer, who goes by the moniker Ricardo Camembert on Instagram. If he was in the house this was clearly the gig to be at on Friday night.

The ‘Flys served up a mix of punk with folk touches and so melodic a melodica made an appearance. Lyrics covered a range of social and political issues including Tory austerity and street harassment. I hadn’t seen the band perform in a number of years and their sound has really expanded and evolved in that time. It’s a band not to be missed so follow them online for the next gig.

Clifton Suspension Bridge
AJ our drummer created this monstrous gig poster with a massive Godzilla-like lizard about to lay waste to Bristol’s Iconic Clifton Suspension bridge.

Next up came The Menstrual Cramps, a band who mix feminism with bags of irreverent fun. They are quickly amassing a large fanbase from gigging, social media and press attention. Some fans I talked to at the gig had found out about them through YouTube and were happy they’d made it to Briz. Live the band are far more riotous and heavy than you might think from online recordings, and their feminist anthems were delivered over snarling guitars and brutal bass lines that sounded just great on the venue’s classic Ampeg 8×10 cab.

The Menstrual Cramps’ lyrics cover topics like culling the Tories, unsolicited dick pics and fracking delivered with just the right mix of fury and humour. My favourite song was the one where they dissed indie boys in bands that think they’re all that – can’t stand those dudes.

Images of KMK by Cheri, others by David.

DB’s Darcie helpfully stood in for our bassist Nat, who was arriving later, during Kiss Me, Killer’s sound check, instantly picking up the riff to The Nuns’ Do You Want Me on My Knees?

Following The Menstrual Cramps was going to be a tough task for Kiss Me, Killer as they’d really invigorated the crowd and we didn’t want to let them down with anything sub-par. After a verse of Narcisstic Tendencies we hit ‘em with Snakes, the title track to our forthcoming EP, and it went down well. As the set progressed the movement in the room increased and by the time we squeezed in a quick encore the crowd was really buzzing. The mostly young audience were probably our most receptive crowd yet and really seemed to ‘get’ the band. They were also graciously sympathetic when we had to restart one of our songs after it kinda fell apart… ooops.

Monies raised from the night go towards this year’s big LaDIYFest Event, which takes place at the The Southville Centre, 4 November. Kiss Me, Killer are among the acts performing. You won’t want to miss it.