The Aints play The Saints part 2.
Manning Bar
Sydney, Australia
March 9, 2018
We have clarified before that The Saints have left an imprint on the music scene that make some sandwich them in between the Ramones and Sex Pistols when it comes to relevance in the realm of punk rock.
“The Aints” is a variation on The Saints, headed by the prolific Ed Kuepper, who along with his worthy constituents revisited their classic material.
Framed by Peter Oxley on bass and the Celibate Rifles’ Paul Larsen on drums, along with a horn section and long-term collaborator Alister Spence on keyboards, Kuepper’s band is tight unit built for purpose.
The Aints performed tonight not only the hymns and crowd-pleasers which have inspired juvenile delinquents the world over, but managed to enthuse the audience with unreleased gems that did not lack impact. It is beyond me how those tracks did not make it on any of their regular releases, especially the goosebumps evoking, more melancholic, feedback-drenched ditties with a Neil Young-tinge that had the audience swaying along and brought out Ed Kuepper’s best.
The band is a well-oiled machine that is enjoying itself, which seamlessly translates to the audience comprised of predominantly older semesters caught in awe of seeing their heroes in the flesh in such fine form.
I’ve seen The Saints in various incarnations and The Aints a couple of times as well, but there was a “je ne sais quoi” factor that came into the equation and filled their performance on the ground of Sydney University with something magical.
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