Another year, another Capdown show. It seems like these guys have no intention of actually packing away their instruments and calling it a day despite a generous amount of “last ever shows”. Are Capdown going to be this generation’s equivalent of, say, The Buzzcocks, The Damned or Stiff Little Fingers? Popping up at smaller and smaller venues with fewer and fewer original members year by year?

Part of us kind of hopes that does happen – if they can keep fifty year old versions of ourselves as entertained as they did tonight, then we say crack on. On the other hand, we cringe at the idea of singing along to songs like ‘Bitches And Nike Shoes’ whilst explaining to our kids that “they don’t write them like they used to”.

Tonight Capdown play The Haunt, a step down from when they rammed the Concorde2 last July. Surprisingly though, they have only managed to half-fill this intimate venue. But what does that matter when it seems almost everybody there knows the songs and seventy five percent of the crowd is the dancefloor? Not a chin-stroker in sight and enough energy in the room to power a small village for ten years, or at least until Capdown retire. We’re not sure which will come first.

A big fan of Brighton, frontman Jake discusses how much he enjoys a cheeky reefer on the beach as much as he enjoys a beer at the bar. He tells of how he wishes he could blaze up in Grubbs without feeling like a criminal before the band explode into the track ‘Dealer Fever’.

Prior to playing ‘An A-Political Stand Of Reasons’ the band suggest an anti-wall-of-death, whereby everybody starts in the middle and takes a gentle stroll to the outwards. No running, no moshing. A unique concept that we aren’t convinced will catch on but was good for a giggle, especially as it culminated in a human pyramid in front of the stage.

The Haunt, Friday 10th August 2012
Words by Chris Biggs
Photos by Mr A the Photographer