Steve Ignorant – The Last Supper – Final Ever Show – at Shepherds Bush Empire – London, England

They walked on going straight into “Do They Owe us a Living” and the venue erupted – along with the first beer of the evening to hit me plush on the head. Beer in these venues is not cheap, so why they throw them is beyond me! Steve was singing in an angry looking style and cupped his hands behind his ears after he sang the line “do they owe us a living” prompting the crowd to respond back with “of course they fucking do!”


This was going to be a special evening indeed. The band carried on with “End Result” and “They’ve Got a Bomb” in full swing. Gizz was on guitar, Pete on bass and Spike on drums, all smiling and playing immensely putting their all into the last show.

There was a screen at the back of the stage showing photos of Punks from back in the day along with slogans. Before we got “Big A Little A” some of the band member’s children came on to sing the opening verses. They did a great job! They then headed off and the band got into it at a fast pace.

This was followed by “So What” - one of my all time favourite Punk songs. I sang along knowing it would be the last time I heard it live, and I felt a bit emotional. Was it really 29 years ago when I first saw them play in Aberdeen? How we have all come on since then but are still united by music, with politics and religion still a problem. “Banned from the Roxy” was another classic from the “Feeding of the 5000” album, an album that must be in the top10 all time Punk albums in my opinion.

Steve walked on stage accompanied by Penny to a huge roar. Penny had a one drum and cymbal kit to do the second version of “Do They Owe us a Living” - this time acoustic. Penny looked like he was loving it. Him and Steve hug after wards and Steve stood back a bit while Eve Libertine came on stage to scream her way through “Darling”. Who would have thought that we would see these three band members on stage at the same time, this is what makes music so special.

At one point Steve says there is something he wouldn’t do normally - a cover version of someone else’s song - but they do a version of the Ruts’ “Shine on Me”. This was dedicated to the lifeboat crew that Steve volunteers for and the crew were there in full gear standing behind Steve while he sang it. Donations were made all night for this great cause.

“Punk’s not dead” had the venue singing along with the band’s break neck pace. People were coming over the barriers in a happy non-aggressive mood. When the song finished the band walked off. Steve stayed to pay respect to the fans, Penny, Eve, the band and any one else he could mention. This was emotional and he was choking back the feelings after having a great night.

The rest of the band came back on to do “Shaved Woman”. Carol had been performing well all evening, her vocals are great, but she wasn’t prepared for what happened next (nobody was as it wasn’t in the script!) Eve decided to go on stage and sing along with Carol. I wonder what was going through Carol’s head when she turned around and saw Eve!
They finished the evening with “Bloody Revolutions”, and so it was over. The crowd yelled for more but it was over and the Last Supper had been done.

Punk is Not Dead, it is very much alive and we can hope that Steve is like a dormant volcano and some day might roar again.

My words cannot do justice on how good an evening this was but my photos might.



-Dod M.-
Big Wheel Staff Photographer and Correspondent

 
More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 

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