Punk bands with their punk vans
- Text by Emma Garland
- Photography by Chris Bethell
The image of a battered converted Post Office van littered with empty Lucozade bottles and crusty hummus pots hangs around punk like tinnitus, but it’s increasingly less frequent these days. As running costs soar, it often makes more sense for bands – especially smaller DIY ones – to travel to shows by train, bus or car, sharing kit with those who live more locally to wherever it is they’re playing. Others make do with a rental, or hire a driver with a van from another band. As was the case at Manchester Punk Festival over Easter weekend.
With 140 artists playing across seven venues, Manchester Punk Festival is an independent, inner-city event that brings together bands across the broad spectrum of punk from all over the UK and beyond. From London street punk veterans The Restarts, to Canadian Fat Wreck Chords staples The Flatliners, to newcomers like Manchester’s own disco-punk foursome The Red Stains, the line-up has something for everyone.
Photographer Chris Bethell was there to capture some of the bands with their temporary homes on wheels – some shared, some new, some borrowed, and some that are actually cars with a very precarious game of ‘gear Jenga’ going on in the boot.
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