Belgian punk legends the Kids come to the Bottom of the Hill
The first and biggest punk band to emerge from Belgium in the mid-1970s, the Kids return to the Bay Area to headline this Wednesday night show at the Bottom of the Hill with Canadian punks Tommy & the Commies and local band BPMs.
Inspired by the initial salvos of punk from the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, the Kids formed as a trio in 1976 by guitarist/singer Ludo Mariman and the De Haes brothers Danny (bass) and Eddy (drums). Their name couldn't have been more appropriate: Danny De Haes was only 12 years old when they started and wasn't old enough to enter some of the venues the band was booked to play.
The Kids had scored a record deal and spots supporting established artists like Iggy Pop and Patti Smith by the following year along with the addition of guitarist Luc van de Poel. In 1978, the Kids released their first two albums: their eponymous record, a 25-minute blast of fury that included such bracing future classics as "This is Rock 'n Roll" and "Fascist Cops," and the equally incendiary follow-up Naughty Kids.
The band's notoriety and popularity in their native country would continue to grow with television and festival appearances. Their third album Living in the 20th Century featured more melodic, less frenetic tunes that drew as much on new wave as punk. The band's biggest hit "There Will Be No Next Time" was featured on Black Out in 1981.
Despite the band's continuing success, the Kids would dissolve in 1985 after releasing a live record and their final studio effort Gotcha!, in part because the songs Mariman was writing didn't fit with the band's sound (he had already released a more new wave/synth pop solo single in 1983). Guitarist van de Poel would end up playing on several of Mariman's albums in the early '90s, but the Kids would reunite in 1996 after being asked to contribute to a Belgian film soundtrack and play a concert in Paris. The band has since become a regular attraction at European festivals and released several live recordings, including a 2004 collection tracked during their first ever show in the U.S. in 2004 at Brooklyn club Southpaw.
The Kids have not put out any new material since reuniting -- though they have released some archival demo recordings and occasionally play new songs written by Mariman live -- but the current version of the group featuring the singer and van de Poel alongside 2012 additions Tim Jult (drums) and Ief Vanlommel (bass) have toured consistently. For their current West Coast jaunt sponsored by Reno-based garage-punk label Slovenly Recordings, the band is joined by Canadian punks Tommy and the Commies and SF power-pop group the BPM's.
The Kids with Tommy and the Commies and the BPM's
Wednesday, Dec. 13, 8 p.m. $17-$20
The Bottom of the Hill