True Punks

It was unnerving to go on stage after a ruffty tuffty band called the Barstool Preachers who had the room stompin' and yelling, but that's the way the cookie crumbled and Gaye, her pal Eric, Gina and Darren-from-Bolton sat in the front for my set and made everything seem OK. Attila the Stockbroker showed up too- my old friend from the 1977 Brighton punk days. In the Spanish Village décor and armed with a Telecaster (UK version), I sang through my songs and was astonished to see a woman picking up the Beachwalk chorus and singing along with it straight away. I was far too tired to be nervous (so knackered that I gave my Rebellion booklet away to Pam Hogg and don't even remember doing it), and anyway I mean my songs and they are true to how I feel. Quite a few people had left after the band and I had a more chilled crowd who were very appreciative.

Pauline Murray was on next, dressed in a fabulous pink original Biba shirt. She was nervous at first but got into her stride very soon, playing a mixture of Penetration and Invisible Girls songs plus some from her lockdown album, which I really enjoyed. She ended with a rousing version of Don't Dictate and got a huge round of applause for that one.

Finally in our girl's club, Gina set up to play and after a couple of teething problems with the computer (#nevertrusttechnology), she put in a fine and rousing set of angry electronica that gave everyone's brains something to chew on. Good! Always, my favourite song is I'm Glad I'm Me Today and I'm glad it made it into the set for the gig.

At such a deep punk festival, what did people think? We hung around to listen to Barnstormer, Attila's band, for a bit, and leaned against a floral pillar wondering, until a very punk-looking gentleman crossed the room to talk to us. He asked us if we spoke French, and in a mixture of French and English, he told us how much he had enjoyed our music. From the heart, he spoke: 'You are true punks!'.

That's good enough for me. The French punk spoke it, so verily it is true!