THE EVENT
ROCK N ROLL FOR THE YEAR 2001
Saturday January 27th 2001 @ The Mean Fiddler, London (1pm-10pm)

ANTIPRODUCT - JANUS STARK - PLAN A - REMOTE CONTROL
JOHNNY ZHIVAGO - MIDGET - NOVO KEATO - THE RELATIVES
Special Guest DJ Shuff

Official Press Release by FMH's JP Storrow

"AntiProduct - The Best Day Of Your Life"

Saturday 27th January, London, The Mean Fiddler. If you weren't there you missed something very, very special - not only as Five Miles High's first venture into the live events arena but also for headliners AntiProduct who proved incontrovertibly that they are in fact the most ambitious, hardworking and downright crazy set of musical misfits laying waste to venues across our United Kingdom at present time.

Only eight months down the line from formation and they're headlining what used to be the London Astoria 2, now known as the Mean Fiddler. Guitarist Clare pproduct only picked up a guitar a little over a year previous, instantly transforming herself into one fifth of the iconic and unforgettable AntiProduct. Now that's progress!

So, eight bands, fifteen pounds, seven hundred certifiable rock n' rollers and every penny made donated to The Cystic Fibrosis Trust. It couldn't get much better than that, but it did. With the way paved by seven top class support acts (a who's who of next big things and rock n' roll staples - The Relatives, Novo Keato, Midget, Johnny Zhivago, Remote Control, Plan A and Janus Stark), 'Ver Product' launched themselves full pelt into a breakneck (almost literally, but more of that later), cacaphonic, super sonic serenade for the masses.

Even for those with the slightest inkling of the AntiProduct experience, the ensuing carnage wasn't anything that anyone was expecting - at the same time though, it was everything that everyone could have possibly wanted.

You could not engineer a more ludicrous chain of events, nor could you even hope that chance would bless rock n' roll with such a gift. Somehow though, AntiProduct's entertainment factor of a constantly maintained 100% went ballistic and ended up off the dial, even in the early stages with the initial incident of A. Product's stage dive.The critical factor of a crowd to land on was eliminated when said crowd, ever so politely, moved to make way for A. A full-on floor/ face interface was the result, with A. coming to several minutes later wondering whose death the audience were speculating over ("Is he dead?!", "I think he died!"). There was only one viable option and that that involved getting back on stage - so he did.

Gear had broken down after the first song, which required some impressive impromptu acapella action on occasion (driven by drummer Gonk's mighty backbeat), the power would cut out a further three times, and the frontman was nearly dead. 'Up the creek without a paddle' might have been the phrase some people would use in the face of this kind of adversity. Well, maybe the weak and frail - the kind of people who think sleeping is a worthwhile pastime as opposed to a complete waste of time.

Yay or nay to being 'up the creek', the standard AntiProductive reaction would be something akin to rocking the boat and ignoring alternative solutions as to how to get back upstream, so naturally it would only make sense to invite the entire venue to invade the stage en masse. And of course the invitation was graciously accepted by a throng of paying guests to join the band in an audience driven version of "Bungee Jumping People Die". Security were none too happy with the invasion but a few terse words and some intense bursts of swearing from various band members (well, Toshi and Milena in fact) set them straight and no doubt put the fear right up 'em. One security man stage right and one security man stage left had multiplied to five either side by the end of the gig.

It's standard practice for A. Product to UV spray paint his face and body but not before the mic has drawn blood and shredded the guy's forehead. Probably concussed, possibly a little insane, the whole spectacle was topped off with Mr. Product's ascending a conspicuous chain hanging from the ceiling stage centre. By the logic he "doesn't weigh that much", A. found himself fifteen foot above the stage, twenty foot above floor level dangling from a chain which was, as it turns out, attached to a false ceiling.

After a night of blitzkrieg bopping and hip hip hopping (sometimes in a very real sense - ankle and knee supports aren't designed for throwing shapes on guitar), the band's ramalama rifferama of punky, Beatles-esqe, operatic mayhem conducted mostly without regard for personal safety proved that rock n' roll really is alive and well, it lives in London and comes in the form of everybody's favourite art punk consumer culture terrorists, AntiProduct.

Bass Breweries provided AntiProduct Ale for 'FiveMilesHigh - Rock 'n' Roll for The Year 2001'. On each bottle, it says on the label, "AntiProduct Ale - For The Best Day Of Your Life"... so we had to drink it all.