As I was waiting outside The Cavern in Exeter for the doors to open, I met Loz (guitarist for SNUFF), we wandered up Gandy Street and chatted about the last time that they played at this famous Exeter live music landmark, he replied, it was 22 years ago (1999), I laughed and said that I’d seen them here in the last 10 years so he must have been mistaken. A while later, I thought about it and it was in 1999 that I last saw them here, what the hell happened to those 22 years?

Looking back, I can’t remember a period of my musical life where SNUFF weren’t a part of it, okay, if you go right back to the early 80’s there were some proper cringe bands that even I won’t admit to liking at the time but as I found my musical niche, SNUFF were there, providing us with the soundtrack to our late teens. They provided music to leap about to, stage dive, crowd surf and wake up to the next morning with massive bruises on your body which take some working out how they came to be there, then you remember, you were listening to SNUFF at a local party and suddenly, it all made perfect sense.

It was the release of their debut album Snuff Said and their EP Flibbiddydibbiddydob which appealed to us back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, the album carried a number of gems including their high octane cover of  ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ which was performed by Tommy James and the Shondells’ in 1967 but made more recognisable by American ‘Girl Next Door’ Tiffany who put out her version in 1987. Other notable tracks from the album included ‘Words of Wisdom’, ‘Not Listening’ and ‘Another Girl’ which were on regular rotation on a friends record player most nights of the week.

The EP carried more cover versions than self-penned tracks but it was these that got SNUFF the recognition they deserved, I mean, who else could recreate the tune to popular TV adverts such as ‘Shake ‘n Vac’ and ‘Bran Flakes’ (Tasty Tasty, Very Very Tasty…) whilst adding their own trademark to the output.

They were quickly picked up by John Peel and received airplay on his show which got them into the living rooms of fans around the country and soon started touring with bands of the time, gaining a huge following on the live circuit.

After a couple of splits and line-up changes, SNUFF are back and eager to please, let’s head down to the front of the pit to see how it all panned out.

The evening kicked off with a Manchester punk trio called Aerial Salad, lively punk filled the room as the guys leapt about and did their thang. They played a great set which included tracks ‘Spit on my Face’ which was written about reaching a certain stage in a relationship and also a song all about romance, written from the home of romance….Salford.

The guitarist/vocalist asked the bass player what he liked most about Exeter and he said that the Christmas lights were certainly a highlight and that they reminded him of the slushy ‘rom-com’ Love Actually!

Their between song banter was amusing and the frontman was on point and possibly on something else but let’s move on…..

SNUFF took to the stage to a huge roar from the crowd who were ready to mosh….and mosh they did!

The set consisted of a good mix of new and old, classics such as ‘Nick Motown’, ‘What Kind of Love’ and ‘Arsehole’ did the trick and sent the room into a frenzy. It was great to hear ‘Bells of Hell’ from the Wrath of Thoth EP that was released in 2020, quite easily one of the strongest offerings and it went down a storm.

Loz explained that he had recently started a crowd funding campaign to raise cash to buy him some new teeth, with that, the stage was showered with coins and by the look on his face, I think he may be a good way to getting some new gnashers pretty soon!

Dave Redmonds and his daughter were on and off the stage like buses around Piccadily Circus, it actually got to be quite amusing as the set wore on as they’d come on and play a song and then retire for a couple, then pop back up again, every time, Duncan would welcome them to the stage as if it were the first time they had appeared.

It’s hard to perform an encore at The Cavern in Exeter as when you leave the stage, there really isn’t anywhere to go apart from the small green room at the back of the room. Despite this, they exited the stage only to appear a minute or so later and kicked into a vocal rendition of the theme tune to the 80’s kids cartoon ‘Rhubarb and Custard’ followed by a killer version of ‘Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads’ which saw the room erupt once again.

For me, they missed out some key tracks from their back catalogue but it was still a great performance with the majority of the heavyweight offerings in the mix, enhanced by the trombone and sax performed by Dave and his daughter.

You won’t recognise Loz come the end of the tour with his new fangs, that’s if the audiences across at the remaining live shows are as generous as they were in Exeter!

Words and Pictures by Steve Muscutt

Tonight was the opening night of their 11 date tour of the UK culminating in two shows in London on 17th/18th December, if you want tickets, all the links are below (click on dates); 

Sat 11 Dec 2021 The Peacock, Sunderland + Loudmouth

Sun 12 Dec 2021 Sheffield, England Corporation

Tue 14 Dec 2021 Birmingham, England O2 Academy 3 Birmingham + Swan Prince

Wed 15 Dec 2021 Leeds, England The Key Club + Nosebleed

Thu 16 Dec 2021 Nottingham, England Bodega

Fri 17 Dec 2021 London, England New Cross Inn + The Burnt Tapes

Sat 18 Dec 2021 London, England Boston Music Room

To hear the interview we did with Duncan Redmonds around the release of the ‘Wrath of Thoth’ EP, click HERE