Bratakus at Star & Garter - Live Review

Bratakus are a Riot-Grrl punk band from the Scottish Highlands. Their music is loud and political and packs a big strong punch to the listener. I had the privilege of hearing their newest album Hagridden before its release - you can see the review here.

On the 21st of February, Bratakus came to my hometown of Manchester to perform at the Star & Garter. The small venue has been known as a sticky-floored haven for the alternative and punk community for decades. They recently turned down a £400,000 offer from network rail to buy out the venue for expansions at Piccadilly station. The late owner, Andy Martin allegedly told the company to “stick it where the sun don’t shine.” Star and Garter now stands strong and proud after years of trials and tribulations. Fans of the venue regularly pull through to ensure the magic of this independent venue (which has been open since 1803) stays alive.

The venue stays exactly as it should, in a town where music has always thrived but its businesses and atmosphere are becoming more and more gentrified by the day, the Star & Garter sticks to its roots. It feels like a bar and venue for the people, very much reminding me of the local pubs and music venues I would attend in my child and teenage hood (J2O in one hand and those candy cigarettes in the other. those were the days.) It caters for the people.

I walked into the venue and there were probably only around 30 people in attendance but they’re 30 people who came to see some great live music and scream. As I walked in, the punk band Brassick from the West Midlands were playing. Brassick boasted loud and violently energetic political punk music. Their lead singer easily flung herself around the stage, pulling her body towards the crowd and interacting with them on a personal level. She would ask questions to the crowd like “when was the last time we performed here?” and the crowd would answer back in unison, clearly aware of and loyal followers of the band. I’ll definitely be looking out for Brassick myself.

The lead singer was also really sweet and came over to speak to me and fellow photographer Kristy18.photography after the performance.

Then it was time for the main event, the band bratakus. Everyone I looked at was, in my opinion, really cool. The room was filled with people that weren’t afraid to be loud and experiment with their hair, fashion and of course, music.

Now it was time for the main event: Bratakus

The band appeared on stage with the marching power that you would have if you were going to war. The girls knew that there could have been one person in that room and they would still have put everything into their performance. Their energy and performance rang through the venue like fire and ice. Which is exactly how I’d describe the way this duo play off each other. Brèagha Cuinn (guitar and vocals) serves fiery heat with her shouting vocals and stomps around the stage, while sister Onnagh Cuinn (bass and vocals) serves icy cold seriousness, a deep connection to the music that she’s playing and her inward expression shines outward.

On the face of it she may seem like soft smiles and hair flips but I think that’s the point. She’s sharing that you can be soft and feminine and should still be taken seriously in the punk scene - a woman judged on her talent as opposed to her, well, womanhood. If you really look at her, you can see that she feels the music as if it is within herself. That’s performance only in the stage sense, Onnagh’s anger and power is quiet and strong.

Brèagha, however, is unabashedly loud and destructive. I love how the two balance each other out with their energy. Both loud and powerful women in their own rights performing punk music. I genuinely think the way that they share this with us is beautiful and would make the punk scene proud because they celebrate their individualism and uniqueness whilst being proudly open. They’re not SCARED to show their softness, kindness and vulnerability in their moments between sets - they don’t feel the need to act a certain way to set themselves into an angry and aggressive box.

“We had a review once saying that they didn’t expect a voice to come out of such a small woman.” Brèagha laughed and joked (of Course, this was directly after she had jumped and stomped around the stage.) “I just thought that’s a bit of a backhanded compliment, people clearly estimating me because of my gender and size.”

Personally, this is the exact message we need in the scene that we need to keep perpetuating. Women more than have the capacity to scream and be angry and make amazing punk music or, if they want, super cute girly pop music. It’s the individuals prerogative. “It just goes to show that women have to work twice as hard in this industry to be taken seriously. You can’t just be good, you have to be good ‘for a woman.’”

What’s interesting is, as you can see in my original post about their recent album hagridden, this idea is where the Riot-grrl genre came out of. It’s clear that the scene still needs artists like Bratakus to fight the cause.

Brèagha’s hot and burning energy didn’t stray for a second. I have genuinely never seen anything like it, where each note and lyric makes the musician angrier and angrier. It’s so overwhelmingly obvious in every inch of her facial expressions and body language.

Their energy, whilst being a highlight of their performance, wasn’t what carried the show. Their music was the driving factor. It sounded just as good, if not better live than it does on the record. The choruses genuinely make you want to shout with them and the guitar and bass are just fantastic. I found myself not able to stand in one spot whilst watching I had to move with the music in some form. I genuinely had a beautiful time seeing Bratakus and would love to see them again soon. I will also be returning to the Star & Garter when I can, especially after hearing about its history. I urge you to go to a local punk show if you can and support the scene, especially women-led.

My only critique: NO ONE had a Zine to give me for their fan project. If you have a Zine that you want to send to World Here, send it to worldhereblog@outlook.com. If you’re not sure what a Zine is or how to make it? Well just stay tuned with World Here.