Quite a spectacular way to blast onto the scene! Kito's the first show and on a great bill. Not so much because of Born Against who were quite a disappointment on that day, but the line-up is a snapshot of a revival that was going on at the time. The north-east was very active and this gig showcased thetalents of young local bands Kickback, Voorhees and Submission as well as Bradford's Nailbomb. Nottingham's Downfall had been around a while longer, with their sound evolving from the straight-edge inspired old school sound to a dirtier style reminiscent of the bands from the ABC No Rio scene and early Ebullition releases.
Active Minds and One By One were older bands and although at the time I guess they weren't everyone's cup of tea - they were/ are a lot less inspired by the US hardcore styles than the rest. However this gig did start people to work closer together and definitely moved things forward in terms of getting a fresh hardcore punk scene rolling. Over the years they DIY scene moved out of it's pigeonholes and micro-scenes and a lot of co-operation took place - no surpise then that One By One's drummer Sned would later release Kito's album just as Nailbomb's Richard Corbridge released the debut single.
Oh and Kito on that night? Out of time, out of tune, short of material, unsure of ourselves - we loved it!