Nearly 50 years after they first came together as art school students in Leeds, England, first-wave British punk The Mekons are still at it, persevering through lineup changes and struggles with, as frontman Jon Langford said, “the capitalist music industry.” Earlier this year, they released their latest album, Horror, a response to our times from the band’s unabashedly leftist perspective, with plenty of their trademark mordant, cynical humor.
In their recent appearance at Union Stage — on their first tour since before the Covid pandemic — The Mekons shared some of these new songs, along with popular favorites from their extensive catalog.
The new songs the Mekons shared were as political as anything they’ve recorded. “Mudcrawlers” is about Irish refugees kicked off their land during the potato famine who settled in Leeds. “War Economy” looks back to spirit of cooperation that prevailed during WWII, which Langford contrasted with the present day. At Union Stage on July 20, he said, “This is a grift economy. You’re just being ripped off.”
Looking back to their earlier days, singer Sally Timms recalled the rats in the dressing room at the 9:30; Langford quipped that “the rats are in government now,” adding, “We’d be better off with actual rats.” The set also included the album opener “The Western Design” and the track “Sanctuary,” and they started their encore with “Fallen Leaves.”
Watch the official music video for “Fallen Leaves” by The Mekons on YouTube:
As strident as their politics are, many of the Mekons songs are quite funny. “I Love Apple” satirizes people’s fandom for the tech company, and “Millionaire” pokes fun at relationships and class inequality. Langford joked that “the character we signed with at the crossroads looked a lot like [opening act] Johnny Dowd.” The Mekon’s closed the main with “Memphis, Egypt,” from their only major label outing, 1989’s The Mekons Rock ‘n’ Roll, which sold poorly despite critical acclaim. “Curse,” from the follow-up The Curse of the Mekons, which was rejected by A&M, immediately preceded it.
While the Mekons came out of the punk movement, their musical palette has included everything from synth pop to experimentalism, electronica to folk and country, and straight-ahead rock n’ roll. The Union Stage set included three songs from the 1985 LP Fear and Whiskey, an early milestone of alt-country: “Chivalry,” “Last Dance,” and “Hard to Be Human.” The main set included a couple of tunes, “Keep Hoppin'” and “Sympathy for the Mekons,” and the encore included “Prince of Darkness” from 1987’a Honky Tonkin’, which explores similar territory. The main set also included “Oblivion” and “Lyric,” and the encore included “Big Zombie” and “Where Were You?”
Opening act Johnny Dowd didn’t waste any time getting weird and dark with “First There Was Chords,” in which the narrator puts on a ski mask and commits a mass shooting. The titles of some of the other songs reflect their tone: “Icepick” and “Evildoers.” I enjoy some very strange stuff, but Dowd’s music — while superbly crafted — pushed at my limits. There was a fair amount of chatter while he played — to their credit, most of the audience arrived in time for his set — making it hard to hear him at times. He finished with an unexpected and unusually arranged cover of the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
While it’s hard to describe The Mekons’ music, which is fairly cynical, as upbeat, it was positively light compared to Dowd’s opening set. Nearly 50 years on, they’re still making great music, sticking to their principles, and putting on great performances.
Here are some photos of The Mekons performing live at Union Stage on July 20, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
Here are some photos of Johnny Dowd opening The Mekons at Union Stage on July 20, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
