How Bad Manners took over Mexico
Could there be a more British musical export than Bad Manners belting out an ode to Special Brew lager? Probably not, which is what makes the international success of the legendary ska band overseas so fascinating. After decades of performing across the globe, they found a new spiritual home in, of all places, Mexico. Buster Bloodvessel, their larger-than-life frontman, famous not only for his impressive spells on the UK singles chart but also his abnormally sized tongue, was the most bemused of all.
As he told Far Out in 2023, Bloodvessel couldn’t explain why Mexico was so “incredibly mad” for ska but was going along with it with the kind of bullish enthusiasm fans had come to expect from him. “I don’t know why, but the whole of Mexico seems to be on our side,” he said. “We go there; the government look after us.” There seemed to be an element of chaos that followed the band, which only strengthened the adoration of fans.
They were prepping to play a gig in Mexico about five years ago that had coincided with an earthquake. As Buster told it, they all saw the chaos and panic firsthand and watched on while everyone was being rescued, which, by his reckoning, is why they’re so well-liked there. “It took to their hearts to the fact that we was there and we had a show coming up,” he recalled.
Moved by what they’d seen, they resolved to go back the following summer and make good on the gig and were soon leaping around to ‘Lip Up Fatty’ in front of an audience of 15,000. In yet another strange instance specific to Mexico, they were also invited to play a one-off show for the government in Mexico City in 2021.
“[It was] part of a test that is being held and sponsored by the Government to see what happens if someone was to get Covid at a Bad Manners gig,” explained Buster in Swindon Link at the time, who compared it to a similar pandemic era test that was trialled in Manchester. “It’s really good of them,” he said. “We’ve played a few gigs for the Mexican Government in the past, and they really like us for some reason. I would never have thought that Bad Manners would have been popular within the Mexican government!”
It’s been much the same story in a host of countries around the world, all of which Bad Manners tour with a fervour they’d typically reserve for the UK Christmas tour. But after many flights and many more mad jaunts around stages across Australia and New Zealand, the Bad Manners fans could be found as far as the Phillippines and Indonesia.
The band never cared who was listening as long as they had a good time while they did, which is something that has kept Bad Manners as festival staples for decades. Mulling on their newfound Mexican success, Buster said: “They’re so desperate to dance and have a good time, and I am so desperate to perform for them.”
