THERE was nothing bad about Bad Manners when the reggae ska band led by Buster Bloodvessel stormed the Westgate Hall for the opening party of the Canterbury Festival on Saturday.

A sell-out crowd of 400 went wild as the eight-piece romped through a near 90-minute set of hits including Special Brew, Ne Ne Na Na Nu Nu, Lip Up Fatty and the Can Can.

The band even slipped in reggae treatments of Andy Williams' Can't Take My Eyes Off You and Deep Purple's Black Knight.

Ian Baldwin, 44, of Dover, sporting a Two-Tone record label tattoo on his finger, said: "This was the pinnacle for me. I had never seen them before but I have always followed their music."

Baz Tracy, 51, from Herne Bay, said: "It was great. I am an original 1969 skinhead."

Backstage, Buster, real name Doug Trendle, 50, was busy getting his breath back.

He said: "They were a really good crowd. I can't remember the last time we played Canterbury but it was probably 20 years ago in the Marlowe. I can't understand why we have never played here more often.

"We tried to set up a show at the Penny Theatre but after the death on stage of (rude reggae star) Judge Dread it never happened."

Buster is now planning a Christmas tour and is hoping to play Margate's Winter Gardens.

The singer, who famously ran a hotel for tubbies called Fatty Towers on the seafront there 10 years ago, said: "I had some great times and fantastic support but my missus left me and I went on a bender which led a downward spiral."

His weight, always large, ballooned to 32 stone.

Buster said: "I ended up needing a hernia operation and asked doctors to give me a gastric band to stop me eating. It has worked. I went from 32 stone to 12 in a year. Some people say it is cheating but when the alternative is dying I don't think there is much choice.

"Sometimes I get a little faint on stage because I can't eat enough to keep going but it is risk worth taking."

He is currently trying to put together a girl band called the Rude Girls.

John Nurden

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