Being As An Ocean opened this mammoth four band musical morsel which had most hardcore fans salivating at the prospect of such a great lineup. Their post-hardcore rhythms were well received and crowd pleaser ‘Wrecking Ball’ would be a no brainer for the title of ‘proper good tune’. Lead singer Joel Quartuccio spent most of the set in the crowd with some poor guy having to hold up his mic lead for the entirety. It was a great opening slot, one which perfectly set the tone of the evening.
Up next were Trash Talk who totally owned this gig. They were everything that a hardcore punk band should be: energetic, loud, tight and most importantly, really exciting to watch. Singer Lee Spielman spent most of the set in the pit telling people to ‘get closer’ and whipping the crowd into a frenzy. He was the model example of what a truly great hardcore frontman should be. They were such a refreshing support act, and equally matched the large crowd of STYG. The only negative was that Spielman said they weren’t coming back to the UK for a while as he had ‘shit to do’.
With typically short songs of one-two minutes, their uniqueness shone through. They were heavy, stylistic and surely greater things lie ahead after such an amazing performance. If you haven’t seen them, make sure you do when they next grace our shores.
Spielman soared out of the room on a crowd of people, momentarily resting on the door frame before being sucked below. The room was buzzing in the wake of their performance. A truly special half an hour from an incredibly exciting band.
Stick To Your Guns were up next on this co-headline tour and put on a very solid performance. They have stepped up a level with regards to their ‘typical hardcore’ rhetoric with frontman Jesse Barnett preaching about the need for change and the power within everyone to spark a revolution.
This anti government/establishment sentiment is a large part of their identity and new songs from ‘Disobedient’ showcased this desire to tell people what’s wrong with the world and what you can do about it.
STYG sounded heavier and faster than normal and their set continued to impress with crowd favourites from ‘Diamond’ including the anthem ‘We Still Believe’ which was received with circle pits and windmills aplenty.
They even had a song about Barnett’s dog who apparently is his best friend and the only one who ever really listens to him. Despite this rather sad fact, STYG were more than being listened to tonight. They were being celebrated and so they ought – a great set showcased their individuality and cemented their place in a scene that has lots of shouters and opinions but STYG have found their corner and they are fighting hard to stay there.
Deez Nuts entered the stage to a near empty room which was surprising as they have done well to build up a solid following over the last few years.
Even after people started trickling back from outside or from the bar, there was a sense that maybe the lineup should have been differently arranged, even though Deez Nuts are usually so impressive and fun to watch. Perhaps people were so elated at the first three acts, they had already gone home happy. The crowd did pick up but was mainly made up of a small, yet frantic pit and a few people on the front few rows.
They belted through classic such as ‘Like there’s no tomorrow’ and ‘Your mother should’ve swallowed you’ got the biggest singalong of their set, as well as rolling out some solid new tunes which offer the same sort of tongue-in-cheek ‘rude-boi’ aura that Deez Nuts have become synonymous with. The night came to an abrupt end after quite a short and relatively underwhelming Deez Nuts set as they stated the venue had to close. This is not to say they were bad, anything but, but perhaps the evening had peeked a little too soon.
DAVID BULL