27.05.2025 - Shove/Aperture/Fast Blood - The Lubberfiend, Newcastle

Final gig of the "Road Dawg" event where three bands that played Noise Annoys, played the Lubberfiend.

Wasn't a busy night, day after the Bank Holiday so assume a lot of people were wrecked after the weekend or skint...

Locals Fast Blood opened up with their melodic pop punk style. Enjoyed their set, second time seeing them and they have been around in other bands for at least 20+ years. Still need to pick up their LP.

Aperture were on second, great grind/hardcore, definitely one of the good bands of the new generation I think and hopefully get some more releases from them.

Had went to this gig not knowing anything about Shove bar them being an Australian band. Decent hardcore, fast and loud!

Cracking set, again, hopefully get to see them play again one day.

Ended up getting their LP as they have come all the way from Australia to play to a small crowd on a Tuesday night in Newcastle. Did overhear the guitarist say that it was a decent turn out for a band that may be no one knew much about.

I kind of think, it's good to see bands like this or any touring band as it may get harder for bands to come with having to pay for visas/work permits etc (may be the same for UK bands here going to the States or mainland Europe).

22.05.2025 - Public Acid/Tramadol/Tormented Imp - The Lubberfiend, Newcastle

Like the Muro gig this was part of 3 gigs with bands that were playing the Noise Annoys fest in Sheffield!

Noisy punk from Sheffield/Leeds lot Tormented Imp, nice stuff!

Great to see Tramadol again, ex members of bands like No Form/Bad Manifest/The Wound etc... recently put out their first EP which rips like.

Canny mix of d-beat and fast heavy hardcore, despite having the demo tape, I've decided I need to get the demo tape on 7" which Crew Cuts released a year or so back....

Hadn't heard much of Public Acid but when I saw a picture I joked either from Portland or Richmond! And was right, they are based in Richmond now! 

Nice fast and chaotic hardcore, they blitzed through their set like!

20.05.2025 - Muro/Mother Nature/Diall - The Lubberfiend, Newcastle

Feel a lot of people missed on this, mean Earth was playing the Cluny the same night and think there was something else on?

Diall putting in another set of New Wave of Newcastle Hardcore before hitting the Mainland of Europe for a summer tour, think a new song got played too!

A blinder of a set by Mother Nature, recently dropped their LP on Static Shock which is worth picking up.

From Bogota, Columbia are Muro. One of the best sets I've seen this year, raging raw fast punk.

So much energy! Think it's fucking awesome that we get to see bands like this play here, may not understand much Spanish but I appreciate a band coming across from the other side of the world to play a set like that! Punk is universal man!

Picked up their LP which is cracking as well!

Wish I had went to see them play at Noise Annoys as heard they smashed it even more!

19.05.2025 - Throwing Muses/Fred Abong - The Cluny, Newcastle

I felt like the youngest person at this gig and I'm 40 years old!

Sold out show and it was heaving; first time I've seen the merch stall outside of the gig space and in the area where people normally have their scran!

Fourth time seeing Fred played and same as always, great set. Just gets on and plays without much of a break or much talk between songs. Guess double paycheck as he also plays in Throwing Muses - he was in the early line up back in 1980s.

Was great to see to See Throwing Muses, was disappointed I didn't get to hear Hate My Way, but to be fair the lineup has changed a lot since then. Thought it was cool that Kristin's son was playing bass for them.

Enjoyed what they played, a bit different from earlier stuff, maybe more mellow with the cello player they had?

Picked up a nice screen-printed tour poster that was signed by Kristin, also bottled it after the gig when outside talking with Richie and Jonas as thought about getting the other members to sign it! 

18.05.2025 - Time X Heist/Supernova/Without Love/Spit/Thrak - The Lubberfiend, Newcastle

Sunday night hardcore! Early start and early finish due to the metros going off at 9pm.

Lord of the Rings inspired Orc powerviolence with Thrak kicking things off, just dropped their demo on Conviction Records.

Thought they were decent, some intense heavy drumming which made me think of MITB and Gasp in parts.

Spit return after a couple of months off gigging, they had just finished recording that weekend for hopefully their 7" to come out at some point this year. Great set as always!

Had wondered where Without Love came from and it's Sheffield, may have said the last time I didn't know where they are from, but I do now.

Really canny melodic hardcore, some good riffs and catchy tunes. Wish I picked up the tour split 12" they did with Time X Heist now.

I was really impressed with Supernova, straight edge hardcore from London, really wish I picked the demo tape up when Conviction dropped it.

Class  Project X - Straight Edge Revenge cover as well!

Colorado's Time X Heist were decent too, more straight edge hardcore on their first UK/Euro tour.

During their set the singer asked if someone in the crowd was in the band that had played the night before with them in Liverpool, as apparently that kid had said some bad shot about the Columbine school shooting. It wasn't the kid, and the singer said it was nearly awkward as assume he was gonna give him shit! Though, I just want to know what the kid in Liverpool said as I am a nosey cunt!

This was also Connor from Conviction Records birthday, so he got a birthday cake think just before Time X Heist played. Well-deserved as he has been putting on some belting shows and releases over the last couple of years and hopefully for more years to come!

16.05.2025 - Chiens/Horse Bastard/Reap/Ripped Out - The Head of Steam, Newcastle

Been a while since I've been to the Head of Steam for a gig, it hasn't really changed much, though wish it wasn't such a fanny on to go to the bogs as you need a passcode to access it. Though believe this is to stop people using it to shoot up/trash the place...

First up, were Ripped Out, local beatdown hardcore crew. Wasn't really into it as it felt a bit slow compared to the other bands on the bill.

However, I assume they haven't been playing gigs much so will probably end up getting better with more shows under their belts.

First time seeing Reap, local powerviolence band with ex-Eyeteeth/Geist members. Short and sweet set of under 10 minutes, blasting two bass noise a la Man is the Bastard. Look forward to the demo/7" or whatever is in the pipeline.

Been at least ten years (maybe longer or less?!) since I last saw Liverpool's Horsebastard. They seemed to have gotten a lot faster I think, some nice technical grind, their drummer proper smashed it like. A lot of movement on the Head of Steams tiny dancefloor!

Chiens from France were unbelievable fast grind/slight powerviolence, short set but really great.

Think I helped and I use the word help quite loosely put out their split with The Afternoon Gentleman...

Great night and an early finish so got home well before 11:30pm!

9.05.2025 - Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO/Monde UFO - The Common Room of the Great North, Newcastle

A warm night in Newcastle to see Acid Mothers Temple play!

The Common Room of the Great North used to be known as the Mining Institute, has had a bit of a make over with a bar being downstairs now. Can't remember what was actually there before that.

Anyway, decent venue and perfect for tonight's gig I thought, last time I had been in the room where the gig is was when Silver Apples played over 10 years ago, I think? It may have been Gnod, but again I'm not 100% sure!

Opening up were Los Angeles trio, Monde UFO. A bit of a mix of music, bit electronic, bit jazz and a bit of psychedelia and space rock. That may sound a bit of a mess, but it works. Really enjoyed their set, wish I had taken more money out to pick up their LP's they had on sale, though should be able to pick them up online no problem. 

A lot of people missed out on their set which is a shame as think they would have loved them, though did think maybe the band were also wrecked as they mentioned they had been touring the UK via train and they had some of them cancel, not a nice welcome to England like!

Monde UFO

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO were awesome as always! Played for over an hour and a bit but it felt like they hadn't played for that long! Noticed they now have the bass player from Bo Ningen in their lineup, though sure he also plays in Mainliner or did when I saw them play?!

Did laugh when they started to play Pink Lady Lemonade as saw my mate leave straight away as he isn't a fan of that song, remember last time I saw AMT play at the Star and Shadow he said if they played it he was fucking off for a tab!

Acid Mothers Temple

Nice enjoyable night, could have done with more seats as I'm getting too old to be standing about, did think about sitting on the floor but there was a woman close to me who was all over the place dancing like a loon!

08.05.2025 - TS Warspite/Blow Your Brains Out/Almighty Watching/Wits End/Burial Plot/Börda - The Lubberfiend, Newcastle

Six bands on a school night, two international bands as well!

Blow Your Brains Out from Tokyo, Japan and Almighty Watching from Connecticut, USA.

Another great line up and gig present by Conviction Records, go check here for upcoming shows and releases.

Opening up was local d beat punks Börda, playing their second(?) gig, nice short and to the point set. Look forward to their demo once t gets recorded.

Burial Plot were up next, recently just dropped their demo on Conviction Records, heavy hardcore and going from strength to strength. Felt like halfway through their set they went up a notch and it got louder and heavier!

Not sure where Wits End are from, assume with the members, from Leeds/Manchester, made up of people from the Flex/TS Warspite.

Really good 90's style hardcore, wish I picked their demo up when everyone was posting about it!

Almighty Watching played a similar style to Wits End, 90's style hardcore. I thought it was ok, not going to lie I wasn't really feeling it but I was starting to feel tired (I had been up since 5:30am), they did have a couple of songs that did slap like!

Always great to see TS Warspite, first time I saw them was here at the Lubberfiend and was blown away at how class they were live. Last saw them last year supporting Spy at Newcastle Labour Club where they were definitely the highlight of that gig. Absolutely smashed it again, the kids going mad in the pit and a couple of new songs that hit hard! TS Warspite are definitely top tier of the UK hardcore scene like!

Tokyo's Blow Your Brains Out play New York style hardcore, heavy with slight beatdown vibes? Knew as soon as the drummer kicked in they were going to be class! They gave it 100% like, really good stuff, like when it comes to Japanese punk I'm more in the d-beat/noise punk stuff which is always amazing but Japanese version of hardcore is tight!

3.05.2025 - Rival Schools/Oversize - Digital, Newcastle

Waited 23 years to see Rival Schools! 

Back in 2002 they supported the terrible band A. I really wanted to see Rival Schools, but no one wanted to go, then A had a hit song and blew up and then everyone I knew at the time wanted to go see them but by then it had sold out!

First time at Digital next to the centre of life, I thought I had been there but mixed it up with Think Tank which is above it.

A decent sized venue and I had no problems seeing the bands from wherever I was. Could have done without a pint cost £7.40, bit steep that!

Also, had a bloke go past me and go nice checky shirt...just weird has had someone a while back say I had a nice hoody; someone mentioned a Throbbing Gristle t-shirt. Worried if I go take a piss someone might say, nice boxers or something!

Oversize

Not sure where Oversize are from, think I read South West England? Fairly decent band, though I thought the vocalist’s microphone could have been turned up slightly as to me it felt as if it dipped a bit, or his vocals got drowned out by the rest of the band in places.

Would say they were maybe similar to Basement, I did overhear the singer after their set described his band as a bit of Slowdive meets Ride.

Can see the Ride parts but not the Slowdive parts.

Rival Schools

Enjoyed Rival Schools set very much, definitely worth the wait! Not that they have much out, two albums a split and a lost album LP, was hoping they may have released an EP of newer stuff, though did finally pick up the lost album, "Found". Their merch guy was having a nightmare as don't think the wi-fi was good as his machine was playing up a lot!

It has made me also wonder if Walter may bring Quicksand over for more gigs round the UK or at a push hope for a Gorilla Biscuits tour but guess that is wishful thinking!

Used for Glue