Live Review: Skegss, Dumb Punts

As the support act Dumb Punts took to the stage the crowd went wild. The trio smashed out their solid set with prominent reminiscence of old school rock with complete ease. Their banter was somewhat dry, but also hilarious — started with "Hello we are Coldplay". The crowd, even from this point of the gig, were extremely interested in the music. There was a shortage of people with their phones out, so the bands were really doing something right. Towards the end of the set the atmosphere began to get hectic: limbs seemed to be flying around in the mosh in adequate preparation for Skegss.

Before Skegss took to the stage the lights dimmed and intense rap music dropped. The effect got everyone amped up for the set, while also contrasting the music that Skegss actually plays. They started with Slayer, a track from their sophomore EP Everyone Is Good At Something. The band spelled out the title of the track to start, giving new fans and old something really catchy to sing along to in the chorus. When transitioning into Eat It they had some guitar issues, though the situation was handled well. It added to the band's appeal in its raw honesty: in this instance the audience likes mistakes, making the performance more tangible.

People started crowd surfing, jumping off speakers, vomiting, dancing, jumping on stage and messing with pedals and leads to the beach/garage/rock tunes — the experience almost too intense to explain. They then ploughed into Fun, and despite all the shenanigans their musicianship was really tight, and their stage presence completely mesmerising. From the new EP they played the lead single, My Face. The band really has a knack for creating these catchy lyrics, "Today, I'm gonna show my fears my face" really stood out in the track — it's a great hook yet also something more contemplative. The band interacted well with the crowd and each other during Van Halen as Toby Cregan, the bassist, asked which songs they wanted to hear next while Ben Reed, the lead vocalist, shook hands with people in the front row. They then played their latest single Mustang - the guitar riff throughout the track was completely hypnotising. Finishing with one of their first singles L.S.D was a real crowd pleaser. Reed was able to crowd surf whilst still singing and playing the guitar - an explosive end to an explosive show.