“What choice did you give us?”
California hardcore stalwarts Stick To Your Guns seem to be making it something of a personal crusade to appear at The Dome in Tufnell Park every time they make their way to the UK – this time around during a short run of shows before hitting 2000 Trees Festival – and it’s certainly appreciated by attendees on what turned out to be one of the hottest July Mondays in recent years. The venue is already half-full by the time openers False Reality begin their set and the atmosphere is already palpable, but the open nature of the layout means that there’s at least a refreshing breeze allowed to make its way in from the outdoor area and provide (slight) respite to both bands and fans alike.
False Reality
This relatively chilled start to proceedings doesn’t last long though, as London hardcore outfit False Reality bring the heat from their opening notes. Only a few years into what is shaping up to be a exciting career, the band has been consistently dropping heavy NYHC-inspired crossover bangers both before and since well-received debut album Path Of Self Destruct, and established themselves as a hardworking and hungry young act. Tearing through their set with a relentless energy, the band are tight and frenetic, all tremolo riffs and divebomb solos around crushing mosh sections. The crowd reaction is unfortunately a little subdued in this regard, but it seems to be more of a desire to save energy for the headliners than any negativity towards False Reality, as the cheers after each track prove. Latest single Cost Of Spite in particular goes down a treat, its thrashy harmonised opening riff giving way to a mid-paced stomp and impressively fast soloing over a deliciously 90’s metalcore influenced breakdown. The future of False Reality certainly looks bright – get on board now for the hipster “I knew them before they got big” cred when they inevitably break through.
Love Letter
A similarly exciting prospect for altogether different reasons, New England melodic (super)group Love Letter count members of Verse and Defeater among their ranks, bringing together all of the best elements of those acts and injecting their own brand of passion and fury. This is one of only a handful of London appearances for the band so far, and it certainly seems like the crowd have been starting to get impatient. Launching into an unbelievably intense and energetic set, vocalist Quinn Murphy convulses and writhes his way through various cuts from debut LP Everyone Wants Something Beautiful as if each lyric physically hurts to deliver, whilst the band hurtles through a set that pulls together disparate elements of melodic hardcore, punk, metal, art/noise rock and more, somehow managing to sound cohesive and accessible at all times. Pausing only briefly between songs to deliver heartfelt and earnest statements on Gaza, privilege, homelessness and addiction, this powerful set is over all too soon, leaving all assembled with a sense of having witnessed something truly special, and already looking forward to the band’s next sojourn to the capital.
Stick To Your Guns
Wasting barely a second of their allotted stage time, Stick To Your Guns finally begin their set to a packed out and excited venue, itself an impressive achievement for any headlining act considering it’s a stiflingly hot Monday night bang in the middle of festival season. This does nothing to dull either the band or crowd’s energy though, as the opening stabs of Nobody immediately ignite a sizable and frantic pit that rarely lets up, the crowd finally letting loose and burning through some pent-up energy. Blending older favourites and crowd-pleasers such as Nothing You Can Do To Me with more recent cuts from latest album Keep Planting Flowers – the title track of which provides a welcome change of pace halfway through the set that still manages to reduce more than a few attendees to tears – STYG utilise their furious momentum from recent appearances at Hellfest and Jera On Air to propel themselves through a career-spanning celebration, looking as far back as 2010’s The Hope Division and lead single Amber, which never fails to unite a crowd in a singalong. Wrapping up with Against Them All – an always relevant rallying cry for the dispossessed and downtrodden – STYG end on a triumphant note, both crowd and band absolutely drenched in sweat and smiling ear to ear. A promise to be back soon from vocalist Jesse Barnett is one that’s sure to be kept if the band’s recent touring schedule is anything to go by, and no doubt we’ll be there once again to enjoy their particular brand of chaos.