Outbreak has shifted here and there over the years. The now iconic hardcore festival has taken place in Sheffield and Leeds, and now finds its home in Manchester. With last year’s 10 anniversary taking place at Bowlers, and arguably it’s strongest line-up of all time with the likes of Turnstile, Knocked Loose, Incendiary, and Your Demise. It was going to be a tough act to follow, and Outbreak’s answer was to throw a curveball with its announcement, and double up in size by being hosted at Depot Mayfield.
Friday
Outbreak’s Friday opened hard and fast, with Pest Control being passed the baton from Year of the Knife for kicking off the show. The thrash cross-over unit more than deserve their presence on main stage, with their title track from “Don’t Test The Pest” and the likes of “Buggin’ Out” getting a crowd full of anticipation moving and mic grabbing. Following them was the nose-breaker band of the weekend, Sunami, overlooked by their Bruce Willis backdrop. Their set mainstays of “Weak Die First“, “Sunami Style” and “YS.A.B.” all sending the crowd into a frenzy of stage-diving and fist-throwing. Surprisingly similar, next came Fleshwater, with an albeit smaller pit. But the energy and violence did carry over from Sunami – if anybody did think the 90s inspired shoegaze unit was going to offer some respite.
Coming later were Militaries Gun, who were fresh off the back of Life Under The Gun. Despite the somewhat mixed response to the album in various quarters, the front area was still packed. The likes of “Pressure Cooker” saw a joyous and bouncing aura fill Mayfield. This energy peaked with High-Vis, who followed on from One Step Closer. A rammed stage of stage-divers and folk looking to sing-a-long, even if stage invaders were getting a bit too indulgent with their time. It would be difficult for those who aren’t fully on board the High-Vis hype train not to be drawn in by the performance, and their Outbreak performance seemingly has proved that force behind them is real.
When looking at the line-up, Defeater would be a band that would be considered a must see for a vast majority of those on the Friday. The Boston unit have been a mainstay in many people’s listening for a decade plus, and their sublime set offered up the chance to see the likes of “Dear Father“, “Cowardice” and “Bastards” live, in the expected highly emotive fashion. The combination of energy and emotion made for one of the best sets of the weekend. They closed out on “The Red, White And Blues“, meaning onlookers could not have asked for much more. Converge were up next, with vocalist Bannon putting on his as always excellent performance, put the whole room into movement from side-to-side. There is a startling presence to Coverge‘s performance and sound on stage, and it helps that have a strong and influential discography to choose from, leaving no weak-links in their set.
Saturday
After a bruising opening day, there was plenty on the Saturday that wasn’t going to let any war wounds heal up. And any weary eyes would have set wide open by the frenetic, and somewhat amusingly named, Candy. Their violent, death-metal-come-hardcore blended sound got the day two crowd moving and up on stage with ease. Their piercing performance ensured that their time on stage was one to stick in the mind, and hopefully converted a few to their grand sound. Pacing things down came Narrow Head, whose sound on a big stage still needs some refinement, with very few moments to latch onto in terms of getting energy injects into the crowd. Although I expect some were glad for the breather, with Scowl up next.
The buzz around Scowl is difficult to avoid, even if the direction on their most recent EP perhaps doesn’t take your fancy. The front-stage is rammed for them, with “Retail Hell” thankfully remaining on the set as it’s an absolute banger, accompanied with the likes of “Bloodhound” and “Dead To Me” causing absolute chaos. It is at this point that the size of the mosh-licence only front area size does begin to irk, it’s all a bit too claustrophobic and doesn’t leave room for a reasonably sized mosh pit. And despite Depot’s seemingly larger size than Bowlers, the front area does feel smaller and has the addition of view-obscuring pillars. Not that any of this stopped Scowl’s set being one of the best of the weekend.
California units Scowl and Fury with both electric performance lead into what would be the first set of hip-hop acts of the weekend. First come duo Armand Hammer, who dimmed the lights down on the main stage. Between them and following act Mike, the energy drops down from earlier, most noticeably during Armand. Mike did see an uplift, even with a sizeable pit taking place. During this time it does leave those with little interest in Outbreak’s revamped line-up twiddling their thumbs somewhat, but what came next with Soul Glo and Jesus Piece would make those moments be quickly forgotten.
Seemingly made for this new mix of genres on the Outbreak line-up came SOUL GLO. A sheer madness to their set and a volume of lyrics being shouted back that would have been the one to beat over the weekend. The pinnacle of this came with “Gold Chain Punk (whogonbeatmyass?)” that lead to a stage invasion and the crowd chanting “whogonbeatmyass” for minutes after the track had stopped. Within the chaos of it all, it offered up a sheer moment that I’m sure will live long in SOUL GLO’s memory and any fan of theirs who was there to experience it. The pummelling Jesus Piece followed on, and offered up one of the most “ouch” sets of the weekend. Legs, arms and anything else being thrown on stage and in the pit, even with the aforementioned issues of the size of the front section. The violence and aggression is all part of what Jesus Piece offer up, it’s what makes them exciting to see, and they mostly certainly delivered on that here.
The big boys of the entire weekend were set next on main stage, with the first being Code Orange. While their recent output has been left wanting, the sheer intensity of their performance of recent track “Grooming My Replacement” and historical favourites such as “Spy” and “Dreaming In Inertia” captivated the crowd. It’s a hellish and relentless performance that will probably go down as one of the best in Outbreak history, and cranks up the excitement for their upcoming record. Topping this comes Death Grips, and anyone who had been paying attention had notice the swarm of Death Grips fans who had made their to the Depot on the Saturday. With the likes of gas masks and balaclavas donned, it was clear who plenty were here to see. Across their headliner performance, it felt like the most festival-esque set of the weekend. Pits opening across the front-section, pillars being climbed up onto and a sheer presence outside of recordings that gave it a pertinence. Even for those not fully initiated into the world of Death Grips, it was something to take in.
Sunday
The final days of a festival are always a challenging one, the Saturdays are usually the hard-hitters and the big names. And for those who’ve been at Outbreak since the Thursday and the pre-show, the energy is starting to wain. In generous fashion, Outbreak chose to offer up three of the most exciting prospects in the international hardcore scene; Zulu, Buggin and Speed. Zulu brought their jams that will have you dancing, and 30 seconds later, you’ll be seeing somebody get leathered to their sheer moments of heaviness. Zulu are a band you have to see live to get, and their Outbreak 2023 performance certainly proved that. Buggin saw the second stage absolutely filled, and the sheer fun of their record does translate into a live setting. Between this and Concrete Cowboys, Buggin’ really are one to keep an eye on. The final of this comes with Speed, a rare appearance from an Aussie unit, and a scene Outbreak should touch more on. Sheer madness of two-stepping, moshing and stage-diving was present, it’s the sort of moment you show your mate to let them see what it’s all about. Speed are so good it makes you want to buy the next plane ticket to Australia to see them again.
Show Me The Body made their return to Outbreak, their noisy version of hardcore making them standout within the sea of hardcore that was present. And for a Sunday, the crowd are still up for it, with mic grabs and stage divers feral as they were three days before. Even on the upside, thankfully no Xs were thrown up during their set this time round. Following them comes Loathe, who are seemingly on a mission to cover every festival and support slot this summer. As great at the Loathe set was, many punters here would have seen them many times before. The classics were pulled out with the title track off their sublime I Let It In And It Took Everything, New Faces In The Dark and Two Way Mirror. Yet there is a lingering sense with Loathe’s setlist it needs an injection of new material, that is hopefully on the horizon, and something that can match “It’s Yours” as a set closer in terms of energy.
Outbreak Festival can be followed here.