GIG REVIEW: The Menzingers + Prince Daddy And The Hyena + Gladie @ Northumbria University, Newcastle, Thursday 8 February 2024
Four years after wowing Tyneside with a fantastic show at the Riverside, Philadelphia punk band The Menzingers returned on a freezing cold February night, after a day where much of the North East had seen snow.
They’re here to promote their latest album, Some Of It Was True, which divided opinion among fans when it was released digitally in October last year (read our review here).
No, it’s not as immediate as 2017’s After The Party, or 2012’s On The Impossible Past – for me, still their masterpiece. It’s more of a slow burner, but by the time the physical release hit the shelves last month, it was firmly embedded as a worthy addition to their canon of work.
Last time The Menzingers played in Newcastle (reviewed here), they brought along two fine support bands from their native USA, Spanish Love Songs and Mannequin Pussy. Tonight they are accompanied by two more US bands, Gladie and Prince Daddy & The Hyena.
Both are new to me, and Gladie had already started their set by the time I arrive, but I quickly warmed to the five-piece from Philadelphia, who were formed in 2018 and are fronted by Augusta Koch, ex-frontwoman of Philly indie-pop-punk outfit Cayetano.
They were very enjoyable, and reminded me a lot of former Pixies bassist Kim Deal’s band The Breeders, and it turns out they have a couple of albums and a clutch of EPs and singles under their belt. Check them out on Bandcamp HERE.
Prince Daddy & The Hyena are a four-piece from Albany, New York, who have been around since 2014. Their slower songs sound like Weezer – obviously a good thing – while the faster ones are more like The Descendants.
Again, they turn out an enjoyable set of emo-tinged pop-punk, and I resolve to check out their back catalogue, which includes three albums and a bunch of EPs, splits and cassettes. Check them out on Bandcamp HERE.
The support bands have done their job well and the room is packed and buzzing with anticipation by the time The Menzingers take the stage to a backing tape of Dire Straits’ Walk Of Life.
They launch straight into Hope Is A Dangerous Little Thing, the lead single from their latest album, and any doubts about the new material disappear in an instant.
Greg Barnett, stage left as you look, takes lead vocals, as he does on the majority of songs, but co-vocalist Tom May, occupying the prime centre-stage spot, is the effervescent ball of energy who sets the tone for the night, bouncing around and getting the crowd moving.
The other flank is manned by bassist Eric Keen, who lays down a steady backbeat with drummer Joe Godino, and although it’s the vocalists who command most attention, these two most understated of musicians are vital to The Menzingers’ enduring appeal.
Many of the audience are in the 30-something age bracket which the band now fall into themselves, but the Menzos have a broad appeal, and I’d say there are people here aged between six (with cool parents) and 60.
The Menzingers’ trademark sound is melodic punk with huge hooks and even bigger singalong choruses, and there’s one of their very best along next, I Don’t Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore. It’s a classic move – a new song followed by a huge crowd-pleaser, and the Menzos pull it off perfectly.
The new album makes up a third of their 21-song set, with Try, the title track and There’s No Place In This World For Me not sounding at all out of place alongside established fan favourites.
Plenty of those are rolled out tonight: six songs from After The Party (including Tellin’ Lies, Lookers and Thick As Thieves) and five from On The Impossible Past (inc. Good Things, Burn After Writing and Nice Things).
The relentless pace lets briefly for Come On Heartache, one of the slower songs from the new album, and even Tom stops bouncing for this one, but he’s soon off again as they follow with the swift one-two of America (You’re Freaking Me Out) and The Obituaries, which get the whole place jumping.
Before you know it we’re at the end of the set, and there’s another crowd-pleaser in the shape of After The Party, which elicits another big singalong and some frenzied moshing.
They’re not done, of course, and after a few chants of ‘one more song’ the boys return to the stage, and treat us to not one encore but two, Charlie’s Army and Casey, and then their work here is done.
Their hour and 20 minutes on stage has absolutely flown by, and it’s only on checking the setlist later that I realise they could have played a completely different set filled with just as many bangers.
My favourite new song, Alone In Dublin, doesn’t make the cut, and neither do classics like Sun Hotel, In Remission or Bad Catholics, while the first two albums are bypassed completely.
The beauty of The Menzingers is that different songs hit differently with different listeners, but everyone heads home with a warm glow that not even a freezing cold Tyneside night can spoil, happy in the knowledge they’ve seen a band at the top of their game. Let’s hope they don’t leave it four years to come back.
