GIG REVIEW: Hi-Stakes Tour: Last Hounds + The Last Gang + Split Dogs + Clobber, Sunday 15 September 2024 @ The Cluny, Newcastle
It’s shortly after 7pm on Sunday evening in the Ouseburn valley of Newcastle, and pretty soon the hipster enclave won’t know what’s hit it.
One of the best live music venues in the North East is hosting the opening night of the Hi-Stakes Tour, showcasing four of the best up and coming punk bands around.
Sadly, lack of promotion and poor ticket sales mean it almost doesn’t go ahead, with the event cancelled, moving venue and then restored to The Cluny in the last few days.
Hats off then to local to promoter Byker Grave Bookings and hardcore label Conviction Recordings for pulling this show together at the last minute, and for making sure an audience turn up by making it a free gig.
It’s a sad state of affairs when a £14-a-ticket gig featuring for four travelling bands can’t sell enough to make it viable, but advance sales seem a real problem at this level – a world away from the rip-off dynamic pricing of your stadium bands.
The tour’s rotating line-up means there’s no headliner, with fans encouraged to turn up early to watch all the bands, and it seems to work tonight, as only the organisers and acts know who’s playing when.
First up are Last Hounds, a hardcore five-piece from Birmingham who have been around since about 2015, but are new to me. They play very modern hardcore, in the vein of Turnstile, full of big riffs and even bigger choruses.
They only have 25 minutes, so go hell for leather through an eight-song set which starts with latest single Growing Pains (included on the exclusive 10in tour EP) and includes a couple of their tracks from their 2021 debut album Burden, as well as a couple more recent songs, which suggests another album may be on the way.
Their vocalist spends much of their set in the crowd, who warm to them straight away, and their energy and power set the tone nicely for what follows. Like two of the other bands on this tour they’re signed to Venn Records (also home to the likes of Meryl Streek, Bob Vylan and Aerial Salad), so let’s hope a new record isn’t far away.
Next up are the band who some might consider the headliners, The Last Gang. Hailing from California, they’re signed to Fat Mike of NOFX’s record label, Fat Wreck Chords, and are about to release their fourth album, Obscene Daydreams.
Led by sole remaining original member Brenna Red on vocals and guitar, the four-piece are another band who exude energy, but there’s plenty of melody in their songs too, as well as a dash of ska here and there.
Red is the sort of frontwoman you can’t take your eyes off, with her moves matching her attitude and a voice which veers into gravelly Brody Dalle territory at times.
They’re another band I haven’t seen before, but I enjoy their 10-song set so much that I buy a copy of the new album from their merch desk after their set. Three songs from it, Rumors, Berlin To Rome and Madness, make the setlist, but it’s previous album Noise Noise Noise which dominates, with WFTW (We Fucked The World) the standout cut.
It’s time to move into more familiar territory next, with Bristol’s Split Dogs showing why they’re regarded as one of the UK’s best up and coming punk bands. I first saw them last year as they played an album launch show with Riskee And The Ridicule (reviewed here), and then again last month as they made a blistering Rebellion debut (read about that here).
After a couple of changes their line-up seems to have settled, but the star of the show remains the same: singer Harry, who’s become an absolutely phenomenal frontwoman. She covers every inch of the stage as she struts her stuff, belting out fan favourites like Gutter Ball, Prison Bitch and Punch Drunk.
There’s a handful of new songs in their set too, including latest single And What? (which is on the tour EP), and a searing cover of Tears Of A Clown, like you’ve never heard it before.
Split Dogs are firing on all cylinders, and Harry’s smile as she picks herself up off the floor at the end of their sweat-soaked set shows they know they’ve absolutely fucking smashed it on what I believe is their first visit to Newcastle.
Tonight’s headliners (but remember, it could change from city to city) are Clobber, a loud and proud South London quartet who play ferocious hardcore-infused oi! I saw them with Grade 2 about 18 months ago (reviewed here) and again as they made their Rebellion debut this summer (read about that here), and they’re another band who are going from strength to strength.
Normally a five-piece, there’s only four of them tonight, but it matters not a jot. To say they’re not short on confidence is an understatement, as their vocalist spends the moments between their short, fast, blasts of anger baiting the crowd, telling them how shit the north is compared to London (though even he concedes the Angelic Upstarts were a good band from the North East).
They’ve only got a short set, and they’re all present and correct tonight: Karens, Gammons, Hippies and Conspiracies, Bully Boys, Hardcore Hive Mind and the closing Tottenham Court Road go down a storm, as do a Bad Religion cover and new single Council Estate Of Mind (from the tour EP). Intense doesn’t even begin to describe Clobber. They’re superb, and provide a searing end to the night’s entertainment.
I hope the other dates on the Hi-Stakes Tour are better supported, as a package like this takes some pulling together, and on tonight’s evidence all these bands deserve to progress to bigger and better things. Get your tickets HERE.
