GIG REVIEW: Random Hand + Monkie Mind @ The Grove, Newcastle, Friday 26 September 2025
It’s Friday and it’s gig night at The Grove, a smashing little venue in Newcastle’s East End which takes its name from popular ’90s teenage TV show Byker Grove.
Our headliners tonight are Random Hand, a ska-punk quartet with a decent following in the North East, courtesy of repeated visits over the years to various venues, though this is their first time here.
Let’s start at the beginning though, with tonight’s openers, pop-punk trio Monkie Mind, who are fronted by Lee Wright, guitarist with Jarrow street-punk ‘n’ rollers Crashed Out.
He formed the band as Monkey Mind in 2018 with Olga from The Toy Dolls on bass and Martin Paynton from South Shields ska band Panic Report on drums, and they released their self-titled debut album (reviewed here) in late 2021.
Sadly, Olga stepped down in January, as the fact he lives in London combined with his commitments with The Toy Dolls and Cockney Rejects made practicing almost impossible. They found a replacement in local lad Randle, but disaster struck after just one gig when he smashed a finger at the gym, leaving him unable to play.
Thus, this is only their second show with their new line-up, but it’s clear from the off that Randle’s fitted in well. I haven’t seen Monkie Mind live before, but their enjoyable 45-minute set is basically a straight run-through of the debut album, with last year’s single Ocean Road (a tribute to South Shields’ legendary curry mile!) tagged on the end.
They play a catchy brand of pop-punk, and although it’s odd at first seeing Lee as a frontman instead of backing vocalist, he warms to his task as the room begins to fill up.
Standouts include Girl In A Jar, Small Man, Local Lass, and, my favourite song on the album, Get Rid Ov Him. It’s a successful return for the Monkie boys, whose next gig is a rearranged show at Little Buildings in Newcastle in November. Sadly for newcomers like myself it’s sold out.
Time then for the main attraction, and the room is even busier by the time the headliners take the stage. I’ve seen them a few time, and they never disappoint; tonight is no exception.
Random Hand released their fifth album, the self-titled Random Hand, in 2023, and it was one of my favourite records of that year (the top 40 is here). They kick off with its opening track, The Cycle, a fast-paced number about the instability of the world we live in, and how quickly hopeful can turn into hateful, with the cycle going round over and over again.
It’s a cracking opener which lays out their stall from the off, as a political band who mash up ska, reggae, punk, metal and even a bit of hip-hop. Formed in Keighley, West Yorkshire, Random Hand hail nowadays from all over the North West, but they’re still very much a working class band.
Vocalist Robin is a force of nature, somehow finding the energy to combine singing with playing trombone, while guitarist Dan, stripped to the waist and wearing a pair of budgie-smuggler shorts, proves equally adept at getting the skank going as well as throwing down harder riffs.
Bassist Joe, who founded the band with Robin in 2002, and drummer Sean drive the sound on like the locked-in rhythm section they are, setting a frantic pace which rarely lets.
They’re not here to plug a recent release, which means we get a setlist drawn from all five studio albums. 2007’s debut Change Of Plan gives us Scum Triumphant, about taking pride in who you are, while Play Some Ska defends and defines their cross-genre sound.
Tales of Intervention sets off at breakneck pace and never falters, Dead Weight is punctuated by a huge riff and juddering breakdowns, and Devil With A Microphone, a standout from the last album, gets the whole place dancing mid-set.
There’s a moment of high comedy when, in his between-song banter, Robin admits he was a huge fan of Byker Grove back in the day, and reveals how thrilled he is to be playing in the place where it was made.
When he asks why there’s no statue of youth worker Geoff, his dreams are shattered when he’s informed in no uncertain times by a punter: “It was filmed in Benwell”. The bloke then proceeds to put him right on a few other points in a way that only a Geordie heckler can. Robin’s mortified and sinks to the floor, hiding his embarrassment, but no one’s offended.
As well as being an engaging frontman, Robin’s a born storyteller. When he asks if anyone saw them at Rebellion in the summer (I did), he recalls how he urged the crowd to do a wall of death, only to have a stage hand rush on and inform him that’s a guaranteed show-stopper – only no one bothered to tell Random Hand (Punks being punks, the audience went ahead and did it anyway!).
The show builds up a good had of steam before ending with regular closer Anger Management, with Robin indulging in a spot of crowd-surfing before returning to the stage to finish the song and bid the crowd a good evening. Hopefully they won’t leave it too long before returning to this home away from home.
