GIG REVIEW: Marrapalooza 4: Wild and Fierce and Not Bothered @ various venues in Ouseburn, Newcastle, Sunday 7 June 2026
Started in 2023 by two small promoters in Newcastle, Marrapalooza is an independent festival showcasing the UK’s best grassroots music, held across venues in the beautiful Ouseburn Valley of Newcastle.
It aims to be the most ambitious and varied feast of grassroots music in the North of England, and Marrapalooza 4 is the biggest and most ambitious edition to date, with music of many different genres spread over three days and a multitude of venues.
Previous headliners include Martha, Pit Pony, Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys, Benefits, Onsind and The Lake Poets, so this year’s line-up had plenty to live up to.
I could only make the Sunday, so after picking up my wristband from the Cumberland Arms, I headed to the Old Coal Yard, for a day of punk and rock curated by Sunderland-based label Little Rocket Records and local promoters North East Cosmonaut Circus.
First up was a bonus act not mentioned in the pre-gig advertising for the stage, Greg Robson, who sings and plays guitar for Sunderland melodic punk trio Ugly Criers.
His solo acoustic set reminded me very much of Chuck Ragan, and served as a nice appetiser for what was to follow. His band released their debut album Catching Spiders on Little Rocket in January. Check it out on Bandcamp HERE.
Talking of Sunderland, it’s producing a rich seam of bands right now, and another of the Music City’s alumni is up next, fellow Little Rocket band Tearjerker. The four-piece play ’90s-style melodic punk done just the right way. (think HDQ/Leatherface).
Formed in 2021, they have just their self-titled debut album, released a couple of years later, to their name so far (check it out on Bandcamp HERE), but the good news is there’s another on the way, and a few new songs find their way onto the setlist.
They kick up quite a storm, with drummer Brent walloping the kit so hard that the bass drum begins creeping forward, though a couple of well-placed concrete slabs soon fixes that.
Next up are a band who are new to me, Back Teeth, who have travelled from Birmingham to play Marrapalooza. Self-described as a ‘gruff punk org-core dad-rock band’, they’re loud, raw, and have big shoutalong choruses – right up my street.
Their debut album Ultimate Worrier came out on Little Rocket late last year, and it’s well worth wrapping your ears round. It’s on Bandcamp HERE.
There’s a change of pace next, with Deadbeat At Dawn, from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, bringing their high-octane ska-punk to the stage. They’re the first of today’s bands that I’ve seen before, and their ‘skapocalyptic’ sound is infectious.
Mike, one of their two vocalists, doesn’t bother with the stage, preferring to spend the whole set bounding around the floor in front of it, occasionally joined by fans and the drummer from Tearjerker, who’s well into it.
They leave the stage to warm applause, to be followed by a band I’ve been looking forward to seeing most on this bill, Goodbye Blue Monday, who are described as anthemic misery-punk from Glasgow. I’m sold already and they haven’t played a note.
I’m told they’re for fans of The Menzingers and Hot Water Music, which raises my expectations even further, and they don’t disappoint, with a splendid half-hour set of full-on emo-punk, which reminds me more of The Downtown Struts (remember them?).
Sadly, like a few of the bands here today, they have no music for sale, so it’s off to Bandcamp again to check out the handful of singles and EPs they’ve released over the last decade, as well as their sole album, 2023’s Let’s Go Goodbye Blue Monday By Goodbye Blue Monday. Check them out on Bandcamp HERE.
More Scots are next, namely The Murderburgers, a three-piece pop-punk band who built up quite a following after forming in 2007, touring on both sides of the Atlantic with the likes of Alkaline Trio and Off With Their Heads, before taking a break at the end of 2019.
Since returning last October they’ve hit the ground running, touring all over the UK and Europe, playing Pouzza Fest in Canada, and releasing their first new material since 2019’s What A Mess album. They put plenty into their performance, but it’s marred by slightly muddy sound, which does them no favours. Check out what they should sound like on their Bandcamp page HERE.
Feeble Strength, more alternative rock than punk, are up next, and they’re fronted by David Littlefair (aka Portions For Foxes), who is one of the men behind Marrapalooza, and fulsome for his praise with all the bands, helpers and music fans who have turned out to support the event over the whole weekend.
I’ve not heard the four-piece before, and am just starting to warm to them when their 30 minutes is up. . Check them out HERE.
Now it’s time for just the second band of the day who I’ve seen before, Yur Mum, a Brazilian duo who are based in London. Consisting of Anelise Kunz (bass/vocals) and Fabio Couto (drums), they remind me of a grungier version of Royal Blood.
This appearance in front of a few dozen people couldn’t be more different from last time I saw them, on one of the main stages at Rebellion Punk Festival in Blackpool, but they still give it their all.
They have three albums under their belt, most recently 2024’s Duality, and with distorted bass and pounding rhythms, topped with Anelise’s feral howl, what I see of their set goes down a treat, and I certainly look forward to catching them again.
There’s one band left at the Old Coal Yard, angry Tees punks Dossers, but it’s time for a change of scenery, and a trip down the road to The Grove, where arguably the two biggest names on the bill are finishing the festival off in style.
At a time when many events are struggling to sell tickets and even being cancelled, it’s good to see Marrapalloza upping the ante in terms of their headliners, with two great up and coming bands from the alternative music scene.
First it’s The Chisel, a London-based five-piece who play a mix of hardcore and oi. I’ve seen them a few times before, including their previous appearance in Newcastle, in February 2024, but I’m in the minority, as only a few hands go up when gruff-voiced Lancastrian singer Cal asks if anyone was there.
The room’s respectably busy for a band so few seem familiar with, and The Chisel reward them with a blisteringly aggressive set. The crowd are surprisingly static, but seem into it, and the band – who’ve had a change of line-up, including former UK Subs man Jamie Oliver on drums – are having an absolute blast.
Sadly, there’s always one arsehole, and tonight’s decides to do some crowd-killing, knocking unsuspecting punters out of his way and leaving a woman needing medical attention. I’m not a fan of this kind of moshing, particularly when it’s inflicted on a fairly sedate crowd like this one.
He’s quickly shepherded out, which is just as well, as two burly blokes behind me are ready to knock him out if he tries it again. Happily, the woman seems OK, and the band smash it out of the park by ending with two of their best songs, Retaliation and Chisel Boys.
Check out The Chisel’s two albums, Retaliation (2022) and What A Fucking Nightmare (2024) at their Bandcamp page HERE. Then make sure you see them live, where they really come into their own.
Time for the headliners, and it’s a band I’ve been looking forward to since the line-up was announced. Militarie Gun are a melodic hardcore band formed in Los Angeles in 2020 by lead vocalist Ian Shelton when Covid-19 forced his other band, Seattle hardcore outfit Regional Justice Center, into hiatus.
They’ve released two full-length albums, Life Under The Gun (2023) and God Save The Gun (2025), and together with the likes of Turnstile and Civic, Militarie Gun are rewriting the book on what hardcore can be, with lots of melody and a pop sensibility coupled with big riffs and hooks.
There’s not as much energy from the band or audience as I expected, with the former perhaps explained by Shelton’s admission that they’re still jet-lagged, and the latter by the fact Militarie Gun aren’t that well known yet. The security guys poised for a wave of crowd-surfers remain untroubled, apart from when Shelton exits the stage to finish the final song, Bad Idea, on his back, upside down, help up by the crowd.
It’s a great end to an enjoyable show, but I hope that next time I see them they’re preaching to the converted, rather than entertain the merely curious. Big kudos for the organisers of Marrapalooza in booking such an up and coming act though, and I look forward to seeing how they follow it next year.
