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Thursday 21 October 2021

A View From The Back Of The Room: Skindred (Live Review By Neil Lewis)

Skindred, Trash Boat & Saint Agnes at Tramshed, Cardiff 08 Oct 2021

Gigs are back dear reader, and what better way to celebrate the full-scale return of live music than heading to see one of the best British live acts around playing their almost-home town. I speak of course of the mighty Skindred, the self-described “True Newportian Ragga Metal” maestros who just happen to be on the road for the “Show Time” tour, every night of which is intended to be a “celebration of life” according to front (and Welsh rock royalty) Benji Webbe.

As the original support act (Royal Republic) was unable to make the tour an alternating set of supports was arranged instead, so at the Cardiff show the night was started by rabble rousers Saint Agnes (8). Unfortunately, I missed the first couple of songs of their set due to still being in the queue when they started but what I caught certainly impressed me. The “disgusting rock band” certainly had a stage presence, with front Kitty Austen in particular drawing the attention. The bands’ sound blends a chunk of nu-metal with a bit of industrial and a smattering of techno, so if that sounds enjoyable to you, I suggest you check them out as I certainly intend to discover more of their music based on the performance I saw.

Next up were Trash Boat (8) who I was looking forward to watching after hugely enjoying their new release “Don’t You Feel Amazing”, which sees the band shift slightly from their pop-punk roots and embrace a more expansive sound featuring huge, anthemic choruses. As it happened most of their 8-song set was pulled from that album save for a sole track (Strangers) from their 2016 debut album Nothing I Write You Can Change What You've Been Through and an excellent clap-along cover of Linkin Park’s Given Up. Their performance on this night was excellent and reflects the fact that this is a band on the rise. Indeed, the musical growth evident on their latest album suggests that bigger and better things are to come, and the way the audience was engaged in their performance suggests that the next time I see Trash Boat, they may be the headliner in a venue such as the Tramshed.

Tonight’s headline act however clearly had no intentions of being upstaged in Wales, oh no. I always feel that Skindred (10) put a little extra sauce onto their shows on home turf (let’s overlook that only one member of the band is from Wales!), and tonight was to prove no exception. From the minute Benji hit the stage looking almost like the embodiment of Welsh rugby insignia (bedecked in black and red jacket and trousers and a resplendent red top hat decorated with matching red feathers) the band looked dressed to impress, and impress is exactly what they did. As the band is in the process of recording a new album there was no new material to promote for this tour which necessitated the set list being something of a greatest hits package, which was no bad thing. Crowd favourites such as Rat Race (featuring Benji belting out a bit of Delilah for good measure, which must have been just for the Welsh crowd as it was replaced with Wonderwall at the following night’s show in Bristol), Doom Riff, Pressure, Nobody and set closer Warning were all greeted rapturously by the sold-out crowd that was packed into the warm venue.

In between the music the stage banter from Benji was also enormously entertaining, employing his usual mix of humility and sarcasm to great effect when addressing the throng and encouraging the singalong parts of songs like That’s My Jam and Kill The Power. Indeed, tonight’s crowd seemed equally up to the task of inspiring the band as the band were up to the task of entertaining the crowd, creating a wonderfully symbiotic relationship that elevated the whole experience. There was also the relatively new addition of the “Skindred Sandwich Challenge” whereby a member of the audience is invited on stage and challenged to eat a supermarket sandwich pack in thirty seconds – which as far as I know has never been successfully completed, and as the contestant is not allowed a drink during the challenge is unlikely to ever be completed (a fact I’m sure the band is well aware of!). Topping of all this off was the bands signature crowd participation moment in the form of the infamous Newport Helicopter, which in Cardiff was assisted by a couple of members of Saint Agnes joining the t-shirt whirling fun on stage.

Like many rock fans from the South Wales area, I’ve seen Skindred live a huge number of times in a variety of different venues dating all the way back to watching them tear up The Legendary TJ’s in Newport back in the mid 2000’s. Of all the times I’ve seen them (which includes the night following this review in Bristol’s O2 Academy) I’ve never seen a bad show. It must be said that a hot crowd can make a good gig even better, and the crowd in the Tramshed were fantastic and more than played their part. So, I do feel confident in saying that this was one of the best Skindred shows I’ve ever seen. I can only echo Carly Simon’s words from their now-familiar outro tape: “Nobody does it better”.

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