Live Review: Skindred - Epic Studios, Norwich
Support: Lake Malice, BlackGold
Words & Photos: Tom Atkin
With winter drawing in it is lovely to see so many people queued up for live music. Tonight Norwich’s Epic Studios is being treated to the trio of Lake Malice, BlackGold and the almighty Skindred.
Opening the evening is Brighton based alt-metal band Lake Malice. Having only formed in early 2021, they are already getting quite a fanbase. Consistently touring throughout the UK along with hitting up Download Festival earlier this year.
Even though they are first on, it seems a lot of tonights crowd has already settled in to catch the performance from these guys. For such a new band they already have their live show nailed, an absolutely flawless performance and great stage presence. They only complaint I could imagine there being, is that they didn’t have a long enough set.
Their debut EP is releasing later this month and there are plenty more chances to check them out live as they'll be join up with Enter Shikari for their November tour.
Breaking on to the scene in 2022, BlackGold are already making waves, playing Download and supporting Limp Bizkit both in the last year, and currently sitting on two EP’s. Much like Lake Malice, BlackGold is a relatively new band thats mixing it up enough to get noticed by a lot of people.
For a band that looks like your typical hip hop group, they bring a ridiculously sounding blend of hip hop and metal. It works, very well. Having only got the two EP’s out at present, this means they can play majority of their songs. The tunes are performed impeccably as well. Listen to 'Sorry', 'It's Art' or 'Freak' on a recorded version and compare to live, apart from from having more passion you won’t be able to tell much of a difference. As long as they carry on how they are, It won’t be long until they are selling out venues themselves.
Darkness then drops and we are given the Imperial March as Skindred’s entrance song, it is a certain amount of calmness as Mikey Demus starts playing, the muted strums before the whole band kicks in to 'Set Fazers'. The crowd instantly erupts. It is evident that Skindred are bringing a high energy show tonight. Benji is an absolutely amazing front man, captivating the audience, not only with the blend of reggae, metal and punk. But with his comedic outbursts and heart felt stories of his back ground.
As this tour is in support of their recent release 'Smile', the majority of the songs on tonights set list are from that album. Including 'Gimme That Boom', 'Our Religion' and then the softer songs from the album, 'If I Could' and 'Life That’s Free'. All of which, like the rest of the bands on tonights bill, performed flawlessly. Theres not a still body in the crowd as the band blasts out their musical mix.
Tonight’s performance marks Skindred ticking off all three of Norwich’s main venues. Which is no surprise as they seem to do a tour most years! With the back catalogue that they have, they picked out their greatest hits from each of their albums. Playing fan favourites such as 'Rat Race', 'Babylon' and 'Kill The Power'. The great thing about the show is that you can tell they still love playing their older music as well. Not just the most recent songs.
Of course they had to throw in their TikTok viral 'Nobody', which everyone knew they would play. Most likely the song that almost all the crowd will have been introduced to Skindred with. Ending the night, there is still one thing missing. The faithful newport helicopter. Thats when Benji brings out Spookz from BlackGold for 'Warning'. Everyone is already all set with their shirts, bandana’s and clothing they could. Raised above their head waiting for it to kick in.
Everyone tonight loved the show. There is so much hype is surrounding Skindred at the moment, they are faithful attendees of Download and yet still love to play little venues in the middle of Norfolk. I would love to point you towards the rest of the tour. However, the whole tour is Sold Out. Your next chance to see Skindred is in 2024. They are headlining a 3 date tour hitting Manchester, Birmingham and the OVO Arena at Wembley. This is their biggest shows yet!
Photo credits: Tom Atkin
