F*CKED UP + BIG CHEESE + PLASTICS – PATTERNS, BRIGHTON 17.3.23
F*cked Up
With Canadian hardcore punk band F*cked Up in town, courtesy of local concert promoters Lout Promotions, it was always going to be a rather frantic loud evening at Patterns on Friday. And it didn’t disappoint.
F*cked Up were formed back in 2001 in Toronto. The band consists of Damian Abraham (vocals), Mike Haliechuk (guitar, vocals), Josh Zucker (guitar), Sandy Miranda (bass), and Jonah Falco (drums, vocals). At Patterns on Friday, they were a 6-piece band with Maegan Brooks, from the support band Big Cheese, joining them on guitar and vocals.
There was no slow introduction or build up from F*cked Up. Straight into the music; no messing around. Literally leading from the front, Damian was right up against the barrier and frequently leaning over it. He shouted out the lyrics, often right in the faces of those at the front of the audience. (They loved it.)
Although now living in Canada, Damian recalled his Sussex upbringing, describing going to school in East Sussex and remembering day trips into Brighton and eating at Grubbs.
The subject matter of some of F*cked Up’s songs are on that personal level, including worrying about being a good father to his kids, and if they’d be better off with different parents, and ‘Glass Boys’ about the fragility in our lives. While others tackle global political issues. Damian made references in his song introductions to unjust immigration policies both back in Canada and in the UK, and insider politicians looking after their own interests.
Although Damian was clearly on lead vocals, later in F*cked Up’s set, he shared singing duties with other band members taking turns. On a few songs, Jonah on drums would often echo or reply to Damian’s words. Guitarist Josh took lead vocals on one song, while Maegan, from Big Cheese, sang another. (Surprisingly, she hadn’t sung any of the songs in her own band’s set.)
While the others were singing, Damian would be kneeling or crawling around the stage, almost as if he was looking for something he’d dropped. At one point he appeared to have modelled horns out of what could’ve been plastic bottles.
At the end of the main section of F*cked Up set, the band left the stage one-by-one, leaving just Johan on drums and Sandy on bass. When the band returned for their encore, Damian declared that “there’s no place in punk for Nazis or right-wing hate”, before the band launched into ‘Police’, from their 2004 album ‘Let Likes Be Cured By Likes’. A popular choice in the growing mosh pit.
At the end of the last song, Damian simply said a few thank-you’s and left the stage, again leaving the rest of the band playing on. This turned out to be the longest “song” of the whole evening, with each musician given space to play a solo almost improvised segment. Josh’s guitar part was particularly impressive. When Josh left the stage, he handed his guitar to the lead singer of the support band Big Cheese, Tom “Razor” Hardwick. (Spoiler alert, like fellow band member Maegan Brooks, he also played a role in F*cked Up’s set, which he didn’t do in his own band’s performance.) This ending to F*cked Up’s set was a different way of letting people in the band showcase their individual talents.
F*cked Up played a very striking and varied set. Including different lead vocalists with their different singing styles worked well. With the music adapting to match their singing, it added variety to F*cked Up’s set. The speed and energy levels were very high throughout. Although the band members, other than Damian, didn’t speak, and were so absorbed they could appear to be in their own worlds, F*cked Up were a very tight band musically. Jonah’s contribution on drums and Sandy on bass keeping things together shouldn’t be underestimated, and was key to the band’s overall performance. A quality punk performance from F*cked Up and a great start to the weekend.
F*cked Up:
Damian Abraham – vocals
Mike Haliechuk – guitar, vocals
Josh Zucker – guitar
Sandy Miranda – bass
Jonah Falco – drums, vocals
Maegan Brooks (from Big Cheese) – guitar and vocals
F*cked Up setlist:
‘Found’ (from 2023 ‘One Day’ album)
‘I Think I Might Be Weird’ (from 2023 ‘One Day’ album)
‘Queen Of Hearts’ (from 2011 ‘David Comes To Life’ album)
‘Huge New Her’ (from 2023 ‘One Day’ album)
‘Roar’ (from 2023 ‘One Day’ album)
‘Broken Little Boys’ (from 2023 ‘One Day’ album)
‘Lords Of Kensington’ (from 2023 ‘One Day’ album)
‘Nothing’s Immortal’ (from 2023 ‘One Day’ album)
‘I Don’t Wanna Live In This World Anymore’ (from 2018 ‘Dose Your Dreams’ album)
‘Normal People’ (from 2018 ‘Dose Your Dreams’ album)
‘One Day’ (from 2023 ‘One Day’ album)
‘Glass Boys’ (from 2014 ‘Rivoli’ album)
‘Joy Stops Time’ (from 2018 ‘Dose Your Dreams’ album)
(encore)
‘Police’ (from 2022 ‘Epics In Minutes’ album)
‘Turn The Season’ (from 2022 ‘Epics In Minutes’ album)
‘Dose Your Dreams’ (from 2018 ‘Dose Your Dreams’ album)
More info on the band HERE and listen to the band HERE.
Plastics
Opening for F*cked Up at Patterns on Friday were local punk rockers, Plastics. Plastics were formed in January 2019 and released their debut EP ‘Plastic World’ in 2020. The Brighton & Hove News team was there at its release show, you can read our review HERE.
Plastics are a 5-piece punk band led by female vocalist Oli Carter Hopkins with Sam Rack on drums, Louis Orm on bass with guitarists James Claringbould and Leo completing the band’s line up.
The volume and speed of the Plastics set were established from the first notes of ‘Masochist’ with its fast bassline and Oli’s screaming vocals. ‘Lovers’, from the band’s 2020 EP ‘Plastic World’, followed in a similar vein with its fast and clever guitar break.
As well as material from their EP, Plastics treated us to some new material. Oli introduced ‘Your War’ as one of the band’s new songs. On this song, Oli’s screaming vocals took on an even angrier and distressed feel, which matched the music well.
Fronting the band, Oli had a very intense haunting almost sinister stage presence, matching her screaming singing style. She became more animated as the set went on, stalking menacingly around the stage, and punching the air.
Plastics songs were powerful, short, fast and loud, as expected from a punk band. (The longest track on their EP is 2 minutes 9 seconds long.) Within the Plastics punk sound, some of the songs had a similar feel to Motörhead’s ‘Ace Of Spades’, especially on the guitar parts.
‘Nerve Pusher’ was unmistakably punk, while the closing number in Plastics set ‘Lies’ had a longer musical intro before Oli started singing. If anything, the tempo got even quicker for their final song. It was a very impressive, lively and energetic opening set from Plastics. Those who got there early on Friday enjoyed the band’s performance.
Plastics are going back to recording, so look out for new material and maybe an EP from them in the near future. Although Plastics have some gigs coming up in London, they’ve nothing in the diary for Brighton. You’ll have to follow them on social media for their next live shows in Brighton.
Plastics:
Oli Carter Hopkins – vocals
Sam Rack – drums
James Clarning – guitar
Louis Orm – bass
Leo – guitar
Plastics setlist:
‘Masochist’ (unreleased)
‘Lovers’ (from 2020 ‘Plastic World’ EP)
‘Prisoner’ (unreleased)
‘Bitter’ (from 2020 ‘Plastic World’ EP)
‘Your War’ (unreleased)
‘Scorpion’ (unreleased)
‘Blue Mould’ (from 2020 ‘Plastic World’ EP)
‘Get Away’ (unreleased)
‘Nerve Pusher’ (from 2020 ‘Plastic World’ EP)
‘Lies’ (unreleased)
www.instagram.com/plastics.bn1
Big Cheese
The filling in the middle of Patterns punk sandwich on Friday was Big Cheese. Big Cheese are an English hardcore punk band from Leeds, who are a part of the New Wave of British Hardcore. Their music is influenced by New York hardcore bands like Warzone, Killing Time, Leeway, Breakdown and Sick of It All.
The band were formed in 2016 by guitarist Maegan Brooks and vocalist and then-bassist Tom “Razor” Hardwick. They were later joined by Louis Hardy (guitar), Joe Williams (bass) and Alex Wizard (drums) to complete their current line-up.
During the interval, the guitarists tuned up playing the theme to ‘The Pink Panther’ and the band came on stage to the folk song ‘Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)’ (first recorded by Lead Belly in 1940 and more famously covered by The Beach Boys). Their set could hardly have been more different, being loud, in your face, hardcore.
Fronting the band, Tom was very much the focal point of the band. His shouting, raucous vocals fitted the bands overall fast heavy hardcore sound. He very rarely stood in one place for more than seconds, which explains why there was no mic stand for him on stage. Although on an instrumental break in one song, he did stand to the side to let the other band members take the spotlight.
At the start of the second song in the set, Tom shouted “Brighton, let’s be having you”. (Not quite like Delia Smith’s infamous outburst at a Norwich City home game.) This did get things moving with some hardcore Big Cheese fans. A few started dancing, which wasn’t moshing exactly, but more like upright break dancing with martial arts kicks.
This small but lively group were energetically dancing and singing along to Big Cheese. Frequently in songs, Tom would present the mic to one of these hardcore fans to finish a line from the song. None of them got tongue tied or didn’t know the lyrics.
Mid set there was a break with the sound of a film clip from what I guess was a US crime thriller. During this interlude the band turned their backs to the audience to retune their instruments.
After this break, Tom returned to the stage announcing “F*ck the government, f*ck this country”, before the next track ‘Punishment Park’ the title track from their album. This was one of the highlights of the set with its concentrated noise and speed.
Overall, a loud intense set from Big Cheese, as was to be expected from one of the main bands of the New Wave of British Hardcore.
Big Cheese:
Tom “Razor” Hardwick – lead vocals
Maegan Brooks – guitar
Louis Hardy – guitar
Joe Williams – bass
Alex Wizard – drums
