WARGASM + KAREN DIO + EVILLE – CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON 7.11.24
As the nights draw colder, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the big shows located next to Brighton’s iconic seafront were wrapping up for the year. Yet, on 7th November I found myself at Concorde 2, for a night of high octane rock music, headed by dynamic electronic rock-duo ‘Wargasm’, who were returning to England with this date as part of their ‘Club Sh*t’, EU/UK tour.
Joined by Brazilian punk rocker ‘Karen Dió’ who’s celebrated an incredibly strong year, including being chosen to support ‘Limp Bizkit’ on their ‘Loserville’ tour next year and Brighton’s own ‘brat metal’ rockers Eville. This promised to be an eclectic night of rock to remember.
‘Eville’ kicked off proceedings with aplomb, setting a high octane atmosphere that remained for the rest of the night. Industrial samples, paired with heavy down-tuned guitars featured heavily off the bat. With guttural vocals from the masked string players complimenting the bratty lead vocals to create this band’s dynamic sonic palette.
Although the room was filling in as they played, everyone in attendance of Concorde 2’s hallowed halls at this moment, were locked in and gripped by this vigorous set. What was perhaps most compelling about this band were how their performance was as tight as their arrangements, with backing tracks that added to, rather than detracting from their clearly well rehearsed live production.
Standout moments from their set were their ability and willingness to the band as an opener to engage with and command their crowd, with a pit opening in the second track. A standout song for me coming at track 6 with their now latest release ‘Ballistic’. Eville demanded that they wanted to see us “getting feral” with this one. This anthem of angst filled with screams, breaks reminiscent of drum and bass and a vocal hook of “f*ck the system” feeling particularly in tune towards many people’s feelings towards the current political climate.
By the end of their set, the night already felt supercharged, with us in the crowd primed and ready for what laid further ahead.
Eville:
Eva Sheldrake – vocals, guitar
Jude Richards – bass, backing vocals
Riley Sweeney – guitar, backing vocals
Milo Hemsley – drums
Eville setlist:
‘Bratmobile’
‘Monster’
‘Crawl Back’
‘Blood’
‘Dead Inside’
‘Ballistic’
“Untitled new song”
‘Leech’
‘Messy’
‘Ballistic’ can be streamed on all major streaming platforms on the following link – https://linktr.ee/evillemusic
Next to take the stage was Karen Dió, who immediately ushered the night into the realm of punk rock. What immediately stood out to me was the impactful and memorable nature of her chorus’s, reminiscent of the power punk anthems of the 1970s and 80’s, immediately invoking feelings of bands like ‘Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ and ‘Ramones’.
At this point in the night, the room started to heave. Karen continued the theme of working the crowd with her third track ‘Cut Your Hair’ getting some call and response going early on into her set. The following tracks further showcased the punk rockers versatility as a songwriter with ‘Hope You Know’ feeling like a ‘Kerrang’ era classic and ‘Bexy’ feeling a little bit more stripped back and intimate. ‘Dió, really gave the crowd a full showcase of her versatility as an artist with this performance, leaving us eagerly anticipating what type of song would be next.
Whatever the feel of the track played, they all felt cohesive and stood out as part of a brilliantly clever and catchy punk set. Dió, not only immensely talented in both songwriting and performance arts, but also immensely endearing as a performer herself, is definitely one to keep your eye on as she cascades her way through the punk scene.
Karen Dió:
Karen Dió – vocals
? – guitar
? – drums
Karen Dió setlist:
‘My World’
‘Stupid’
‘Cut Your Hair’
‘So Funny’
‘I Hope You Know It’s Not Me’
‘Betsy’
‘Poor Man’
‘Do It’
‘3am’
‘Sick Ride’
Karen Dió’s ‘My World’ EP can be streamed on all major streaming platforms on this link – https://linktr.ee/karendio
After a brief intermission, the light drew dim and purple flashing lights adorned the stage. It was time for Wargasm to make their return to England after the first leg of their European tour. Their set kicked off straight into their latest release ‘Circle Pit’, the two piece immediately making full use of the stage, both horizontal and vertical. It was a joy to behold how immediately drawn in their evidently dedicated set of fans are, as I spotted somebody crowd surfing before this first track even came to a close. Singer, “Sam Matlock” immediately informed the bustling room that “they were so f*cking glad to be back” as this first track came to a close, and this was a crowd that was evidently glad to have Wargasm back on the South Coast.
Something that became evident as the set progressed was how well the two singers’ vocal deliveries worked together, with Sam providing more intensity with his aggressive performance and screaming, and ‘Milkie Way’ bringing deeply ingraining vocal hooks to the table. This was particularly prevalent in ‘Pyro Pyro’.
As much as the night so far had been an absolute masterclass in how to work a crowd, none showcased this ability quite as well as the night’s headline act. With Matlock at one point even goading the Brighton crowd by suggesting that their Welsh counterparts in Cardiff had given it even more energy than them the night before. This of course sent the already electric crowd into fever pitch. Another masterstroke of crowd manipulation coming during ‘70% Dead’ where while announcing the track the duo informed us that “for some reason” Cory Taylor was busy and wouldn’t be able to join us for the night, imploring the room to be Cory for them, which of course got the room shouting and screaming their lungs out.
‘Wargasm’ have an absolute wealth of tracks to call upon during a live setlist, which keeps ludicrous levels of excitement and energy remaining for the entirety of the show. By the time we reached the ‘final’ track of their set ‘D.R.I.L.D.O’, to say Concorde 2 was bouncing would be an understatement. This is a band that have grown strength to strength with each release and tour, that have lost none of the raw edge that grew their fanbase in the first place
For their encore, Wargasm returned to deliver pulse pounding 2020 single ‘Spit.’, which effortlessly shifted from mosh pits and aggression to euphoric and anthemic vocal sections. They finally left us with ‘Do It So Good’ before bringing a night that felt both eclectic yet cohesive in it’s many flavours of dynamic rock music to a close
Each act having one thing in common, energy. Something Brighton was crying out for on this cold autumnal night.
Wargasm:
Milkie Way – vocals, bass
Sam Matlock – vocals, guitar
? – drums
? – laptop
Wargasm setlist:
‘Circle Pit’
‘Bad Seed’
‘Ride The Thunder’
‘Death Rattle’
‘70% Dead’
‘Venom’
‘Pyro Pyro’
‘Minigun’
‘Modern Love’
‘Bang Ya Head (with Harpy)’
‘The Trooper’ (Iron Maiden cover) (Instrumental, stopped before first line)
‘Fukstar’
‘Backyard Bastards’
‘Feral’
‘D.R.I.L.D.O’
(encore)
‘Spit.’
‘Do It So Good’
