PANIC SHACK – RESIDENT, BRIGHTON 24.7.25
What’s going on this week, rain and clouds seem to be back, legends are passing away left right and centre, first Ozzy Osbourne and only just tonight the iconic wrestler Hulk Hogan, I don’t half need a pick me up and Panic Shack are just the tonic.
Now I have to admit I’m a Panic Shack virgin, I recollect wanting to go and see them at their most recent gig in Brighton when they played Patterns back in May earlier this year, (Review HERE) but sadly was already booked in at Chalk to see Soccer Mommy (Review HERE).
Of course Panic Shack are no strangers to Brighton having played the Dome with Soft Play in October 2024, The Prince Albert in March 2024 and February 2023, then there was Chalk in November 2023, along with various venues for The Great Escape in 2022, so I am kinda wondering how and why I’ve not seen them before, tonight very much made me realise I’ve been missing out big time.
Panic Shack are a five piece band based in Cardiff and they formed in 2018 and later in 2022 they released their debut ‘Baby Shack’ EP. This is something that has become quite the holy grail for collectors, the one copy on Discogs will set you back £114 no less! But fear not, their debut album hit the shelves on Friday 18th July and tonight is the night for those final digital sales to hopefully get them over the line for what would be a well-deserved chart position.
Tonight also marks the final night of a run of seven instore/outstore gigs over just as many days. The Resident instore was pretty much an instant sellout when tickets went on sale and the shop floor did not lie, it was packed full of smiling people, eager with anticipation for what was to come. I decided rather than racing to the stage front I’d go for the tactical position of being towards the front of the signing line area so I could get my CD signed and make a quick exit for the train post event, but thankfully I still had a decent enough view of proceedings.
So let’s cut the waffle and hear what went down. At just after 7pm, the band came out to big cheers and took up their tightly packed positions in front of the shop counter. Lead vocalist Sarah Harvey took to the microphone “Hello everyone, thank you so much for being here, wow there’s a lot of you! We are going to play you as many songs from the album as we can, but only ones that don’t use track and things… so it’s a stripped back show for us”, guitarist Meg Fretwell interjected “Yes, Sarah forgot her trumpet” which caused some laughter, Sarah continued “It might be a bit loud, so I hope you’ve got some ear plugs in”, one of the band then mentioned a dog that was in the audience with ear defenders on its head which caused some more laughter and looks over towards said dog. With a cry of “Let’s go” drummer Nick Doherty-Williams put his foot to the pedal and the rollercoaster started.
The first song of the night of this fast paced 30 minute set was ‘Gok Wan’ and what an opener it was, Panic Shack were not going to be holding back and they meant business. Despite the sheer lack of space, they rocked out with Sarah bouncing and rocking back and forth and the 2 guitarists, Meg and Romi and plus bassist Emily swinging their instruments as they filled the air with licks. The band were all laughing and smiling at the close of the number due to the speakers positioned right behind their heads “blasting their heads off”.
The band launched into ‘Tit School’ a fun punky number, Sarah belting out those witty and often hilarious lyrics with the rest of the band joining in repeating the chorus “First they laugh and then they copy”, I really enjoyed this one.
Meg addressed the crowd “Thank you everyone, it means the world to us that you bought our album, we are in the running to have a chart position, but we are now looking at more the top 20 because Ozzy Osbourne sadly died, RIP, but it does now mean 4 Black Sabbath and Ozzy albums have all popped up suddenly ahead of us, so it really means a lot to us” continuing on Meg joked “Is it blasphemy to say digital download in a record shop?, we have some lanyards we are selling, which will give us one last push for a chart position”. Essentially, I think up until midnight digital sales still count towards chart positions and the band had brought some QR code lanyards with them which would get you the digital album, but also came coupled with some of the physical goodies that came with the Dinked version of the LP, for one night only.
On a serious note Meg informed us “We all work full time alongside doing this, which surprises people, but it’s really hard, this doesn’t pay our bills, but we would love to get to that point where this is the full time job, so thank you so much for all supporting us”. She continued by introducing the next song “This one is about Sarah’s alter ego called Dennis, you might meet him”, the song was ‘We Need to Talk About Dennis’, a slightly slower song with the lyrics delivered by Sarah in a more spoken word style which reminded me of Self-Esteem and the rest of the band singing the chorus together in harmony. A very enjoyable song, ending with the entire band howling like werewolves as the alter ego comes out.
Meg then said “The next song is about a marathon that bass player Emily did, it was a choice of her own, that she ran around 24 miles or something around the streets of Cardiff for a laugh and it’s called ‘Personal Best’” This was a good fast rousing number. Great lyrics once more quickly delivered by Sarah, with both Romi and Meg powering their guitars.
Next came the band’s most recent single, “It’s about having no pockets on your clothes so do sing-along if you know it” requested Sarah, it was called ‘Pockets’ and yet again it was another bloody brilliant song. I have to say by this point the band had impressed me so much that I started to feel the CD I’d bought just wasn’t enough for me, so I quite literally got on my phone there and then and ordered the Dinked LP off Resident’s website, something I wish I’d done in advance now, then I could have got it signed, but this band are going places and if it helps get them a chart position more the better.
Talking of chart positions Sarah joked “We’ve said thank you a lot this last week, no thanks to Oasis either, 3 of their albums are above ours!”. ‘Unhinged’ came next, Emily’s lovely solid bass line ran through this one. Emily was wielding a stunning looking bass guitar, it was very uniquely shaped, it certainly adds to the rock look element of the band.
The final two songs of the set were ‘Smellarat’ and ‘Thelma & Louise’, the latter being introduced by Meg “We’ve come to the end, and this last song, it’s about friendships being as important as romantic relationships, often people can be fulfilled by a platonic relationship…. like these lucky girls, and we are all best mates just doing it” to which everyone gave a huge applause, “Thank you again for coming, come over after, say ‘hi’, have a piccy, buy a lanyard and get us in the charts”.
I was beyond impressed with the set tonight, the band are raw and unapologetic in their delivery, brilliant witty lyrics laced with humour delivered in a conversational style by Sarah, often with the rest of the band singing or echoing the chorus, but at the same time ever so catchy and words the audience were already singing back with, even me a Panic Shack version had started to sing along.
I find often with bands with heavy punk guitar that the vocals can be drowned out, but Sarah’s vocal delivery is so clear and understandable, you want and need to hear those lyrics. The whole band were pumped up and oozed energy, the smiles and camaraderie between them was great to see. I don’t think I’ve felt so excited to see and hear a band like this recently, what a lift. The audience loved it and I could tell many have been there for the journey from the start. If this set tonight was stripped back, then my god I can’t wait to get home and put the CD on and hear the full thing. There was no panic here tonight, just pure self-assured quality. I really do hope they get a good chart position.
The band return to Brighton later this year and will be playing at Chalk on 10th October, for that I want to get right down in the pit and go crazy. Grab your tickets HERE.
Panic Shack:
Sarah Harvey – lead vocals
Meg Fretwell – guitar and bv’s
Romi Lawrence – guitar and bv’s
Emily Smith – bass
Nick Doherty-Williams – drums
Panic Shack setlist:
‘Gok Wan’
‘Tit School’
‘We Need to Talk About Dennis’
‘Personal Best’
‘Pockets’
‘Unhinged’
‘Smellarat’
‘Thelma & Louise’
(all tracks from 2025 ‘Panic Shack’ album)
