Decided to go up to the Swan to see this Thackattack production despite not really being into the straightforward thrash thing too much. The social aspect of it interested me though as Tom, Ben, Tilly, Wakusei etc had all said they were going up there… Soon The Darkness had also been added to the bill fairly late on so that gave me an extra reason to go. Predictably, I arrived very early, around 6pm, and proceeded to attack the Swan’s stock of £1.85 bottles of Stella. Their pints seem to taste ok most of the time but I don’t really trust them ever since Simon said that he thought they water their whiskey down.. Not surprising that they’re pretty cheap then!

Anyway, I was on my own for a while but Simon turned up fairly quickly with Tim and Tom following soon after. At around 7:20 I disappeared off back down the hill to meet Tilly at Seven Sisters tube station. Tilly’d had an absolute nightmare of a time trying to find the Swan the night of the Milemarker gig and never actually made it! I was determined not to let the same thing happen again. I was waiting for quite a while outside the tube but happily we eventually found each other and walked back up the hill…..

Soon The Darkness were the first band on and it was already pretty packed in the backroom. Me, Ben and Tom stood in front of Tim at the front to watch his crazy antics and he didn’t disappoint. This was probably the best I’ve seen the band. Right from the get go, Tim was screaming his head off and leaping around in apparent distress, off the kick drum, onto the table, off the table, straight into Simon and then into the crowd to nick a baseball cap which looked pretty silly when he wore it sideways..! If you’ve heard the demo or seen em before you know what they’re all about – old school screamo mixed with some Ian Curtis style crooning in parts. There was one part nicked wholesale from Joy Division I swear to god. Was that the Disorder song? :-) More than likely… anyway, they were thoroughly enjoyable and things got even more chaotic towards the end where an overload of feedback started careening throughout the room every few seconds. The drums seemed really loud and fast as well tonight… good sound levels! Tim dedicated the set to Shoes (Jon Kay), who has tragically had a relapse of his leukaemia. A nice sentiment and there will be more about Jon and the illness on Back To Nowhere very soon.

There was a girl chatting to Tom after the set and this turned out to be Rachel who’s recently appeared on the Fracture Forum! Good to welcome yet another one into the evil fold ;-) Soon The Darkness was the only band of the three that I watched properly. Parade of Enemies from Southampton played next (replacing Palehorse who pulled out at the last minute). I was intrigued to see what they were like as they are playing with As Friends Rust, Strike Anywhere and Blocko in Southampton in a couple of weeks. Well, they seem to play mid-paced to fast shouty hardcore. Enjoyable enough but nothing to write home about – I spent much of the set larking around semi-pissed at the back of the room with Ben and Tilly practicing our comedy hardcore moves. Frightening stuff and remember, don’t try it at home kids.

Got a Hard Skin flyer off Sean during the evening – fucking great to see that gig confirmed. It’s at the Arsenal Tavern on the 21st of December and the line-up is Hard Skin / Fun People / The Restarts. It’s 4 quid in but more if you’re a crusty!!!! I’d love to go to this but if I do then I have to get the early train the next morning!!!! I might just sleep all day on the 21st, go to the gig then come into work and fuck around on the internet for a bit until it’s time for my train!

Last band on was E-150 and I couldn’t see a fucking thing standing at the back (same as Parade of Enemies) – now I know how people shorter than me feel! Anyway, they were fast screamy hardcore in the Los Crudos vein (so I’m told, I’ve no idea what Los Crudos are like). And they’re from Spain. And that’s all I know about them. They really didn’t hold my attention and I’ve no idea why I’m supposed to think this is such a good one. Whatever floats your boat I suppose but I was ready to leave by this point. We left pretty soon after E-150 had finished and I wound my way to Brixton on the tube and caught a quick bus home….

Overall, the social was great. The bands, apart from Soon The Darkness, were a little disappointing. The real action will be next Thursday :-)

--Chris