For those who don’t know, The Bronx are an LA based punk band who have one of the best back catalogs of music in the punk scene today. They are also without a doubt one of the best live acts of the twenty-first century. Whilst they performed a storming set at Slam Dunk festival last year I was excited to see them at a more intimate venue, and it had the added bonus of being sold out.
Opening act Ming City Rockers had a tough job opening for The Bronx, but they certainly had a good go at it. Playing old school rock and roll with pop sensibilities, the four-piece certainly look and play the part of rockstars. Coming from a generation of bands who often have an understated look, it was nice to see something a bit outlandish and different. Was also a nice touch at the end to get a member of the audience up to play guitar.
Whilst the audience was polite enough for the opening act, they had all been waiting for The Bronx. They came roaring out of the traps with album opener Night Drop at the Glue Factory, and it didn’t let up for a second. The set was mainly filled with material from Bronx V as they were playing the album in full on this tour, with the last half of the set being made up of classics. From the second track in, vocalist Matt Caughthran was in the midst of the crowd, and he made sure everyone in that room was having a good time. From mic grabs to being in the middle of the pits, he makes the whole of the venue his stage and the audience are just another part of the band. Truly one of the best frontmen of his generation.
Despite the album being relatively new, everyone was shouting every word to every song and is a testament to what brilliant songwriters they are. The band were as tight as ever and was just as exciting to watch them peel out riff after classic riff, as it was watching the chaos in the audience.
It’s great to see a band that is 15 years into its career showing no sign of letting up, and was a real treat to see them in such an intimate, sold out venue. Come the end of the year and this will surely be a gig of the year contender.
You can check out our interview we did before the show with Matt here: https://hardbeat.co.uk/2018/01/23/interview-with-matt-caughthran-from-the-bronx/