Gig Guide: Bands You Need To See In April

Article by Sarah Williams.

At Shout Louder, our April revolves the smorgasbord of sonic splendour that is Manchester Punk Festival. Now in its fourth year, MPF takes place over April 19th – 21st and, besides featuring many fantastic bands, it is also a major friends-fest. Every year the festival inspires punk rock pals from around the country to descend upon the Rainy City, this year seeming to pull even more attention from around the UK and further afield.

That said, it’s already sold out so we’re not going to bang on about it here. We will be banging on about it soon, with a series of related interviews and articles highlighting some of the acts you may be less familiar with. Keep your eyes peeled for pieces over the coming weeks, plus a very hungover episode of our podcast.

If you’ve got cash, time and energy leftover from Manchester Punk Festival, there are our top picks of this month’s events:

Gig of The Month: Nosebleed Album Release & Tour

When: April 7th
Where: Wharf Chambers, Leeds
Who: Support from Riggots, Snake Rattlers, Batwölf , Bones Shake and Guns On The Roof
Check out the Facebook event

Nosebleed are always jaw-droppingly entertaining live, so imagine how good they’re going to be in their hometown, surrounded by friends, at the launch of their debut album. It’s going to be complete rock ‘n’ roll carnage. Just don’t forget to give Dickie some love when Ben and Elliot abandon him to roam around the dancefloor.

The line-up they’ve organised is the perfect complement to their stripped-back, raucous style. Every act puts their own unique twist on the punk rock that we love, be that minimalist hip-shaking venom from Snake Rattlers, Bouncing Souls-esque perfection from Guns on The Roof or entropy-made-audible in the form of Riggots.

If you miss this, Nosebleed are on tour later in the month, hitting most of the UK and some of mainland Europe. While we’re at it, you’d be an idiot not to order Nosebleed’s album Scratching Circles On The Dancefloor from TNS Records. Have a gander at our review if you’re struggling to make your mind up.

Waterweed Tour

When: April 18th – 22nd
Where: Porstmouth, London, Guildford, Newcastle, Manchester
Who: Support from Darko, Antillectual, Rebuke, Forever Unclean and more
Check out the Facebook event

Straight off the back of a Japanese tour with Darko, Almeida, Bare Teeth and Belvedere, Waterweed will be coming to the UK for the very first time. They’re also releasing their second album Brightest on Lockjaw Records (read Joelle’s awesome review here).

Based in Osaka, Japan, Waterweed cross the line from skate-punk and melodic hardcore into something darker, moodier and altogether more interesting. Brightest even has some elements of pop-punk, as in Beyond The Ocean (below). This is a rare opportunity to catch a Japanese band in the UK – give the some love so that they send more of their friends over here! Here’s the full details:

April 18th @ Edge of the Wedge, Portsmouth with Sombulance, Rebuke, Start At Zero, Frozen Acid [LINK]
April 19th @ New Cross Inn, London with Antillectual, Rebuke, Forever Unclean and Fastfade [LINK]
April 20th @ Rebellion, Manchester Punk Festival [LINK]
April 22nd @ Little Buildings, Newcastle
April 23rd @ The Star Inn, Guildford with Darko and Close to Call [LINK]

Start At Zero / Frozen Acid Tour

When: April 18th – 22nd
Where: Portsmouth, Gateshead, Manchester, Deal, Canterbury

If you enjoy Waterweed, here’s another MPF crossover that’s worth checking out. You may be familiar with Slovenia’s Start At Zero already – they’ve toured the UK twice and Shout Louder covered their set at Punk Rock Holiday last year. They play energetic skate-punk covering the personal themes and social criticism.

Joining them on tour are German Frozen Acid. I hadn’t heard of them until recently, but I have become a huge fan of their gruff take on melodic punk. Think Gaslight Anthem, Iron Chic, Burnt Tapes, Bear Trade… if you’re into Leatherface you’re probably going to fall in love with them. The two bands are releasing a 7 inch split later this year, so the tour is and ideal introduction. They’re playing the following dates, plus an handful on the Euro mainland:

April 18th: Portsmouth
April 19th: Gateshead
April 20th: Manchester Punk Festival (Start At Zero only)
April 21st: Deal
April 22nd: Caterbury (with No Matter instead of Frozen Acid)

Faintest Idea Hometown Bonanza

When: April 28th
Where: The Waterfront Norwich
Who: Faintest Idea, Roughneck Riot and Jake & The Jellyfish
Check out the Facebook event

Every now and then you stumble across a line-up that’s so perfect it hurts. Favourite street-punk/ska-punks Faintest Idea will be playing a rare hometown show that is half gig half let’s-invite-all-our-best-mates-to-Norwich. TNS label-mates and unrivaled aggro-folk whirlwind Roughneck Riot will be joining them, along with a Leeds’ Jake & The Jellyfish. J&TJF’s new album Long In Winters is one of the most masterful pieces of folk-punk I’ve heard this year, with unbeatable songwriting (have a read of our review, if you doubt it). All three of these bands is headline-quality.

This is very nearly as good as last year’s TNS Tour and it’s definitely worth the trip (Norwich, for the record, is a beautiful city to visit, with a wealth of vegan options to enjoy). Go on, grab yourself some tickets.

P.S.: New Roughneck Riot:

Random Hand Comeback Shows

When: April 17-19th
Where: Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester
Who: Support from Nosebleed and Mr Shiraz

I’ve thoroughly missed being able to follow Random Hand around the country like a lost, punk puppy in the years since their hiatus. They are making an official comeback on April 17th in Leeds, followed by a warm-up at the Think Tank in Newcastle on April 18th, finally headlining Manchester Punk Festival on Thursday April 20th.

Although it’s only a handful of dates, I can tell you that I’m planning to see them multiple times that week (yes, I’m a fangirl, I don’t care). As Joe Tilston pointed out in his interview with us earlier in the year, they only have time for 10-15 gigs in 2018 so these club shows will be rare. Make the most of it.

Other one-off gigs also worth a look:

Hastings:
- 2 Sick Monkeys, Pizzatramp, Atterkop @ The Palace (28th April)
London:
- Rotten Foxes, Miami Nice, Militant Girlfriend, Miserable Wretch, Acolytes @ The Birds Nest, Deptford (14th April)
- Death By Stereo, Fair Dos, Eat Dirt @ New Cross Inn (22nd April)
- Hot Water Music, Tim Barry and The Flatliners @ Electric Ballroom (25th April)
- Triple Sundae (album release), Burnt Tapes, Super Lemon Days + more @ The Joiners Arms, Camberwell (28th April)
Manchester:
- Nosebleed, Only Strangers, Tout Suite, Salvo, DOG @ The Peer Hat (12th April)
Warrington:
- Mobina Galore, Freddy Fudd Pucker, Tim Loud (22nd April)