Category: Gig Reviews
Casey – Nijmegen, Doornroosje – 14 April 2026
Well the first third of the year has gone and disappeared already but if there’s one thing that endures, it’s Jase W’s insatiable need for more live music shows. In the far reaches of the Netherlands, he was in Nijmegen once again to roll up to Doornroosje to catch one of his favourite Welsh acts, Casey. It was poised to be an evening of emotionally heavy post-hardcore with the addition of fellow ÜK compatriots, Lastelle and from just over the border, Watch Me Rise making the trip over from Germany as openers for most of their European dates.
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THE WILDHEARTS – LIVERPOOL, HANGER 34 – 2 APRIL 2026
DJ Astrocreep didn’t have too far to travel to check out not only a new venue for the first time but also the first live show by The Wildhearts since the recent health revelations by frontman Ginger… it did indeed promist to be a special night of rock ‘n’ roll music…
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GAEREA – AMSTERDAM, MELKWEG – 21 MARCH 2026
This was a truly special event as Gaerea had opted to do a two date only special album launch show and the second date landed in Jase W’s adopted backyard of Amsterdam. Not just that but it was in a great venue like Melkweg in their more intimate Oude Zaal so it was gonna be an intense one. JW had a quick peep at the stage times prior to the show and noticed it was solo show for the band but made up of two sets with a documentary sandwiched between them! It was definitely set to be an interesting and unique show!
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HIGH PARASITE – BELFAST, VOODOO, 14 MARCH 2026
Having supported gothmeisters Cradle Of Filth back at the tail end of 2024, High Parasite – fronted by former My Dying Bride mainstay Aaron Stainthorpe in collaboration with the enigmatic Tombs – fulfilled their long-held promise to return to the dank back streets of ÜR’s hometown with this headline show, designed to showcase their brand of punked-up “death pop” in all its inglorious glory.
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GRANDSON – MANCHESTER, ACADEMY – 26 FEBRUARY 2026
It’s a busy day in Manchester, with several gigs across the Academy venues, as well as elsewhere, but there really was only one place where our team where gonna find themselves encamped, and it was in the middle of this pop punk feast…
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SIKTH – LONDON, O2 KENTISH TOWN FORUM – 28 February 2026
In a sudden shift from his usual trips across the Netherlands Jase W found himself on a weekend jaunt off to the Über Kingdom’s capital to catch SikTh on their anniversary show of ‘Death Of A Dead Day’. There wouldn’t be much keeping him from catching the band responsible for one of his favourite albums that helped redefine his music taste so here he was in the middle of London ready for an evening of good loud music. Not just these though as along for the two dates between London and Manchester are noisy upstarts Heriot as well as returning heavies, Ted Maul.
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IGORRR – UTRECHT, TIVOLI VRENDENBURG – 26 FEBRUARY 2026
It was Thursday night and it was about to get very weird in Utrecht as Igorrr made a stop to unleash their own unique brand of bizarre genre bending noise upon the sold out crowd. Their latest album, ‘Amen’, has been on Jase W’s very heavy rotation since it dropped last year and seeing them steadily progress up the stage sizes over time finally them taking the Ronda stage in Tivoli Vredenburg with a 1.5k cap. Our man got his usual perch on the balcony because he had a mix of feeling the age in his legs and not wanting to have his vision obscured by the ridiculously tall demographic of the Dutch…
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DANNY VAUGHN – AHOGHILL, DIAMOND – 21 FEBRUARY 2026
As Monk said in the intro to his review of the first gig staged to celebrate this historic year for what many of NI fans regard as “the best little rock club in the arse-end of nowhere”, longevity is a rare commodity in this disposable world, and therefore landmark moments such as a 20th anniversary of putting your heart and soul into something you love definitely, and defiantly, deserve to be marked in joyous style – and what better way to continue this 12-month long party than bringing back another of the many acts who have graced this lovingly bespoke curated stage over the past two decades?
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CRYSTAL LAKE/MISS MAY I – UTRECHT, TIVOLI VRENDENBURG – 24 FEBRUARY 2026
Crystal Lake and Miss May I have just embarked on a co-headliner tour stomping around Europe and this opening night stop at Tivoli Vredenburg in the Pandora stage sounded like a good way for Jase W to spend an evening. Along for the ride are Great American Ghost and Diesect and looking at the stage times it’s quite a quick flash through two 30 minute opener sets and two headliner sets of an hour each, about 15 minutes to changeover each act so no messing around for this show to say the least.
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HOT MULLIGAN – AMSTERDAM, MELKWEG – 21 FEBRUARY 2026
How spoiled was Jase W to have a show like Hot Mulligan hit Amsterdam on a Saturday night with a band like Delta Sleep in tow? How unbelievably fortunate it is to have such a fantastic Saturday evening of damn fun music more or less right in his backyard with a huge chunk of friends all there for the same reason. How very, very fortunate. Not that he’d been literally looking at his calendar several times over the past few months and wondering how tonight is going to play out or anything. He should also mention tonight’s show has local lads Bony Macaroni on there too in support so, as always, he was keen to check a new band out!
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COUNTERPARTS – MANCHESTER, O2 RITZ – 17 FEBRUARY 2026
It was the first proper show of 2026 for Josh B (yeah, he’s a bit late to the game, we know), and the O2 Ritz was electric. Conversations buzzed, bodies jostled, and this stacked bill promised one thing… a night of blistering hardcore bedlam…
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ARM’S LENGTH – EINDHOVEN, DYNAMO – 19 FEBRUARY 2026
Jase W was genuinely trying to be a bit more picky for shows this year and February has most definitely shown him to be completely full of shit because he only hopped on the train down to Eindhoven in the middle of the week for a show again. But, our man could not resist this particular lineup though because he’s currently in the throes of a midwest emo shaped hole and a tour package headlined by Arm’s Length, who arguably upstaged Hot Mulligan when he saw them last, supported by KOYO, Ben Quad and Shoreline is probably one of the fattest lineups for upcoming bands ever.
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