Rockfreaks.net

author MAK date 06/04/24

Easter weekend in Manchester can only mean one thing, the return of the DIY punk event Manchester Punk Festival; A metropolitan style festival held in the heart of Manchester city centre across various venues. Punk fans from all across the world flood the festival which flaunts over 140 acts over four days, including the warm-up show.

MPF is a volunteer-run weekend put together by a combination of DIY promoters, labels and overall fans of the scene that a majority of the bands perform in. Key figures behind everything to do with organising MPF include TNS Records, Moving North and Anarchistic Undertones.

A common view among punters and the bands that play MPF is that this weekend is a massive community festival, a combination of various punk scenes from around the country that all head to their own type of “Punk Christmas” in Manchester every Easter weekend. A majority of the bands already know each other well, a lot of the festival goers are all in other bands or friends with the bands that are playing. It creates a unique closeness you don’t always get at an event of this magnitude.

The festival was spread out to seven venues in the city centre of Manchester. While the initial day and a half was a constant Google Maps exercise (they should print some maps and place them in and around the venues), the distances were short and the routes between the venues were easy to navigate.

The Union

The largest stage at the festival is located within the confines of the Manchester Metropolitan University Student’s Union. It’s a large hall that, to be honest, feels more like a conference centre than an actual venue, but it is at least large and can house pretty much the whole festival at once, give or take.

Gorilla

Built underneath a railway bridge, Gorilla is the most venue-like of the venues. It’s a dark room with claustrophobic entrances and no mobile phone signal whatsoever - and features huge queues to the bar due to its tight layout. On the flip side, the sound is very good and the venue is perfect for intimate, but medium-sized concerts. It’s the second-largest venue at the festival.

The Bread Shed

The Bread Shed is a pub with a stage. Its dark interiors are reminiscent of the Underworld in London but with a lower stage. With a capacity of 480 and a solid selection of beers on tap, it’s probably the best venue experience at the festival overall.

Zombie Shack

Zombie Shack is the most unique of the venues. You traverse up a spiral staircase next to some dumpsters into a bridge by the looks of it, and inside you’ll find a Hawaiian-themed tiki bar. Very small, and a cool venue overall.

Yes

Yes is an interesting multi-floored venue, the ground floor is a bar/ vegan food eatery. In contrast to last year, the performance area had been moved from the intimate 100-cap basement to the slightly more spacious first-floor room. This made sense as it seemed the basement hit capacity quite often, giving punters now more of a chance to see the acts they would like.

Sandbar

Sandbar was more of a social bar/pub that had a decent-sized closed-off section that could be used for podcasts as well as a poetry comedy stage. They do very nice stone-cooked pizzas. It was very much just a place to chill out.

Rebellion

Used mostly as a nightclub with a decent-sized stage to it, maybe 200-300 capacity at a push. A safe DIY gig-type venue, the door is pretty close to the front of the stage so the crowd can fill up very quickly once things get going.

Walking around central Manchester is an experience. The sheer amount of craft beer bars, numerous restaurants, and other watering holes is staggering. You are spoilt for choice with food and drink options in the areas near the venues. Directly outside The Union, there was a vegan-friendly food stool which served burgers and hotdogs among other things. While I didn’t try it, it was definitely the busiest eaterie I saw all weekend. If you wanted something more on a budget, the stretch on the main road that ran parallel to The Bread Shed had a wide range of fast food eateries that catered to all dietary preferences. Much like the disappearance of Font, which was a regular for MPF goers, Hatch had also closed down, which was a massive shame. Another shame was the closure of the park by the Union for the weekend, it looked like it and the pathways near it were being renovated. It was usually a nice place for festival-goers to chill in the sun.

PRO TIPS

• The area around Thomas Street is brilliant for outdoor terrace-type beers early in the afternoon if it’s good weather
• Book flights and hotels early: it’s Easter time and a bank holiday weekend, which means prices quickly skyrocket
• Make a plan to see at least two or three bands a day you don’t even know by name based on the official booklet recommendations - so many gems awaiting discovery here.
• Be early if it’s the first set of the day - or if it’s Zombie Shack.
• Drink the 4-4.3% beer - you’ll last way longer than if you neck IPAs all day long
• The toilets in The Union aren’t the best in terms of toilets to punters ratio, quite often there are hefty queues, if possible I recommend using facilities elsewhere.

This year saw Easter weekend hit the UK a week early compared to last year. Usually, considering that MPF has predominantly been a weekend in April, the initial concern was, are we going to get the expected MPF sunshine? Almost without fail for most years, it’s a bright and sunshine-filled weekend. But for 2024 it was a bit wetter, but nothing ridiculous to drown out the UK punk scene. Shorts and sunglasses still persisted!

Novacane @ 13:50-14:20 at YES

I kicked off my MPF festivities at YES, a stage mostly known as the home of acoustic and calmer acts for the weekend, so there was quite a surprise when Bury-based quartet Novacane took to the stage flaunting fuzzy riffs and pounding drum beats. I went into the set blind as something to fill the time before heading over to Bobby Funk and found myself shocked by an array of 90s grunge and 00s garage punk. The new single “Drive” stuck out for the dirty, raw hooks, and husky, yet melodic vocals all topped off with an enchanting lead interlude. It was early days but a somewhat tame set to start my day. [6]

Bobby Funk @ 15:00-15:20 at The Union

In 2022, Bobby Funk was definitely one of my highlights with their outstanding set at Gorilla. It was only inevitable they would get bumped to the bigger stage. For the past couple of years MPF’s main stage has been opened by a local favourite, Aerial Salad, then Bruise Control, It was almost expected another might follow, maybe Incisions, though it felt no less welcome to have comedic punks Bobby Funk kick things off properly with a rather sizable crowd. This was a tenth anniversary set for the band who were in full focus to showcase a mixture of old and new songs to celebrate their longevity. We were treated to some early material such as “Sick Helmet” and “Roid Rage Ruckus” from their 2018 EP “Avocado Stains as well as some lesser-played songs such as “Povvo Goblin” on their most recent release, “Longing for the Bonging. Another special feature was that the band featured a trombone and a keyboard for the occasion, immediately something I’ll say the band should keep if they can. The horns in “Povvo Goblin” were spectacular. The band were at their banterous best between songs, with the crowd interaction and jokes to kill time between drum seat changes. Ever the entertainers with their hardcore punk vibes mixed with silly undertones and amusing song topics. It may have been early in the day, but there was a small bit of chaotic dancing towards the front. The pure highlight of the set was from a couple of fan favourites, a whole room shouting “I’M A CAT” to “I’m a Cat” was beautiful to see, but the conga line during “Gammon Club” topped it during the samba segment of the song. It was a lovely set to really get us in the mood[8]

2 Sick Monkeys @ 15:50-16:20 at The Union

For a band that called it a day in I think 2017, 2 Sick Monkeys do play a fair few “one last show” gigs. Not that we’re complaining. The Swindon duo took no time at all in launching to their gritty punk style, fuzzy garage rock style hooks, steady yet thumping beats and duel vocals that gave off old-school punk vibes. It was raw but fun. Even though this was on the festival’s biggest stage, the tone of the set felt a lot more intimate with guitarist Pete calmly talking to the crowd before the performance and between songs like it was a smaller club stage. I only stuck around for a couple of songs, but what I managed to catch felt quite wholesome. [6]

Coral Springs @ 16:10-16:40 at Gorilla

By the time I got to Gorilla, Dutch outfit Coral Springs was in full swing in providing the room with poppy melodic skate punk. Think of your usual buoyant fast punk bands and shreddy riffage but with an added bubbly tone of pop-punk sensibilities that almost reaches the realms of easycore. Gorilla was jam-packed, showing the sheer growth of this band in recent years. Singer Jo had a smile on her face and oozed excitable enthusiasm throughout the set, stating that even for the more emotional songs she couldn’t help but smile because of the warm welcome the band were receiving. The standout moment of the set came when the guest appearance of Darko’s Tom West hit the stage to join Jo in a duet, flaunting his own impressive vocal capacity. This was one of the nicer surprises of the weekend. An uplifting performance hinting that showed melodic fast punk is thriving.[7]

Jet8 @ 17:00-17:30 at Gorilla

Czech-based “Skacore” crew hit the stage with a barrage of dominant horns and crunchy riffs to opening favourite “Caught In Pliers”, though I’ll always argue that the band aren’t ska, they are a skate punk band with cool horn melodies. Fast, erratic drums and vocals to match, shreddy hard-hitting riffs and hardcore gang vocals, it was a set rampant with energy. We were treated to songs mostly from their 2020 album “Chasing The High”, including the titular track and the ever so catchy “Be the Best at All the Bad”, a song designed for circle pits, and they got one, sort of, a tame offering of what MPF usually has to offer. It’s at this point I get the Idea that Jet8 aren’t quite as big, or popular over here as it could be. The general consensus was they are a lesser-known entity, and with that, the crowd reactions felt a bit flat and disappointing. However, the band persisted in delivering a nice flurry of riffs and horn-filled singalong anthems such as “Down and Out” and “Golden Cage” the incredible tenacity. The performance was solid, but I urge this band to tour over here more to gain a stronger following[7]

Spaced @ 17:50-18:20 at Bread Shed

Spaced on the other end of the popularity spectrum had no issue in filling The Bread Shed or getting the reactions of a band riding strong hype. Kicking off with “Landslide” the Buffalo hardcore crew were met with instant pit carnage and an array of fans shouting the titular words, “LANDSLIDE LANDSLIDE LANDLIDE” rang around the room. It was a beautiful mess as vocalist Lexi called for side to sides and two steps between spitting pure venom on top of pure grooves. She got exactly what was called for and more. Undoubtedly one of the strongest crowd reactions of the weekend and it left me wondering how this band are so early in the day. I immediately felt this was a stage headliner in the making watching people lose their shit. Lexi had the Bread Shed in the palm of her hand. Spaced is known for their shoegaze-inspired “out there” hardcore that isn’t too dissimilar to Turnstile, but this set was sheer riffage and two-step beats, more like a youthcrew hardcore performance designed to get the best out of a crowd, and it worked. One of the most outstanding sets of the weekend. Spaced are on an upward trajectory, catch them at intimate shows while you still can [9]

Hans Gruber & The Die Hards @ 18:50-19:30 at Gorilla

Leading up to Hans Gruber & The Die Hards, I was basically told to expect a wild ride of a set. These statements were pretty accurate as the frantic thrashy riffs erupted from the stage but were instantly counteracted by skankable hooks and horn melodies. A chaotic back-and-forth dynamic of fun meets fury, do you want destructive hardcore? Or something to dance to? Hans Gruber had it all, kind of like an extreme version of Voodoo Glow Skulls. Excelling it further with added Cumbia/Latin influences just to fuck with our heads. It was a brilliant rollercoaster of sounds pushed further by hilarious displays of sock puppet mosh pits during “No No Bronto” and band members squatting to “Squatcore” making sure the crowd fully exercised. I saw the first human pyramid during “Let’s Drive Everywhere” though it amusingly failed just before the top layer could finish. Towards the end of the set, brass players Rosey and Kurt made their way to the back of the room to play their instruments on the bar, however, Rosey unfortunately slipped mid-song. Credit to the band for continuing, but I hope that sax player was ok. This was one of the most fun and ridiculous things I’ve ever seen. Don’t miss your chance to see this band if the opportunity arises[8]

Nosebleed @ 19:50-20:40 at The Bread Shed

When Leeds rockers Nosebleed announced they were going on hiatus towards the end of the year, of course, this set became a must-see. In 2022 the trio got full marks for their outstanding performance in Gorilla. Since then, Nosebleed has unleashed their highly acclaimed second album “Dance With The Devil” and cemented themselves as the rock and roll kings of the UK punk scene. Straight away the crowd was dancing to the garage rock licks and catchy dual vocals between Ben and Elliot to newer hits “Bad Magic” and the titular song “Dance With The Devil”. Eliott hilariously dubbed Nosebleed as the champions of MPF, the first band to ever play the Union stage in 2019, the first band to play two sets on the same weekend in 2017, a record most MPFs and the band to have played the most different MPF venues over the years. The energy was already rife with the likes of the punchy banger “Lost And Found” getting the blood flowing nicely, but it wasn’t a Nosebleed show without Ben and Elliot heading into the crowd to get nice and intimate with everyone. It wasn't until the pair walked past me at the front to stand in the middle of the crowd that I looked back at the room to see how full The Bread Shed was. It wasn’t a small room, yet it was filled to the brim. I think some people got turned away because it was so busy. It was from here on that Nosebleed had the crowd in the palm of their hands. Everyone rocked out next to the bassist and guitarist combined, the atmosphere was electric. The whole room sang along to older classics “I Can’t Tell You Anything”, “Time and Time Again” and “Psycho”. On top of that, Elliot had everyone chant the “NAAA NANANA NAAA” part to the 90s hit “Here Comes The Hot Stepper”. The between-song banter was the top drawer and the song delivery was nothing short of exceptional. Quite simply Nosebleed never disappoints, I gave them a 10 before and I’m doing it again. Champions of MPF. [10]

Tsunami Bomb @ 21:00-22:00 at Gorilla

Tsunami Bomb was one of those bands I think most of us discovered from the various punk compilations in the late 90s and early 2000s, especially the Warped Tour CDs. This felt like a pure nostalgia trip. Especially being the first time the band have toured the UK in what is to be believed 20 years. Considering Martha and The Barstool Preachers were on at the same time on other stages, this was a horrible clash of three bands I would happily watch, but I’d never seen Tsunami Bomb before so this was a no-brainer. There was an initial rustiness and I think a slow connection with the crowd for the first few songs, the vocals were overpowered by the guitars and drums, but as soon as fan favourite “Say It If You Mean It” kicked in, the crowd was a frenzy of excitement. That nostalgia buzz kicked in and fans sang along, moshed and crowdsurfed to no end. One of the most wonderful things to watch though was the chemistry between vocalists Kate Jacobi and Oobliette Sparks was sublime, the two singers bounced off each other and looked like they had so much fun on stage. Smiles on their faces as other favourites such as “20 Going On…” showcased impressive vocal capacity and “Not Forever” had the energy to encourage pits galore. Musically this was everything that made me love those warped tour CD cameos, pacey, shredding riffs, urgent drum beats and every so melodic vocal hook to balance things out. I felt 14 again, especially with the emergence of the absolute hit in “Dawn On A Funeral Day.” A slow start, but this eventually went off like a powderkeg, 20 years worth the wait. [8]

Haest @ 22:15-22:44 at Zombie Shack

One of the hardest working bands in the DIY scene back at MPF I think for the third time playing a prime spot in the incredibly intimate Zombie Shack. Every after-party set this venue usually hits capacity, so there was absolutely no surprise that even for the band doing sound check you had to squeeze through the to get any kind of decent spot. In the short time that followed, the room was crammed and Haest let rip with their newest single “Erotic Waffle” teasing fuzzy licks leading to shoegaze inspired riffy wall of noise. We saw Comeback Clit’s Siobhan on the shoulders of a fan and instantly Haest frontman Dave proudly called out “That’s My Wife” before chaotic pits ensued to harder hitting riffs and faster beats, I think for “I Was Bullied By A Horse Once”. I could be wrong, this was one of those sets where I stopped paying attention to particular songs but just watched outright carnage explode in front of me, the frontman was the main instigator, getting right in the mix, bouncing like a pinball off various crowd members and making sure the energy didn’t relent. Haest delivered sublimely in their typical way of providing us with fuzzy grooves and sabbath-inspired hardcore. Most amazingly there was room for a circle pit, even though I was pretty sure there wasn’t even enough room for a wafer-thin mint. it was that crammed. Haest has done well at MPF in the smaller stages and after-party slots. It’s about time they were given a main slot at the likes of Bread Shed or Gorilla. [8]

Ikhras @ 23:00-23:30 at The Bread Shed

Brighton’s Ikhras dived right into what's best-loved about hardcore, short and straight to the fucking point. Vicious hardcore protesting against colonialism. Featuring Tripsun singer Hassan, allowing him to get more off his chest about illegal occupation and religious control. Spitting venom in both Arabic and English while he bounced around the stage to an array of two-step grooves to get the Bread Shed moving. A frenzy of moshers and hardcore dancers arose to the occasion, a blast of barely 15 minutes, including one song played twice as long as the crowd went absolutely ape shit. This was the brief shot of adrenaline MPF needed to keep them awake for Corrupt Vision.[7]

Corrupt Vision @ 23:50-00:20 at The Bread Shed

This was the stage of the day I was ready to call it for bed, but I wanted to at least catch what Corrupt Vision had to offer. In short, it was the most interesting mix of sounds I heard all weakened. Blasts of beatdown dominated your ears, violent hardcore that was combined with ska-punk. It switched flawlessly from “kick someone's ass” to “get your knees up and have a skank”. It was that dirty crusty Crack Rock Steady style upstrokes too. This is a musical flavour I rather like, but that D-Beat wall of sound heaviness of the hardcore was perhaps i bit intense even for my taste in heavy ska. The crowd was impressive though, pyramids, pits and crowdsurfers for the last band of the night, you can’t fault the tenacity. Twice this band has been given a very late after-party slot, much like I said for Haest, if they come back, give them something a bit earlier in the day. A chance for a larger crowd. I reckon shit could go wilder[7]

Saturday was nice and sunny again, which worked perfectly for the sober social meetup which had a solid turnout early on.

Stu Daly @ 14:15-14:45 at YES

I swiftly moved on to YES again to start my day with the ever-so-melodic Stu Daly, best known for his work with Chewie, this was a chance to hear some of his songs stripped back with a softer approach. To very little surprise the room was absolutely packed as the singer took to the stage and broke into his rendition of Chewie's song “Cutting Room Floor”. The tone was sombre and the atmosphere was highly emotional, afterwards the singer calmly said “Hi I’m Stu Daly” in his distinctive Irish voice, something he amusingly said after every song he played. While each song had the power to make you weep, his between-song banter was on point to lighten the mood. We were treated to a range of newer songs, including the recently released single “Dialtones”, a soft yet catchy number, still quite punky for a soothing acoustic track and Daly’s voice is as crooning as ever. Daly joked that because the rest of the band wasn’t there to stop him, he was going to do a cover, a more relaxed version of Operation Ivy’s “ TheCrowd”, which went down rather well. With each of the softer numbers Daly delivered, you could tell that the singer put everything into his performance, the emotion was obvious and at times it looked like he was trying to hold back from breaking into tears. When you take the closing song into account, Chewie’s “Holy Communion, a pure tearjerker, a room stood in awe as Daly poured his soul out for us all. A beautiful start to the afternoon. [7]

Rash Decision@ 14:50-15:20 at The Union

To my own disappointment, I completely misjudged when this set was meant to start, I thought it was meant to be 10 minutes later than actually scheduled so I ended up missing most of Rash Decision’s set by the time I got into The Union. The Cornwall act was well underway in delivering their brand of thrashy crossover hardcore. The venue was packed, rocking out to the absolutely killer shreds and Dave Decision's coarse shouting vocals. It was high-octane, balls-to-the-wall energy. Eager fans were moshing hard, crowd surfing and showing Rash Decision all forms of appreciation for their dominating sound. I’m not sure I saw enough to give this a fair rating, but for the small blast I saw, the Cornwall lads kicked The Union's ass with pure fury.

The Menstrual Cramps @ 15:40-16:20 at The The Union

What followed became one of the most important sets of the weekend. The Menstrual Cramps were an all-out protest in the form of music. Spouting out about boycotting any business that is funding the attacks on Palestine before launching into “Boycott the lot”, while also tackling the topics of Neo-Nazis, Class War and Tory Scum with aptly titled song names. On top of the political stance, there were plenty of personal feelings when unleashing songs about body positivity and freedom of what you do with your own body (“Body politics”) and the again aptly named “Abortion”. It wasn’t all completely serious with a song about sexual antics in “Mutual Masturbation”. There was a pure enchanting swagger on stage by singer Emilia, who had the full attention of everyone in the room. Possibly the most heartwarming moment of the weekend was when Chris Fishlock, a popular Bristol promoter was invited on stage for everyone to sing "Happy Birthday" to him. Then it was back to business spreading awareness of important topics. The most stand-out segment came with a trigger warning of rape in which Singer Emilia explicitly detailed, reading a piece of paper to the crowd what counts as rape, tying it into a song about not idolising your idols. This set hit so many buttons topically, while musically keeping it fun and engaging without losing any of their furiosity. [9]

The Planet Smashers @ 16:40-17:20 at The Union

Lightening the mood dramatically was the unapologetically third-wave favourites in The Planet Smasher. It was time to dance and sing like an idiot to 90s-style ska punk, get out the Hawaiian shirts and pork pie hats, get your knees up and forget all of your problems. Pulsating horns, energetically fun upstroke hooks and a captivating chorus created one of the most enjoyable performances and a dancing frenzy from start to finish. Fans lost their voices singing the ever so catchy “Aku-Ako, Mai-tai / Tonight's the night it'll be just fine” [8] in “Missionary’s Downfall”. We even got treated to a guest appearance of Jack Brew (ex-Faintest Idea) playing the trombone, during I think was the super silly “Super Orgo Porno Party”. A song that showcases the pure contrast in seriousness from the last set. “I Like Your Girl”, felt like a complete rip off of Reel Big Fish’s “I Want Your Girlfriend To Be My Girlfriend Too”... don’t trust ska men around your girlfriend… I’d waited I think seven or eight years since the last time I caught The Planet Smasher and this was every bit as joyous as I hoped for. The Canadians brought an absolute party. [8]

Tripsun @ 17:40-18:20 at The Union

Much like I give praise to Haest for being one of the hardest-working bands in DIY punk, I have to give similar credit to Tripsun for the same effort. Their sheer persistence over the years, growing with each release and delivering stand-out sets at MPF, this slot on the main stage felt fully deserved for the pop-punk outfit. While these riffs are uplifting and bouncy, and the vocals are catchy and powerful, the message and tone are important and relevant to world troubles. The delivery was infectious with fans singing along and a few bopping around. This wasn’t the kind of set for pit chaos, but appreciation for the musicianship on show. Newer hits such as such titular album track “Kill The Dream” went down brilliantly, and it was nice to hear some older favourites such as “Soul Control” and Fabricated” from the 2018 EP “Piece of Mind”, the absolute showstealer moment was when Stu Day came on to perform “Apathy” with the band. The elation on his face as well as the band said it all to share this moment with the band. This felt like one of those heartwarming sets, to see hard work pay off. Overall very delightful [8]

Chewie @ 18:40-19:20 at The Union

Due to skipping out on Chewie in 2022 to see Knife Club, this was one of my must-sees of the weekend. What makes it more special was that the Irish outfit released their first full-length album in ten years last year, so the excitement to finally hear songs from “Inarticulate” was high. Chewie didn’t hesitate in launching into a faster, more energetic number to get things going strong, I think it was “Careerist”, a high-octane hit from the new album. From then on it was an absolute singalong sensation for all of Chewie's range of folk-inspired melodic punk songs. Tracks from the new album went down well, “Amateur Artist” in particular had the crowd bouncing, plus we got the relevant guest appearances, Erica Freas on “Grown Out” and Hana Lamari of Girlfriend on “Solace”. Though it was undoubtedly that the classics got the best receptions. The shout-outs were deafening for “Fuck Team Sports, with the words “SIT MYSELF DOWN, DOOOOWWN” filling the room. Repeating sentiments from the previous set, Tripsun vocalist Hassan and drummer Zandro were invited to the stage for the emotional bridge in “Language”, a crowd surfing Fishlock also joined the pair to sing his heart out. It was, however, fan favourite song “Just Like Me” that etched itself in my memory forever. Much like the shout outs for “Fuck Team Sports”, the chorus line “WELL I’VE HAD MY HIGHS AND LOWS” sang by everyone made my hairs stand on end. It was beautiful. Everyone joining in was sublime. [8]

With little time to get from The Union to Gorilla and somehow get something to eat on the way. I somehow managed to stuff down half a sub to make sure I had some energy for Catbite. Remember to make time to eat!

Catbite @ 19:50-20:40 at Gorilla

This was one of those moments when I could feel Petteri shaking his head at my life choices. I know he would have chosen A Wilhelm Scream and a part of me was gutted I chose not to watch them at MPF for the second time in a row. However, after Catbite's incredibly impressive set at MPF last year, how could I not see the progression the new tone band have made by pushing themselves up the bill? A penultimate to headline set at Gorilla, more intimate vibes than last year's Union set made this far more special. Very much in line with The Planet Smashers, Catbite were nothing short of a joy to watch as they produced two-tone punk anthems, one after the other, singalongs galore to the nice mix of songs from each of their full-length albums. “Excuse Me Miss”, “Call Your Bluff” and “Amphetamine Delight” in particular had a strong buzz to them. The dancing in the crowd was relentless, matching the positive energy oozing from the stage, with perky upstrokes and captivating keys hooks. We got a good couple of successful human pyramids too. Popular trombone player Pook (Redeemon/Ex-filaments) joined Catbite on stage to perform “Scratch Me Up”, the horn hook was a wonderful addition to the song, and immediately I think needs to be recorded and re-released. Fans threw up cat claws while shouting the catchy “SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH ME UP” chorus line. To close things off in top fashion, singer Brit came into the crowd to have a dance around with the crowd to “Come on Baby”, inviting various fans to join her in singing the words “Come on come on baby, let's have some fun”. While everyone was dancing like crazy, out of nowhere I had Tim the guitarist crowdsurfing above my head over the crowd. For someone who recently had hip surgery, that’s wild. Sorry Petteri, this was definitely worth missing A Wilhelm Scream for. [9]

Popes of Chillitown @ 21:00-22:00 at Gorilla

I spent a lot of time since finding out Popes of Chillitown were headlining Gorilla, anticipating the pandemonium about to take place. Even in the moments building up to their set, I wasn’t sure I was ready to witness it. Only a couple of years since their impressive set at the main MPF stage and their incredible headline set at Level Up later that year. This was only ever going to be chaotic. Those predictions were correct from the moment the dub punks launched into the high-octane dancey number “Crashmat”. From then on the energy levels were relentless. Fans bounced off each other like a set of crazed pinballs, expectedly this exacerbated further the minute “Wisdom Teeth” kicked in and fans sang along to everything to choruses and horn lines. The horns were infectious, the guitars switched fluidly between hard-hitting riffs to skank-worthy hooks. Vocalist Matt effortlessly showcased his ability to bounce between rapped lyrical stylings to impressively powerful singing segments. Newer songs such as “Take A Picture” and “Short Straw” went down a storm, contrasting their softer approach to hardcore extremes respectively. The set had a healthy balance between the last few albums, pulling a handful from each, with the likes of “Impatient” and “Otherside” playing nice cameos as older favourites. “Culpa” contained particular excitement, though it was set closer “Vamos A La Luna” which took us all to the moon. Circle pits galore to the dub punk anthem with drum and bass style drum beats. This was all the frenzy that was expected and more. A new height reached for the Popes' lads. A higher-up main stage set is surely on the cards after such a powerful performance. [10]

Nothing was really topping this for me for the rest of the night, there were intentions to watch Clobber at The Bread Shed, but that swiftly changed the minute I sat down for a drink and decided Popes had stolen any energy I had left.

Final day of the weekend and I ended up doing something that I’d never done at MPF before, I stayed at the same venue for the entire day. Pretty much every other year I’ve moved around at least once each day to another venue, but the programming was incredibly strong at The Union stage this particular Sunday.

Spoilers @ 14:00-14:30 at The Union

Kent Skate punks Spoilers opened The Union with their brand of upbeat and poppy skate punk that was crammed full of energy and melody. The venue was nicely packed out, it was wonderful to see the quartet get a decent showing. Having just released a new album last year in the form of “There or Thereabouts”, we were treated to a few of those new songs, including infectiously bubbly “Peaches and Cream”, which is all too easy to sing along to, along with the more frantic “Straight Lines”, breakneck drums and flurry of punchy riffs to get the blood flowing. Amusingly early on, the drummer had to quickly run off between songs to make a tactical chunder, at least that’s what was suggested. But he returned for spoilers to throw in some older favourites, the catch hits in “Stay Afloat” and “Roundabouts” particularly stood out with Dan Goatham's distinctively husky croons. Without a doubt, the highlight of any Spoilers set is “Punks Don’t Die”, an ode to any friend in the punk scene that has passed away, featuring the bridge line of “Just cos you’re gone, you’re not forgotten” that can tug on the heartstrings of the coldest of people. This was a nice set, perhaps not the most stand-out of the weekend or even in the many Spoilers sets I’ve seen, but this was the Sunday hangover slot after all. Still a lovely way to start the day [7]

To be brutally honest, I caught a couple of One Hidden Frame songs and I wasn’t particularly captivated by what the skate punks had to offer so I took a tactical food break before a fairly long stint left full of bands

Till I'm Bones @ 15:40-16:20 at The Union

Till I’m Bones was the biggest surprise for The Union stage this year, a fairly new band in their own right, but impressive performances at the likes of Level Up and Handfest have pushed other popularity of the moody ska punks. In the same sentiment that I don’t particularly consider Jet8 a ska band, I’d almost say the same with Till I’m Bones, this is predominantly melodic punk mixed with elements of moody post-hardcore/ emo and topped off with some incredibly catch sax melodies and the occasional upstrokes. Set Opener “Snakes” perhaps makes the minor exception with some spankable segments, but what stands out more are the punk hooks and Jak’s mixture of shouts and melodic vocals that are equally sung through gritted teeth. It was an outright skacore banger. On top of the well-received cover of Rocket From The Crypt’s “On A Rope” Till I’m Bones only have four singles out for fans to listen all of which created dance pits and singalongs. Till I'm Bones, I believe were the band with the most human pyramids in one set all weekend. In particular, reaching an impressive height during the newest single “The Golden Silence”. Amusingly, Baldhead drummer Tommy P reached the top just in time to punch the air and sing the standout words “How Do You Like My Silence Now?” The song itself was dedicated to family members that had recently passed away, something that you could see the whole band was really emotional about. Another heartwarming set to witness, with Jak humbly explaining that this was a dream come true. [8]

Dakka Skanks @ 16:40-17:20 at The Union

I’ll be perfectly honest in the build-up to this set I was very much on the fence about Brighton’s young 2-tone act Dakka Skanks, placed between two rather angst-ridden bands, this was placed as a bit of a light-hearted breather in comparison. Their brand of hard reggae was more relaxed in comparison, loaded with a mixture of dub influences and Caribbean music, with a twist of some harder rock music hooks to keep you on your toes. The reception for them was phenomenal, a full room dancing and singing along to songs about Skinheads “Aint A Skinhead” and gang grooming “Thirteen”. The tempo was personally a bit too chill for my tastes in ska, it was very much reggae dominant, nice and bouncy, but I was aching for something to get a harder skank to. We got there eventually, but for me, it’s just not quite as energetic as I’d like. Where Dakka Skanks thrive is the soulfulness and the power in vocalist Clara Byrnes' incredible voice. You get the vibe that this is a band that will hit some heights in a more mainstream world in no time at all. It’s all very enjoyable and a great atmosphere. Not entirely my jam, but It’s hard to ignore the hype. [7]

Pizza Tramp @ 17:40-18:20 at The Union

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many people turn up to see if a guitarist is going to be sick on stage before. Jimmy from Pizza Tramp is quite commonly known for being a drunk or hungover mess around shows. But if anyone was following the socials into the buildup of this set, you knew he was particularly suffering this Sunday afternoon. To which he immediately shouted to everyone “WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU HERE? GO WATCH NOAH AND THE LONERS YOU CUNTS”. From then on, the most banterful performance of the weekend was underway. Somehow the hardcore punk thrashed their way through an impressive number of songs that were hilariously sandwiched by Jimmy waffling on being hungover, wondering why the fuck MPF would book them of all people on a Sunday (we all know it was for reactions like this), and how much a cluster fuck Parcelforce are. We got treated to plenty of live favourites, “My Backs Fucking Fucked”, “I Got Work In The Morning”, the aptly named “Blowing Chunks and more all laden with wonderful shredded riffage, double time beats thick basslines, and venomous pissed off shouts. The pits were wonderfully chaotic, for the first time all day. We expected a car crash of a performance and it was impressively well held together, even if the Jimmy seemed incredibly worse for wear. All in all great entertainment. [8]

Riskee & The Ridicule @ 18:40-19:20 at The Union

Admittedly Riskee wasn’t part of my original plan, I’d seen them more times in recent years than I had Incisions, however, it occurred to me that this was the exact same slot and venue I reviewed Incision in 2022, and this time round Riskee had moved up from the Bread Shed to The Union, it felt right to cover the progression the Kent grime punks instead. Riskee ironically took no risks in delivering a set full of live favourites, even after releasing their album “Platinum Statue” last year. Only the opening song “My Name”, an outright powerhouse of dominant riffs and Riskee’s poignant lyrical stylings was from said album. A large portion of the set was safe bet bangers from 2018’s “Body Bag Your Scene”. Again a range of hard hitters and pit starters, filled with big sing-along choruses to hook a crowd, and that they did. The Union was in the palm of the band's hands, the energy was rife and the was a barrage of crowdsurfers throughout. Especially for “Kaboom”, we were treated to older hits, “Banger”, which always goes down well and “Molotov Cocktails” contains the best crowd shoutouts with “NOBODY PUTS BABY IN A FUCKING CORNER”. This was excellent, the vibes from 2022 were different, The Bread Shed set was chaotic, and there was a sense of danger on the horizon. This time around, I was left in awe at the sheer command the band had over such a large crowd. In simple terms they bossed it, older favourites to maximise crowd potential, they knew exactly what was needed to get the best reactions. Top-drawer performance. [9]

King Prawn @ 19:40-20:30 at The Union

This was another set that wasn’t particularly in my plans, I had every intention to watch Darko at The Bread Shed, however after hearing about capacity problems for the last two bands on Saturday, I didn’t want to take the risk I’d miss Random Hand. And that felt warranted after seeing how full the room was when King Prawn took to the stage. I enjoy this band to a degree, their brand of hip-hop and dub-inspired ska punk, pulsating horns and high-energy beats, it was fun to watch the chaos ensue towards the front, but my knowledge of King Prawn is surprisingly slim considering where my musical tastes usually lay. Though I recognised a few hits, including “Caught In A Rut”, with the edgy-reggae punk vibes switch between skank pits to circle pit intensity, all topped off by Al Rumjen’s distinctive vocals that switch between rapping and singing. Their self-described "Wildstyle" sound is hard to not dance along to, especially when the “newer” anthems “Seven Seas” and “Level Up” are so uplifting and bouncy. Of course, everyone’s favourite was “Dominant View”, one of the harder heavier, more angst-ridden songs in the King Prawn catalogue, and undoubtedly the most popular. A decent set, but you can tell the atmosphere has started to tire a small bit, was there anything left for Random Hand? [7]

Random Hand @ 20:50-22:00 at The Union

...Of course, there was... Bassist Joe Tilston expressed nerves before heading to Manchester about closing the festival on the big stage. But in reality, he had no need to. For those that managed to witness Random Hand in 2022 at Gorilla just knew that this was going to go off with a bang. Fresh off a new album, Random Hand launched into the newer hit “The Cycle”, the pounding beats, crunch riffs and the dominating horn line had pits flowing right from the get-go. The energy was still there and as rampant as ever. The catchy as hell chorus line had fans singing early on and this was a tone that barely wavered. Whether it was lyrics or horns, fans sang to all of it in every song. New material went down a storm from the hardcore-inspired “Deadweight” to the more skankable “Devil With A Microphone”. I was personally thrilled to finally hear “Frequencies” live, a personal favourite from the recent album. The flow of songs was incredible, throwing in a nice mix of songs from all five albums, three or four at least from each release had the crowd going apeshit throughout. It was mostly live favourites, but the odd rarity such as the heavier “The Right Reasons” had some of the biggest shout-outs with “WE DON’T DO THIS TO WIN” ringing around the room.

The between-song banter was brilliant as usual, with an amusing incentive that if each song the crowd went a bit more crazy we would all get a creme egg. To say the least, the crowd earned those creme eggs, was with mass circle pits, crowd surfs and the best wall of death of the weekend. In a similar stance to my view on Riskee's previous MPF performance, Random Hand’s set at Gorilla in 2022 was flat-out ridiculous. It was intensity at its fullest. This time it felt less of a fight for survival in a cramped space, it was more comfortable to enjoy Random hand command the large crowd and unleash a large array of anthems. This was a different level of satisfaction for someone who doesn’t mind just standing by to watch the carnage. Closing up with their biggest hit, “Anger Management” hit the right spot to close the weekend with a tenacious bang. The massive “OOOOOOEEEEEOOOO” chants and Robin Leitch crowd surfing at the end have become iconic for Random Hand and it gets no less impressive to witness. Outstanding performance to finish off my MPF [10]

The word proud has been thrown around by event organisers and punters alike with this year's festivities. I can't argue with that when seeing how far both this festival has grown and the acts along with it. When you have newish acts like Till I'm Bones playing their first MPF on the main stage and absolutely bossing it. Popes of Chillitown headlining Gorilla with sheer tenacity. Nosebleed having a jam-packed Bread Shed in the palm of their hands. You can't help but admire what these bands are doing. Then, I think for the first time, The Union hit capacity for A Wilhelm Scream and Hot Water Music (please correct me if I'm wrong). MPF is pulling the kind of acts that can fill such a sizable venue. You have to applaud the growth.

Once again some people suggest this being the best one yet. People said that last year and I found this year to feature more stand-out moments, so maybe? I will say that MPF Has proved again to be the absolute best DIY event in the UK. There is nothing else quite like it. Each year brings in great acts, creating lasting memories along with amazing opportunities for bands to expand. Next year marks the tenth anniversary of MPF, one that we know will be extra special, but it’s going to take something big to keep topping previous years. Perhaps some special reunions? We’ll see

As usual, we’ll finish off our article with our classic The Good, The Bad, The Ugly section:

THE GOOD

• Being in the city centre means all kinds of food and drink outlets are nearby along with accommodation.
• All of the venues are within a 10-minute radius of each other, with most of them in very close vicinity. This was very easy to navigate.
• The venues had also remained the same as last year, meaning if you had been before, it was easy to remember where to go.
• Great variety in the lineup. While it was all punk, the subgenres of hardcore, folk, ska, skate-punk, pop-punk, and more provided a great mix and a lot of options.
• From our understanding, there were no dropouts or lineup changes on the actual weekend. So everything as advertised and scheduled went ahead.
• Security seemed a lot nicer than in previous years, especially on the door, a lot more welcoming. Plus the handling of crowdsurfers seemed a great deal safer than in previous years. This was a vast improvement
• Great vibes and lots of different types of alcoholic beverages to choose between.

THE BAD

• Venue capacity levels, admittedly this was warned by organisers that people should get to venues early if there are certain bands they consider a must-see. Though it’s still disappointing for some punters if they can’t get in. One of the very minor setbacks of a great weekend.