If support acts Axis Of and Single Mothers were the ones that cheekily placed sticks of dynamite amongst the crowd beforehand, it’s The Bronx who stomps on the detonator when they arrive on stage. Even prior to the band appearing, the audience is bottled up and ready to blow; four years have passed since they last played Club Academy, and the anticipation is not lost on the crowd nor singer Matt Caughthran, grinning a mile wide before launching into new album Bronx IV’s opener ‘The Unholy Hand’. It’s only been out a week, but that’s enough time for this faithful crowd to digest the music and regurgitate the words right back at them, spitting lyrics as if these were classic Bronx cuts.
That said it’s the older tracks that result in the most chaos. The scuzzed-out roar of ‘Rape Zombie’ flares the crowd up like a rash, Shitty Future kicks out the jams with assured swagger as the folks up front really let loose and Knifeman gets the venue jumping as one. These motherfuckers want our blood, and we’re all too willing to oblige; at one point a manic and bloodied fan sails over the barrier, punching himself in the face as he does so.
Though it’s largely customary to see the singer in the crowd for most of the set, Caughthran remained mostly on stage. It’s only towards the end that Matt Caughthran and the Infinite Mic Lead gets stuck into the crowd for ‘They Will Kill Us All’, swigging punters’ drinks and unleashing his bellicose howl in their faces as a thank you. ‘History’s Stranglers’ gets anyone that was previously in the woodwork to appear for one last stomp. When the band leaves, everyone is in disarray. As their new album proudly states, when The Bronx shoot to kill, they don’t fuck around.
9/10
