I gleefully accepted the tickets, summoned my housemate, and together we made our way to the venue. Note to the reader – if you’ve never been through the guest list entrance at a gig, I highly recommend you do so. I’ve never felt so important in my whole life. Once I had successfully barged our way to the front, we enjoyed a riotous performance from the support act Upchuck. Some support acts don’t match the energy of the main act – the same cannot be said for Upchuck, who brought a raw power to the stage and successfully hyped everyone up for Amyl.
Thirty minutes later, Amy Taylor burst out of the wings to screams of excitement. The first note of 'Doing in Me Head' echoed out across NX and the crowd goes wild. What followed was a masterclass of a punk gig - two hours of sweat, blood and total ecstasy. The set list was beautifully put together, with a perfect blend of classics everyone knew plus additions from the new album. 'Security' and 'Do it Do it' were very well received by the mosh pit, while ballads like 'Bailing on Me' and 'Big Dreams' served to chill the vibe out but still retained that punk energy.
Prior to this gig, I had never really moshed, so this was something of a baptism by fire. At one point I looked up to see our Arts sub-editor Phoebe Clark flying over my head in a crowd surf, before promptly losing her phone.
Audience interaction was equally as enjoyable, as a range of topics were discussed, from the domestication of horses to the current political state of the world, as Amy Taylor proved herself as one of the most interesting and charismatic lead singers operating today.
This gig was impeccably timed, as just days prior we had received the devastating news that Donald Trump had been re-elected. But within this space that Amyl and the Sniffers created, there was an enduring sense of hope, and I left the gig with more of a spring in my step. Knowing that this community exists and thrives is wonderful and will continue to do so under the careful eye of Amyl and the Sniffers.
