LIVE FROM THE PIT: No Play Festival

Descending upon the backstreets behind the center of Liverpool, a thriving music community plants its roots along a two street stretch of road. For one day only, Seel Street and Slate Street become the epicenter of the northern hardcore scene, pulling together a celebration of mostly local bands at No Play Festival. Across three venues (The Arts Centre, EBGBS and the Jacaranda), an impressive display of emerging new music was the key focus of the day, with headliners Seeyouspacecowboy… putting the lineup in the festivals history books as a historic and truly sought after lineup for years to come. Yes- Out Of Rage were there- and we want to let you know about the next generation of bands that you should be paying attention to. 

WitchEater 

For only releasing their first single last year, Merseyside deathcore’s WitchEater provided a culinary feast of beatdown. A local show for the hometown heavyweights provided a warm welcome to anyone who traveled any further than St. Helens. With the vocalist’s tongue-in-cheek street callouts counterbalancing the oncoming strife from heavy riffs and damaging blast beats, they contribute to the emerging local talent that No Play has to offer. 

Forager 

Having played the festival last year, Manchester's-own Forager was a real treat. Hanging on the fringes of hardcore and grunge, their sound culminates in very real and honest lyrics. With the help of Scott from Black Coast (who Forager toured with last year), they flung themselves into each song with such enthusiasm. Encouraging no mosh to their pop-punk inspired song ‘Converse’ was a highlight of their set. But do not let this fool you- they had some moments of intense and exciting energy, especially from their later tracks from their latest EP ‘The Knife’. 

Rozemary

We head to the basement of the Jacaranda to go and watch another local band Rozemary. The room was absolutely packed from the beginning of the set. Whilst the songs progressively got heavier the longer they played, they managed to spin the tiny room into a sweaty mosh. As a new band, their sound was impressive and carried the room, tied together with the embroiled screams from their vocalist. A great start for their No Play debut. 

Going Off  

What would Manchester be like without Going Off? As an absolute staple of their local scene, they now cross the M60 to play the Arts Centre in Liverpool. Short bursts of frenzied energy erupt in the pit, as the band plays an assortment of fast paced hardcore punk, each song lasting less than three minutes each (we have checked and verified this). Releasing an absolute firecracker of an album this year called Die Fast, their explosive stage presence was not to be missed on the main stage. 

TNL VSN

Birmingham based TNL VSN were definitely the palette cleanser to a very heavy day. A cohesion of 2000’s angst and longing choruses. Their sound is carried by their vocalist who complimented the band's grungy undertones completely. We will be watching what this alternative five-piece gets up to in the future.  

Cauldron 

What can be said about Cauldron that has not already been said about this band and UK deathcore? If they’re not on your RADAR, you need to get to one of their shows ASAP. Cauldron are your favorite metallic deathcore artists favorite metallic deathcore band, fiercely respected in the UK scene. In a live setting the band got the best energy of the day, a brutal skirmish of crowd killing. Vocalist Frazer Cassling caused as much chaos in between songs as much as he did during them, outing other members of the band as Everton fans, and letting the entire crowd know about the horrors he saw outside the venue before the set. 

Grove Street 

Southampton hardcore was indeed present at No Play. Grove Street were a very welcome addition with their groove-infused thrash. Defining their sound in their latest release ‘The Path To Righteousness’, the band pulled up to a large crowd and pushed the energy to its limits during their thirty minute set. Cougar screams and nostalgic riffs from the eighties and early nineties, fuelled their energy in a fast-paced and high intensity show. 

Heriot

Encroaching on the release of their highly anticipated first album, Devoured by the Mouth of Hell, Heriot brings their deathcore thrash to Liverpool. Circling through their tracks the bands in-your-face defiant attitude made a great  contribution to No Play. Despite a few technical issues, pushing the set back a smidge, they knew how to get the best energy from the crowd. Lending themselves greatly to spinning the room around in frenzied circle pits, they prove to be one of the most promising bands in the UK alternative scene. 

Seeyouspacecowboy… 

Nearly rounding off their UK tour (with one show left to go) Southern California’s Seeyouspacecowboy… was an absolute treat of a headliner to finish off the end of the day. The band are known for their unpredictable and chaotic energy on stage, lending themself to a real spectacle in the pit. We join the metallic deathcore heavyweights after the release of their dancefloor punk inspired album Coup De Gras, which translated on to the stage extremely well because of how upbeat the album is. The intensity that vocalist Connie Sgarbossa had with her crowd was a joy to watch. The standout song of the set was Silhouettes in Motion, which got the entire audience moving (including the inflatable shark that the No Play crew threw into the crowd). Finishing on Chewing The Scenery, the band finished a spectacular set, one that would be talked about in No Play’s history for many years to come.

Words: Amber Brooks

Photos: Izzy Scott