The Bronx @ ULU

I forgot how crazy hardcore fans can be.
This was a post ATP show for The Bronx and having already performing under the guise Mariachi El Bronx earlier in the night to a rapturous reception (the review of this will be in funfunfun zine #2, out soon...hopefully), I was worried that the band might be a little bit weary. Oh how my fears were instantly quashed as soon as Matt and the boys took to the stage. I wasn't prepare for the onslaught from the band and the crowd.
Seemingly fuelled by the kineticism of the rowdy audience below them, the band flew straight into They Will Kill Us All (Without Mercy) followed by Shitty Future and the baying masses went feral and I was stuck in the middle. Arms flailed as the pit grew and swelled like a living organism, chewing up people and spitting others out at the opposite side of the venue.
Like the pit, The Bronx feed on this energy and give a performance to match it. Vocalist Matt beat his chest or punch the air with every breakdown and sang/screamed his fucking heart with every member of the audience. The way the band have mixed old-school rock with hardcore elements really creates a fun and lively atmosphere with the guitarists surely loving the high velocity chords as well as the fiddly high lead parts.

I thought the crowd surfing and general pit antics couldn't get any more frequent when they played White Tar and Past Lives but when they kicked into Knifeman, from their most recent release The Bronx (III), I realised I was wrong. Crowd-surfers whizzed past my ears and avid fans bounced off each other metres away from me. I was tempted to join in, to relive my teenage days of unrestraint and bruising but my older self stopped me, mainly due to having an expensive camera over my shoulder.
The band were egging us on. They wanted us to become more unruly. They needed more sustenance to keep this electric set going with all the aggression, passion and vitality they could muster. With stage-divers taking over the stage, each one welcomed enthusiastically by Matt, the band closed the set with the first song they wrote together, Heart Attack American, and as the throbbing audience strained their voices as one to join the band in this farewell, I thought about this being my first hardcore/punk in years and how I should come to more like it as this gig was one of the most exciting, visceral performance I'd seen in ages.
Come back soon The Bronx. I'm waiting.

The Bronx - Heart Attack American

You can view more photos of the gig on my flickr.