Dave The Punk

UK Subs

Lewes Con Club, Lewes – 3rd May 2026

Lewes Con Club doesn’t do pretence. It’s one of those venues where you’re close enough to feel every note, every shout, every bead of sweat. A 60-minute round trip for me this time, which felt almost surreal after last month’s 12-hour Wembley mission. No trains, no queues, no logistics spreadsheet… just straight in and straight to the bar.

Opening the night, Club Brat were anything but a gentle start. They came on like a band determined to leave a dent, throwing out a jagged, noisy set that never quite sat still.

What really landed was their take on Uncontrollable Urge by Devo. Not an obvious choice for a punk support slot, but it absolutely worked. They didn’t just play it, they dragged it through their own chaotic filter and made it feel like it belonged in that room, on that stage, at that moment.

Messy in all the right ways, loud without apology, and properly engaging. A cracking start.

Second time seeing Guitar Gangsters, and they didn’t disappoint. They’ve got that sweet spot nailed. Proper songs, big hooks, and just enough edge to keep it firmly in punk territory.

Definitely a band that gets better every time you see them.

Then came the main event. UK Subs doing what they do best.

A 22-song set that didn’t let up. No filler, no faffing about, just a relentless run through their catalogue delivered with the kind of authority that only comes from decades of doing it for real.

Charlie Harper still commands the room like it’s second nature. No gimmicks, no nostalgia act vibes, just proper punk played properly. The crowd knew it too. Plenty of voices joining in, plenty of movement, and that shared sense that this is exactly what a night like this should feel like.

Marathon to Mosh Pit

The Damned

Wembley Arena, London – 11th April 2026

Last night at Wembley Arena felt less like a gig and more like a full-blown pilgrimage. A 12-hour round trip, rolling back through the front door sometime after 2am, but the kind of night that makes sleep feel optional. Pre-gig rituals were observed properly: burger, beers, and a catch-up with my punk rock besties. So good, in fact, that we completely sacrificed the first two support bands. No regrets there, just a sign that the night had already started exactly right.

We made it in for The Loveless, who, if I’m being honest, didn’t quite win me over. But they were just the holding act for what we were really there for. When The Damned hit the stage at 9pm, the place snapped into focus. The first half leaned into their darker, more gothic side. Brooding, atmospheric, and a reminder that this band has always had more depth than the average three-chord assault.

Then came that shift. “Smash It Up” dropped like a starter’s pistol and suddenly the pit came alive, bodies moving like it was still 1979 rather than 2026. A brilliantly tongue-in-cheek Pearl & Dean style interlude split the set, before they tore into the punk anthems that built their legacy. Raw, fast, and delivered with the kind of energy bands half their age would kill for.

Forty-seven years after I first saw them as a wide-eyed 14-year-old, this wasn’t nostalgia. This was proof. The Damned are still right there, still delivering, still dragging crowds into the chaos. And honestly, what more could you want than that?

The Muzztones

The Clissold Arms, London – 27th March 2026

A five-hour round trip for a covers band… on paper, that sounds questionable. In reality, it was anything but.

The Muzztones had The Clissold Arms bouncing from the off. A packed room, a buzzing crowd, and a 22-song set fired out with zero let-up. No coasting, no filler, just wall-to-wall classics played loud, tight, and like they actually meant it. And in a pub steeped in The Kinks history, that felt especially fitting. Proper pub gig energy. Sweat, noise, and a room that didn’t want it to end.

It also doubled as a bit of an Esprit de Corpse reunion. Luke (The Muzztones), Gary, and yours truly all in the same room, tied together by old roots and loud music. It gave the night that extra edge you don’t get at just any gig.

Dead Pioneers

The Underworld, Camden – 1st March 2026

Dead Pioneers hit Camden with purpose. Blending hardcore punk with Indigenous resistance politics, their set was less about nostalgia and more about confrontation. Fronted by activist Gregg Deal, the band take aim at colonial myths, racism and the sanitised version of American history that still gets exported worldwide.

The most striking visual was an upside-down US flag draped over an amp, marked with the words: “Never Surrender, Resistance Since 1492.” Hung in distress, it reframed patriotism through the lens of Indigenous survival. Not empty shock value, but a clear statement of historical resistance.

Musically it was tight, direct and uncompromising. A highlight came when Ren Aldridge of Petrol Girls joined them for a couple of tracks, having already appeared earlier with support act Yakkie. Fierce, urgent and unapologetic, Dead Pioneers proved punk can still say something that matters.

GBH

Hope & Ruin, Brighton – 13th February 2026

Brighton got absolutely flattened last night as GBH rolled in from Birmingham and delivered a full-throttle masterclass in how punk should sound, feel, and hit you square in the chest.

A relentless 22-song set packed with classics from start to finish, no filler, no let-up, just raw energy and pure noise the way it was meant to be. The pit never really stopped moving, and neither did the band. Tight, loud, and completely unapologetic.

They wrapped the night with a ferocious cover of Motörhead’s Bomber, which landed like a final explosive statement and sent everyone out buzzing.

Support came from Brassick and Violent Solution, both bringing serious bite and setting the tone perfectly for what followed.

Sweaty, loud, and gloriously chaotic. Exactly what a punk gig should be.

Skids

Chalk, Brighton – 31st January 2026

2026 kicked off exactly where it should: down the front, volume up, history alive and kicking.

The Skids celebrating The Absolute Game wasn’t a nostalgia exercise, it was a reminder. Those songs still snap, still surge, still sound like they’ve got unfinished business. Forty-odd years on and they didn’t sound polite, careful, or museum-ready. They sounded urgent.

Au Pairs were the perfect choice of support: angular, political, uncomfortable in all the right ways. Music that makes you lean in rather than lean back.

One gig in and the tone is set. This year isn’t about reliving the past. It’s about bands who refuse to behave, refuse to fade, and refuse to shut up.

2026 has entered the pit.