Soft Play and Panic Shack – Rock City, Nottingham – 29/10/24
Before the first band takes to the stage, Rock City is full to the brim. The crowd an eclectic mix of all ages and genders, coming together with a shared love of music. There’s only one support act tonight, so when Panic Shack take to the stage, they have the whole crowd to entertain and energise. Opening track ‘I Don’t Really Like It’ sets the tone for this feminist four piece. The repeated hook of ‘When you look at me like that, I don’t really like it. When you talk to me like that, I don’t really like it’ builds and builds, the pace becoming more urgent and frantic as all four ladies take up the chant, that is guaranteed to be stuck in your head for days to come. During the set they cover all the essential bases – misogyny, tits, meal deals, the lack of pockets in women’s clothing and the unbearable nature of new parents who want you to hold their baby. Panic Shack’s straight talking, relatable lyrics are set to pounding instrumentals that mix punk, pop and indie elements, blending together to make their unique sound.
Rising like a phoenix from an extended hiatus, Soft Play are back. New name, new album and a new lease on life, and, as this sold out tour would suggest, not a moment too soon. Exploding onto the stage with ‘All Things’, Laurie and Isaac are back where they belong. The crowd waste no time in matching the energy, which only gets wilder as ‘Mirror Muscles’ kicks in. With a stacked set list, consisting of new album Heavy Jelly in it’s entirety and choice cuts from the back catalogue, Soft Play have the room enraptured. Being a duo you’d think it would be harder to fill a stage, but the energy is eclectic and all consuming. The boys spend as much time with the crowd as possible, with Laurie running up and down the front barriers whenever the opportunity arises, and Isaac taking several trips into the middle of the room to monologue, before thrashing out their shortest songs ‘Fuck the Hi-Hat’ and ‘Girl Fight’. The absolute masterclass that is ‘Punk’s Dead’ hits differently with the crowd screaming along, but nothing quite tops the beautiful moment when Isaac asks for the glitter balls to be turned on. The sound of 2000 people singing at the top of their voices fills the room, in a stirring rendition of ‘Everything and Nothing’. Soft Play go back to their roots with the final one-two combo of ‘Beauty Quest’ and ‘The Hunter’.
It’s not a sight you see often, a band returning after several years of silence, bigger and better than ever. It would be easy to attribute the overwhelming success of ‘Punk’s Dead’ as a rallying force behind the explosive return Soft Play has achieved, but the duo took that initial boost and absolutely ran with it. Releasing banger after banger, setting the stage alight like they’re fighting as an up and comer in a grungy club, rather than a band that have already cut their teeth and proven they belong on the big stages. Like a force to be reckoned with. Even so, ‘Punk’s Dead’ is a fucking good song. So, big up the haters, I guess?
Words and Photos by Carrie-Anne Pollard
