Wargasm (UK) and Scene Queen – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham – 21st Oct 2022

October 25, 2022

*Milkie Way* *of Wargasm in Nottingham. Photo by Carrie-Anne Pollard*

Tonight’s line up is not only a great celebration of new, upcoming bands, it is also a love letter to femininity in heavy music spaces.

Unfortunately we miss openers Knife Bride, but main support comes from the Paris Hilton of metal, Scene Queen. Performing her self coined style ‘Bimbocore’ (also the title of her debut ep), Scene Queen is what would happen if Kesha joined a metalcore band. Fun, energetic and a little bit silly, the songs bring together a whole host of diverse elements, that on paper sound incomprehensible, but in reality blend together seamlessly to create a really interesting and refreshing sound.

Songs such as ‘Pink Panther’ – a song that Scene Queen quite rightly explains ‘is even gayer than the last song’ after a cover of Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed a Girl’ – and ‘Pink Rover’ WILL be stuck in your head for days after the first listen (I can attest to that)
Not one for missing an opportunity to mix things up a bit, ‘Pink G-String’ (yes, I’m sure you’re seeing a theme here) calls for everyone to join the ‘twirkle pit’, and Scene Queen ends her set playing the song she just played again, after a quick conversation with herself…I…guess you had to be there!

Before Wargasm have even hit the stage, the sold out venue is steaming with bodies. As they kick into opener ‘Super Fiend’ it only gets sweatier. There are no lulls in the set, keeping chat to an absolute minimum they power through song after song – ‘D.R.I.L.D.O’, ‘Fukstar’, ‘Salma Hayek’ – with the crowd lapping up every second. During the quickfire one, two of ‘Post Modern Rhapsody’ and ‘God of War’, singer / bassist Milkie Way gets the room to crouch then explode up, keeping the energy at 100 consistently.
Wargasm’s aggressive cover of ‘Lapdance’ by N.E.R.D is injected with a hint of Limp Bizkit, showcasing how eclectic their influences are. (Also, I’m 100% convinced that at least 30% of their fanbase have no clue it’s not an original song, because of how perfectly they’ve crafted it to fit their sound but also because they weren’t alive when the original was released. Way to make a girl feel old!)
Earlier in the night a fan got kicked out for crowd surfing during Scene Queen’s set (really hope they managed to sneak back in for the headliners…also, totally dick move by the security) The rest of the audience don’t want to make that mistake, but singer / guitarist Sam Matlock isn’t chained by those rules, throwing himself over the crowd during set closer ‘Spit’.