Live Review: Knocked Loose - Electric Ballroom, London 07/02/2022
On Monday night two of Hardcore’s heaviest hitters Knocked Loose and Terror took to the stage at the iconic Electric Ballroom, the entire show was filled with stage dives, face seering riffs and the most aggressive two-stepping we seen!
The room was already pretty full as support Static Dress walked on; they took no time to get stuck in and instantly set the place on fire (thankfully not literally), ‘disposable care’ and newest single ‘Di-sinTer’ really struck a chord with the throngs of hardcore fans that had crawled out of the woodwork. As soon as one mosh pit closed another sure enough opened as quickly, these incendiary newcomers took no prisoners this evening and definitely warmed up the room ready for even more carnage to ensue.
LA based hardcore veterans Terror were up next, as soon as the first guitar riffs started playing, roughly 50 fans started the classic hardcore act of practising their best Karate Kid impression in the middle of the crowd! Whilst they were doing that the other half of the crowd were desperately trying to clamber over the obstacle course of barrier, security to get on stage with their favourite hardcore heroes. Terror constantly hyping up the audience and reminding them that their number one thing they like to see at shows is “energy”, and by god did they bring it; every song sounding like a slap across a bruised cheek, ‘One with the Underdogs’ was a personal favourite of ours this evening, its explosive start really shows off the true nature of the genre.
It finally came for the moment everyone was waiting for and boy oh boy did Knocked Loose not disappoint; it became apparent very quickly what kind of show was about to happen when they begin ‘Where Light Divides the Holler’ and ‘Belleville’, the first being a brand new song but has speedily become a staple Knocked Loose favourite! Tonights set was comprised of a majority of songs from their acclaimed album ‘A Different Shade of Blue’ and newer EP ‘A Tear in the Fabric of Life’ but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have time for a few deeper cuts like ‘All My Friends’ or ‘Oblivions Peak’. We didn’t see one person in the room tonight that wasn’t screaming along with every song or headbanging like their life depended on it, frontman Bryan Garris noticed this as well, smiling from ear to ear throughout. Knocked Loose closed the set with popular single ‘Mistakes Like Fractures’ and the infamous ‘Counting Worms’ which had the whole audience let out a terrifying “ARF ARF” before they dropped into the final breakdown of the evening. A truly magical spectacle of hardcore goodness was presented this evening, Knocked Loose can come back anytime if that is the magnitude of performance they can bring!
Words and Photography by Joe Dick
