Live Review: Cassyette - Scala, London 11/04/2024
Cassy Brooking, a.k.a. Cassyette, a.k.a. punk-metal pioneer princess hosted a celebration of femme-fatale punk musicians at the renowned live music venue Scala in London.
Scala opened its doors to leather-clad metal maestros for the ultimate girl-power party. Cassyette’s fierce lineup of Filthy Pig, Harpy and Witch Fever provided the perfect anticipation for her electrifying performance of her most loved tracks and of unreleased content.
Filthy Pig’s monstrous DJ set introduced the Berghain-esque cabaret we were strapped in for, literally. Adorned in a pig mask and leather straps, Filthy Pig set the stage for ravenous punk-metal performance.
Our first performer, Harpy, opened with gut-punching brutality and brought so much energy to an otherwise empty stage. Baring her soul to the crowd through strong lyricism and occasional screaming, as well as intense physical performance, she provided a delightful energy to kickstart the night. Whilst she brought an undeniably killer stage presence, I felt some tracks could have benefitted from the support of a live backing band for that extra oomph. Harpy’s dominatrix getup and commanding presence matched perfectly with her harsh electro-punk-metal style. We also got to hear her unreleased collaboration with Milkie Way of Wargasm, ‘Apocalypse’, which masterfully combined the underground electro staples of Harpy with the punk-tastic synergy of Wargasm.
Witch Fever followed, matching Harpy’s excitement and eagerness to support Cassyette, and introduced a new punk energy with distortion and screaming. Whilst overcoming technicalities with radios and struggling with the sound levels of the guitar, Witch Fever were a treat nonetheless. For my favourite song of theirs, ‘Reincarnate’, frontwoman Amy came crawling and chasing through the Scala crowd with her tangled microphone cord in tow. The troupe as a whole provided such an invigorating and entertaining performance of back-to-back head-bangers and fist-pumpers.
Shining star of Scala Cassyette came out in full force of relentless energy and heroism punk-metal. Brooking’s performance was filled with emotion and tearful gratuity, commemorating the event with a large group photo mid-set. She spoke feverishly of her upcoming sophomore album, due to release around August of this year, and proclaimed it to have been made with “a lot of tears and a lot of heart”. We had the privilege of hearing some of these unreleased tracks, one of which she described as “Mayhem’s sister song, written the day after”. Cassyette’s passion for her music and her fans filled Scala with a heartwarming atmosphere of shared love and endearment. With an abundance of mosh pits (including a ‘wall of hugs’) and Brooking herself crowd surfing during the finale, the ‘This World Fucking Sucks’ London show was a booming success and thrilling experience, allowing for a great appreciation and celebration of women in rock.
At the end of the night, Harpy and Witch Fever gathered in the foyer to meet and greet fans and advertise their merch, of which Witch Fever’s was self-designed by the band members. The two will continue to support Cassyette on the European leg of her tour through the rest of April. I wholeheartedly encourage fans of pop-punk and punk-metal to check out Harpy and Witch Fever and to not miss the chance to see Cassyette perform live.
Tickets for the remaining ‘This World Fucking Sucks’ shows are available here.
Words by Erin Hill
Photography by Sam Strutt
