Live Review: Ronker - The Lexington, London 25/04/2026
Ronker, Test Plan and The Sad Season combine for a brilliant post-hardcore evening at the Lexington with one statement: you want loud music: you’ve come to the right place.
The weather is unfortunately against headliners Ronker tonight. It’s a beautiful sunny day and one of the first nicer spells of weather that we’ve had this year. That doesn’t stop them from gaining a core following of fans eager to mosh to the Belgian hardcore outfit, who doubted the Lexington’s virtue as a historic venue, but are quickly drawn under its spell by carving their own place in history among the praised names that have played there. They are nervous: and they have good reason to be: the support, The Sad Season’s frontman is Mike from the legendary prog metal band Sikth for the evening, and his stage presence is felt from the moment The Sad Season get on stage. Throw in Test Plan, noise rock DIY upstarts who deserve to be MUCH MUCH bigger than they are – and you have a great evening that you’ll look back on in a few months, think “oh, why wasn’t I there?” and then mourn missing out on the three bands who delivered the goods. For those who have braved the heat for the Lexington, it’s a special night.
Test Plan are rapidly becoming an appointment band for me having seen them headline The Shacklewell Arms for a recent free show that drew a packed-out house in addition to various multi-venue festivals like Outer Town in Bristol. Max, Mike and Rory are the trio that make up this band – and they come on to electric single ‘my teeth’ that’s just an unrelenting wall of sound. I’ve seen crazier Test Plan moshes but there is a mosh, albeit a brief one; and the energy is ramped up with the pulsating beat of the drums that get more intense. Their chaotic, sprawling energy is a favourite at their live shows in the past and to open with it shows confidence that the rest of their back catalogue is going to be killer – the Latin-inspired drum beats that fit the vibe between either dancing or moshing perfectly; usually the latter, usually raw and impeccable – the portrayal of a religious figure losing their grip on sanity and reality kind of almost fits at home and reminded me a bit of the recent Danny Boyle picture 28 Years Later opening with the Priest in the Church being surrounded by zombies – it creates that kind of rage and catharsis that comes with chaos, distilled into a scene. By the time ‘So bored at your squat rave’ caps out the set, the hypnotic inducing lyrics have reached full effect.
The Sad Season are a band that are at this point; an Arctangent festival house band who usually play the field early in the morning. They’re back in 2026 and if you missed them in 2025 you really should wake up early enough to get down to the Arc Stage for 11AM on the Friday slot – and with Mike Goodman from SiKTH as their lead, this side project feels like a real work of passion and craft. He’s a force of nature and the gnarly riffs; wild grooves are perfect to watch unfold; generating a fascinating crowd. It’s easy to see Mike has a background as a voice actor given his snarling, almost 70s like command of a lyrics transported to the present day. One of my favourite tracks from them is the brilliant ‘Hermits Under Blankets’, which asks the audience to “tell me what you see / rivers of blood” in a commanding, intoxicating way that just builds and builds; the shouts of “rivers of blood” and its repetition just reaching a crescendo with a fury of epic force. The distortions and mixing really give this a unique concept and the riffs are just-out-of-this-world nuts, and it’s almost appropriate that it feels like video game music at times (A COMPLIMENT) – in part because ‘The Breathing Out the Smoke’ features on Karma: The Dark World. It’s a band with a very refined sense of identity and purpose that pull you into their world and command your attention.
Ronker come on and they’re in awe of the Lexington’s status; the walk up the venue shows you the historic bands, both in hardcore and outside, who have played there and fellow Belgian metallers Psychonaut; we’re told, rate the place highly from their performance earlier in the year. Naturally, there are a few fans at both. Ronker are here on an album tour to promote Respect the Hustle, I Won’t Be Your Dog Forever, so naturally; they have time to delight in trolling the audience with covers of Kelis’ Milkshake and Oasis’ Wonderwall, which Ronker frontman Jasper de Petten goads the British crowd by saying that it’s their national anthem. I’ve seen Milkshake performed in many styles as a go to crowd-starter; from indie to punk; but to see a hardcore rendition, complete with sharp vocals and the beginnings of a mosh – Ronker find a place in being able to deliver on something that’s just pure fun. Titular track ‘Respect the Hustle’ is the opener and it’s a thirteen song endless assault that delivers on the carnage from the word go: Particular favourites are ‘Clear the Air’ (“WE NEED TO CLEAR THE AIR SO LET’S TALK ABOUT IT”) that asks the audience to come and burn the midnight oil with them and, not from this record, ‘Goliath’ – the band harkening back to their 2023 album Self Loathing Self Help. They are able to shake up the setlist catering to audiences from different countries to deploy normal set closures mid set and experiment a bit outside of their native Belgium – where surely; they’re a contender for Rock Werchter’s illustrious Slope stage next year; or an appearance across the border at Jera on Air, which they’ve already slated themselves down to appear for, and the crowd there go absolutely nuts.
If you like hardcore; and as hardcore does whenever giants like SPEED are in town, break into the popular music discourse, and were maybe convinced by your first ever hardcore show at the Ballroom to check out more acts, Ronker are that act to take the next step; they cater to fans both new and old and lay their passion bear on the stage. They drift into IDLES territory but also have post-hardcore vibes – and ‘No Sweat’ goes down a stormer: “I don’t care about the stress no more / I’m in love with machinery’ allows the band to talk about the ease-of-access and how everything is available instantly to us it allows for the prioritisation of instant gratification over the need to think – and talks about those who stayed at home; relaxing, whilst the rest of us are going out and living, rejoicing. Getting engrossed in the screen means missing out on nights like this: and where else would you rather be than moshing – often; given the tight quarter of the crowd; with the members of the Sad Season and Test Plan; who stuck around for the headliners – to Ronker’s fury, fast-paced; high-bar post hardcore explosion!
Words by Miles Milton-Jefferies
