Basement and Friends Cause a Right Ruckus at London’s Kentish Town Forum [Show Review]

On a cold September Friday evening at the Kentish Town Forum, it’s time to get together and enjoy a real variety of alternative music. There is a genuine buzz of anticipation outside the venue and an excitement bordering on urgency to get this party started.

First up tonight are London Hardcore band Dynamite. If you are a fan of mid-2000s New York and Boston hardcore, then I implore you to go see Dynamite live. Failing that, you can check out their 2 excellent EPs and demo, which should be getting way more coverage than they are on these shores. Dynamite brings the ruckus, and any worries about the Kentish Town Forum being too big a stage for them are absolutely squashed the second they steamroll their way on.

Obviously, the barrier separating the crowd from the band is a minor inconvenience at a hardcore show, but it in no way dampens anyone’s appetite. They play for 25 minutes at 100mph, and it’s relentless, kick you in the mouth, smash up the floorboards hardcore. They have catchy, distinguishable songs and a fan base ready to sing every word. This is a band who are one solid album away from really becoming a face and name for UKHC.

Two months removed from a head-turning performance at 2000 Trees Festival, Anxious are back with their heart on sleeve brand of rock. The Connecticut-based five-piece have released 2 fantastic albums, the second of which Bambi came out this year and deserves your attention if you haven’t already done so. Pulling heavy influence from bands like Far, Set Your Goals and Saves The Day, they have really created a sound which is both familiar yet unique to them and their songs.

They have a real sweetness and vulnerability to their music, which is in keeping with the current wave of more emotional hardcore bands which have been on the rise for a while now. They run through what feels like a relatively short set, pulling a varied mix of songs from both albums, the likes of “Counting Sheep” and “Growing Up Song” serving as highlights. The energy from the band is both contagious and endearing, and the crowd seem absolutely engaged throughout and primed for the main event.

Basement has been building a brilliant body of work for nearly 15 years now, and it feels like they are finally getting the recognition and stages they deserve. A headlining spot at Outbreak Festival in 2024, A slew of US hardcore and metal festival performances and a main support slot on a Knocked Loose tour are just some of their recent accolades. They have been making undeniable music for over a decade, and although they seem to have built an affinity with the hardcore scene, they are far more diverse and multifaceted than most of the bands they play with. They meld together hardcore tempos with grunge vocals and Britrock rhythms, and could, in my opinion, fit in anywhere.

This is never more evident than when they open up their evening with a gentle sing-along “Are You The One” and the Kentish Town Forum is turned upside down! It’s 2300 people singing EVERY word, and the floor is swelling with bodies trying to clamber towards the stage. “Promising Everything” continues the chaos, a song that genuinely could have been a grunge classic in the ’90s. They steam through fan favourite after fan favourite, only giving time for two new songs, which both should have everybody screaming for a new record. “Brothers Keeper,” “Whole” and “Pine” keep the sing-alongs going whilst “Early Grey” shows off every angle of Basement’s creative brilliance.

For me, the high point of the set comes with “Aquasun,” a song from the excellent 2017 album Promise Everything. It’s a beautifully crafted, heartfelt song which lyrically captures the pain of emotional vulnerability, and in the live setting is even more potent. Like most of Basement’s music, it feels genuine, like the emotions of the song have been lived by those who made it, which is really felt in the crowd’s response to it. As has been the case for a while now, Basement brings the evening home with the incredibly popular “Covet,” a final chance for everyone in attendance to lose the last of their voices and really show what this band mean to them.

UK alternative music, in my opinion, is in the strongest place it has been in years, and Basement should be a band we all continue to get behind as the best feels like it’s yet to come.