Venue: THEKLA
Date: May 24, 2025
There aren’t many evenings when you go from sleeping to being in a punk rock circle pit in the space of 15 minutes, but Thursday was one of them.
I was confused, excited and ready to be infused by the night’s proceedings.
I got in early to catch the Pill, celebrating the release of their debut EP The EP.
The similarities with tonight’s headliners are clear: they pack the same sort of direct punk-rock punch, combining humour between songs with hard-hitting lyrics challenging social norms and gender stereotypes, all while having a laugh and not taking themselves too seriously, as with Money Mullet and Woman Driver.
Tongue in cheek, they claim ‘what they lack in intelligence they bring in subtlety’. So much fun to watch live, I’m sure they left with a few more fans tonight.
The Pill play their first headline show in Bristol’s renowned Louisiana on September 29. I’ll be there.
It’s not long before Thekla is cramped and sweaty; fans scream so loudly when Panic Shack come onstage it feels like feedback in my ears.
Lead vocalist Sarah Harvey screams “Let’s fucking avit Bristol!” before they launch into recent single Gok Wan. It’s not long before a circle pit forms and my beard is drenched with beer.
Panic Shack are a riot on stage with all four members sharing vocals and punk-fueled choreography, happily playing guitar back to back and screaming in our faces with smiles on theirs. A group of best friends who clearly live to be creative and wild together.
Excitingly, there was new material and the promise of their debut album set for release on July 18.
Girl Band Starter Pack is a song about their friendship and sharing wild times. Emily Smith’s bassline on this tune is all types of funk-punk epic, with the crowd hyped and doing the band justice as they go wild.
All of the familiar songs that built the following they enjoy today also made an appearance, with Who’s Got My Lighter and The Ick sounding as fresh and powerful as ever.
The circle pit is ever present, as are the two-minute anthemic punk songs.
The set ends way too soon as everyone screams for an encore; the band doesn’t bother leaving the stage, instead reciting the chorus to a new song for us to sing back at them: “VAPE, PHONE, KEYS, LIP GLOSS”, as the frenzy of flailing limbs crash around Thekla taking in every last second of yet another High Energy, Fast Tempo tune.
Panic Shack return to play Electric Bristol on October 12. I’ll be at that one too.
Originally published on Bristol247.