My first gig review was a Valentine’s date with the other half, this my second gig for Wrinkly Rockers, was more of a family affair heading up to London on South Eastern trains from SE London for an evening of Kentish Rock with my son and his buddies. Three bands on the roll call from the North-West part of Kent - the Medway Towns, Dartford and Bexley, headlined by Colt48 for the launch of their new EP. We found The Borderline tucked away just off Charing Cross Road on the edge of Soho, close to where the famous Astoria used to be. And what a delightful venue it is too, subterranean, but with a modern feel and craft beer! The corridor to the toilets was designed by the late Stephen Hawking and leads you to another dimension!



Once I had returned from the Blake’s 7 toilet deck, I was ready to enjoy the rocky melodies supplied by a very able four piece from Medway called I Within. The variety and richness in the vocals got the crowd warmed up nicely and I would be keen to see them on another future line up.



The second band of the evening was the energetic Benzokayn. They’ve been around since 2012 and reformed last year and have supported the likes of Crazy Town, Hed PE and Dog Eat Dog. The hairstyles were as eclectic as their music with Punky undertones mixed with old school crunchy riffs and a touch of rap along the lines of Limp Bizkit or Crazytown, all pulled together in a very enjoyable set. The band had loads of energy and enthusiasm which was pretty infectious and the members had the ability to swap instrument and vocal duties. Plus I spotted a 7 string guitar being wielded and as I struggle with a six string, it doesn’t take too much to impress me!



Then the stage was cleared for the headline act, Colt48. Cleared, because there are only two of them, lead singer/guitarist Adam Jerome and vocalist/drummer Matt Savini. However, if you closed your eyes, you would swear there were about 50 in the band, because the noise and power coming from the stage more than filled the Boderline’s PA system! To create the illusion of more band members, Adam switches from a microphone on one side of the stage to the other and by self-admission, can talk for England between songs (accompanied by Matt providing dramatic effects on the drums!).



The music is mainly Nu-Metal and Heavy Rock with powerful riffs, but with good melodies and it wasn’t long before the crowd were singing along. Not only are they headlining and selling out a major London venue, but are beginning to build a loyal fan base, and this could be the sign that Colt48 are on the way up. They supported Puddle of Mudd at the Garage last year and have opened for Crazy Town, Foxxy and Trapt. They play the songs from their new and previous EP’s, the catchy ‘Hate Hate Relationship’ and ‘The Fire’ being my favourites. The set was given a brief respite with the acoustic ‘Start Again’ which when finished, re-emphasises the power of the rest of the set list. I’ve followed Colt48 from their origins of the previous band, ‘48 Hours’, and it was great to see the previous band member Gary jump onto the stage to sing backing vocals for the encore.



I spoke to Adam after the gig and he was still buzzing with the support the band has attracted in such a short space of time. “Hey, thanks again to everyone who came out to see us, it was insane!” He went on to say, “As a result of your support, a direct positive effect is that we have the headline slot at the Black Heart at Camden Rocks which is frankly mind blowingly cool!” They will be helping close the festival on Saturday 2nd June which is a great achievement for the pair who have only been going since 2017. Their hard work and powerful riffs are propelling them forward and it is well worth checking them out. My son agrees, so that’s got to count too!



Chris Bourlet