LIVE FROM THE PIT: Showing Teeth and Exit Dream

Outbreak has gone all out for their 15th anniversary, taking over the nation with festivals, pop-ups, and re-release showcases celebrating some of hardcore’s most prominent bands and their humble beginnings. The cycle begins anew as Outbreak gave the stage to up-and-coming SHOWING TEETH on their history-making debut headline show at The Barfly, Camden, having flown across an entire ocean to prove without a doubt they can command any stage anywhere.

EXIT DREAM are no strangers to the stage, a supergroup that originated from Bristol and now boasts members from NAPOLEON and HOLDING ABSENCE. They brought shoegaze-metal-post-hardcore to their support slot, refusing to let the heat of the compact venue deter them from giving an unforgettable performance. Inviting the crowd to get closer during the sound effect intro, vocalist Wes Thompson launched into a melodic kaleidoscope, Murray Deaves guitar hooks adding a dream-like quality to the track as the crowd began to loosen up and sway to the hypnotic rhythms. Released a mere month ago, By Design surges in with Deaves rising strings, Luke Shadrick’s sturdy basslines that keep the track grounded, and Ashley Green’s ironclad drumbeats.

Thompson took a moment to acknowledge their genre was “different to Showing Teeth’s, thanks for being so patient”, the band’s modesty garnering respect from those who certainly came for a hardcore show. Regardless of the contrast in sound (EXIT DREAM truly aren’t so far removed from the scene to not be enjoyed, suited for fans of THORNHILL), their musical skill and crowd engagement mark them as a band to watch, at the least limbering up the crowd for the hardcore main act as Thompson’s screams breaking the shoegaze elements and also the sound barrier as the mic struggled momentarily to keep up with the sound level before blasting the screams on spiralling. Inviting the crowd to “open it up if you want, go for it”, they watched appreciatively as goers leapt about to set the closer last cadence.

For a band that confesses they’ve only just started, SHOWING TEETH has filled the floor with eager fans hungry for hardcore sounds. Mosh pits split the room when vocalist Showing Teeth had barely taken to the stage for Bad Exchanges. “We expected maybe 20 people, this is so cool,” she said with a look of pure awe on her face at the cheering crowd. With only two songs released so far, everyone in attendance was treated to tracks only heard by the lucky few who saw SHOWING TEETH at Outbreak Fest the previous week, performing their splintering track Disfigured By Fear before they promised everyone would hear the two releases and “get what you paid for”. Headbanging and wheeling about, the band put in as much energy as they got back on Shallow Grave with its chaotic mosh pit, taking a hydration break to apologise for bringing the Nashville heat to the UK, followed swiftly by an apology for their impersonation of a British accent (it’s a work in progress).

Shifting between clean, lifting vocals and gritty screams, Make It Out gets its first stage-diver of the night, the palpable energy of Outbreak still going strong tonight. The band built dense anticipation with the rising instrumentals until it came bursting out in a wall of sound and visceral screams on Paradigm. Teeth takes a moment to give the audience an anecdote about heavy metal musician and radio presenter Dan Carter (present in the crowd) accidentally confusing her with musician Addison Rae. Their answer to this mix-up? A dedicated metal cover of Rae’s Fame Is A Gun, received with laughs that quickly changed to delighted headbanging. Sufficiently heated up and having proved to themselves they can sell out on their debut headline from across an ocean, the band end with their relentless Labyrinth with Teeth, hesitating for a moment to measure the crowd, saying, “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to crowdsurf this bitch.” Trusting in the crowd and a steely glint in her eye, Teeth leapt out and crowdsurfed to the final crashing moments of their set before returning to the stage to profusely thank everyone for being there.

It’s this personability combined with raw talent that makes SHOWING TEETH a band worth being on the radar, with sensational hardcore sounds, real crowd engagement, and a humour that shifts from calculated to quick-wit. This is just a taste of a career of sold-out headline shows in their future.

Words and photos: Julia Stark