LIVE FROM THE PIT: Stray From The Path, Alpha Wolf, Graphic Nature and Calva Louise

Cold Saturday night or not, the O2 Institute is already buzzing early as fans pour in for STRAY FROM THE PATH’S last UK tour. For twenty years, they’ve been causing chaos in the punk and hardcore scene. Now they’re ready to call it a day, but they’re dropping one last album and leaving with a punch you won’t forget.

 CALVA LOUISE didn’t ease into the night; they hit straight into their first track ‘‘Tunnel Vision’’ like a warning shot. The room was still filling when the energy on stage snapped everything into focus. JESS ALLANIC took control instantly, sharp and precise yet wild and unpredictable. One moment pacing with intent, the next erupting forward, pulling the crowd in as if gravity had suddenly shifted towards the stage. The band behind that force hit just as hard. CALVA LOUISE don’t blend genres; they crash punk, electronic noise, and alt-rock together until the mix feels volatile. Riffs hit like blows to the chest, basslines crawled up through the floorboards. The initial crowd included a few sceptics near the back, watching with cautious interest. But as the set intensified, their stance shifted. By halfway, they had moved forward, drawn by the band’s rising energy.

GRAPHIC NATURE signalled their arrival before they even fully stepped into the lights, and an air-raid siren blared through the room, followed by a tense, spoken monologue that silenced all conversations. By the time they stepped onto the stage, the atmosphere was already tense. They launched straight into “Headstone,” a blast of distortion and controlled fury that hit like a warning shot, and the response was instant bodies colliding, the floor shifting beneath the weight of the surge. “Locked In” followed with even more edge, its jagged rhythms and suffocating heaviness pushing the room into full-blown chaos. Any calm that had existed earlier was gone; GRAPHIC NATURE had turned the space into a pressure chamber, with the crowd moving as if they knew what was coming next. The set never slowed; each track hit harder than the last. By the finale, the room was buzzing with pure adrenaline. “Fractured” wrapped it up with a grinding, relentless finish that sent one last surge through a crowd that refused to stay still.

As the main support act, Australia’s ALPHA WOLF, stepped up next, bringing a sudden spike in intensity. They went straight into “Ultra-Violet Violence,” blowing the room wide open within seconds. The impact was immediate, thick, punishing, and impossible to ignore. Before anyone fully recovered, they crashed into “Creep,” sending bodies surging across the floor nonstop. Mid-chaos, frontman LOCHIE KEOGH took a moment to address the crowd, grinning as he shouted, “We’re all weird, but we’re all a family. We’ve come to warm you up, let’s fucking move”.

ALPHA WOLF kept pushing harder instead of easing off. Each breakdown hit with more force, the pit widening as they leaned into their heaviest material. The playing stayed tight but never lost that rough, unpredictable edge that fuels their live shows. When they kicked into “Akudama,” the reaction was instant. The floor erupted, the crowd shouting every line back, and the room hit its peak energy of the night. It was a sharp, decisive closer that left everyone more than ready for STRAY FROM THE PATH to take to the stage.

Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for, New York hardcore heavyweights STRAY FROM THE PATH. The crowd was already fired up as they walked out to “Kubrick Stare,” letting the intro build just long enough to tighten the atmosphere. The moment the track dropped, chaos broke loose. People pushing forward, shouting every line, the room erupting, the band had the place from the first hit.

One thing that never changes with STRAY FROM THE PATH is the heart they pour into their set. It’s easy to get swept up in it. DREW YORK has a real talent for reading the room and pumping the energy every time he steps forward, pushing the crowd to a new level. TOM WILLIAMS was the backbone of the onslaught, ripping through the set with guitar work that barely gave anyone a moment to breathe. He powered through “First World Problem Child” and “Shot Caller,” as if trying to shake the walls down. He didn’t stay still for long, darting across the stage, throwing himself into the noise, and launching the whole room into an even messier, louder frenzy.

From there, things only got wilder. DREW pushed the moment further, telling people to get up and crowd surf as the band launched into “Fuck Them All to Hell.” That was all it took. More bodies started going over the top, transforming the room into one big celebration.

“Goodnight Alt-Right” and “Chest Candy” hit particularly hard, with the crowd shouting every line back at the band, knowing this was the final run. DREW kept addressing the crowd with genuine emotion, reminding everyone, “We wanted to give you new music and then peace out,” and later, “We are a community, and I’m proud we were part of this community.” It carried a weight that everyone could feel, as if saying goodbye to something that mattered.

They wrapped it all up with “Fortune Teller,” leaving the crowd sweaty, exhausted, and grinning at the chaos they’d just experienced. No encore, no grand farewell, just one last hit before the lights dropped. Birmingham saw a band leave entirely on their own terms, full force to the very end. If this really is goodbye, it’s one nobody in that room will forget anytime soon.

Words and photos: Kieran Atkinson