LIVE FROM THE PIT: Uninvited, Cherym and Day Drunk

Everybody knows that pop-punk had its peak in the early 2000s. The 2010s carried it strong, but now we are in the 2020s - outside of the big-name nostalgic acts that have hung around from the beginning, the genre has steadily dwindled, becoming little more than a place for artists to dip their toes into for some experimentation. At least, that is what most would have you believe; CHERYM and UNINVITED are here to prove otherwise.

Independently, for the last few years, they have been instrumental players in the pop-punk revival - and last year found them joining forces for double A-side project The After Party. That is not where the collaboration ends: to kick off March in style, the band embarked on a three-stop, double-headliner tour around the UK - and it was in Glasgow’s Stereo we witnessed the first night of this celebration. If you thought pop-punk was dead, that the party was over, you would be wrong - welcome to the After Party.

Openers DAY DRUNK took the stage to a fashionably-late crowd, gig-goers still filtering in one by one, but their energy was strong enough to fill the room regardless. Leah Batty led the charge with raw, powerful vocals in God Knows I Tried, before segueing into a cover of FLEETWOOD MAC’s Dreams that reimagined the song with a grungier, punkish charm.

Near the end of the set, she made a joke about the next song, telling us it was about a movie very detrimental to her mental health, and that if anyone guessed it, they would get a pint; the song was Wallflower, and it was fittingly emotional. It was time for their final song - but before that, they took the opportunity to plug an upcoming EP, featuring several unreleased songs they played that night. By this point, the room had filled up substantially, just in time for Cardigan, which had the crowd clapping their hands to the guitar rhythm and drumbeat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6u-wK1wyRk

It was time for the first headliner to take the stage. The lights dimmed, crowd members’ heads swivelled towards the stage, eyes watching. From the speakers, lines from Mean Girls spilled, overlapping into an introductory audio montage; soon, we were not just meeting the Plastics, we were meeting CHERYM. They ripped right into their set with Listening To My Head and the crowd were captivated. Before long, vocalist/guitarist Hannah Richardson invited a guest to the stage - Jay Eliver from UNINVITED - for their joint song Sofa Bed. Hannah led with her intense stage presence, before handing the spotlight to Jay; the two blended their vocal harmonies, side by side onstage - there was not a single person not singing along.

Sticks rattled, drums pounded; Alannagh Doherty shook the room with an intense, heart-thumping solo that granted them thunderous applause to rival the assault on her drumkit. “Are you ready to take up sports with us?” Hannah called, to subsequent cheers. As they sang through Taking Up Sports, a football chant of “ole, ole, ole!” echoed through the venue.

The second cover of the night was Boss Bitch by DOJA CAT, but with the naturality of Alannagh’s heart-pounding drums and Hannah’s rapid-fire vocals, it might as well have been their own song. The singer made a short declaration about the next tune; “this song is for the sluts and the sinners and, in quotation marks, ‘all the baby killers’!” With a huge cheer for abortion rights, CHERYM led into Alpha Beta Sigma. Fists flew into the air, gig-goers chanted the lyrics, outright shouted them at points; the line between band and crowd was truly blurred. The band let that fire fizzle so they could introduce the next tune - a secret song, not on the setlist, dedicated to UNINVITED’s Jay; that song was Happy Birthday, and the whole audience joined in.

Earlier this year, CHERYM announced their unfortunate breakup, that after several years as a band, they were going their separate ways - onstage, Hannah and Alannagh had some banter about beef being the breakup reason, that people could not believe they just live in different countries. As the vocalist prepped her instrument, the drummer made a playful jab, saying “at least now we know why we're breaking up - because Hannah can't tune her fucking guitar.” Before long, said guitar was ready, and they blasted into It’s Not Me It’s You, capping off their set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugyg7M8AWds

When UNINVITED took the stage, the first thing we noticed was Jay’s birthday boy badge, with a cartoon dog on it. That, coupled with their LIMP BIZKIT-style backwards cap and rainbow guitar strap, had the singer leaving an impression on us already, and that was before they said a single word. “This song goes out to all the femmes!” they shouted, and the band ripped into Portrait Of A Femme, a track adorned by Alex Young’s dirty riffage and Fiorenza Cocozza’s punchy drumbeat. The atmosphere was truly electric. Jay led a short sentimental speech about how they never thought they would be here and that there was so much love in the room tonight. “It will always get better, and I stand by that,” they said, segueing into Gonna Get Better.

It was time for another speech. Jay made their political stances clear; “Music is political, we have to stand on this stage and use our platform.” They listed off causes. “Free Palestine, Free Congo, Free Sudan, Free Iran - we’re not free until we’re all free.” The crowd agreed immensely, with uproars of support. “Pop-punk is political protest,” the singer declared; from their call to action to the ‘Trans liberation now!’ sticker on their guitar, it was heartening to see such a punk ethos on show. UNINVITED are keeping the punk in pop-punk - and as they picked up their instruments again, we found that meant musically too. The opening of Snake Charmer let us know exactly what to expect; shredding riffs, drumbeat barrages - this was the heaviest song of the night.

Jay soon had a favour to ask the crowd. They needed some help for the next song, and had to pick a crowd member to join them on stage. They made a show of searching the floor for someone, before pointing at a seeming-stranger. Heads turned, and they were revealed: Hannah from CHERYM was beckoned onstage. “I’ve never seen you before in my life!” joked Jay, unconvincingly. This was the third cover of the night; they already put the punk into pop-punk, now for the inverse. The intro to Taste by SABRINA CARPENTER rang out as Hannah took up a mic and swayed her way into the chorus, hair whipping back and forth. If they ever make another Punk Goes Pop, we better see UNINVITED ft. HANNAH RICHARDSON on that tracklist. They were soon joined by CHERYM’s Alannagh for a dual-band finale in Liar! (despise you). The two bands twirled and grooved around the stage, finishing the first night of the After Party tour with a bang.

It was a bittersweet ending: we were saying goodbye to CHERYM after the many years of pop-rock glory they have had, and watching Hannah and Alannagh move onto pastures anew, knowing that this is not the end for either, just the end for CHERYM. We hope Uninvited will stick around for a long time, bringing their raucous, infectious pop-punk energy to the masses, and to increasingly larger crowds. If there is anything we took from the night, it is that the party is never over - the after party rages on, even when everyone has left the building.

Words and photos: Naomi Colliar-Duff