LIVE REVIEW: Knuckle Puck @ The Fleece, Bristol

There was a real sense of disappointment when KNUCKLE PUCK had to cancel on their UK tour last year. Depression was the reason cited, and thankfully it’s all worked out for the best given that the Chicago punks are currently knee deep in a tour that’s been a year in waiting. KNUCKLE PUCK kept all the same dates, even the same support acts, as they made their way to a sold out Bristol show at The Fleece for a night of sold out, sweaty, energetic fun.

Kicking off the night are young up and comers MOVEMENTS who despite seeming a bit asleep with their energy still deliver the goods. Their minimalist post-hardcore clearly resonates with the young audience present tonight, and the crowd pour some early energy into the set by opening the dance floor and crowd surfing their way to the barrier-less stage. The band do feel to be lacking some energy, but their humble attitude makes it clear that the group are young, and if they have songs like Colourblind and Daylily in their arsenal, there is room for this young act to evolve into a band that people can grow up with. With a pepper of something more when they play live and MOVEMENTS will be making movements of their own up the ladder.

Rating: 7/10

Sitting at the polar opposite end of the spectrum, TINY MOVING PARTS bring arguably too much energy for their brand of emo-tinged technical wizardry. The trio come on stage without giving the crowd so much as a chance to catch their breath before they erupt into their set. Limbs protrude from the front of the crowd as guitarist and vocalist Dylan Mattheisen darts from stage left to right, all whilst throwing out as many guitar licks and notes as humanly possible and still somehow trying to find time to sing. Whilst this multi tasking is impressive to watch as his finger bounce around the fret board, it does detract from any of the music actually hitting home and sticking with the listener. For the already initiated, this is clearly an excellent time, but for everyone else this just seems like AMERICAN FOOTBALL on cocaine and slightly less sad. It’s lucky that the band end on Caution, the best song off their latest full length effort, because it actually means that the audience has a melody to remember the band by. This was the furthest thing from a bad set, but it wouldn’t kill TINY MOVING PARTS to just slow down and smell the roses every now and again.

Rating: 7/10

With the attitude towards mental health being much more forgiving and accepting now than it ever has done, there is a real feeling of catching up on missed time in the minutes before KNUCKLE PUCK walk on stage. The acceptance of their depression that delayed tonight’s tour transformed into thanks and appreciation for a band that have done incredible work to capture the hearts of a new age of pop-punk fans. Kicking into Gone sends the crowd into bedlam and the energy doesn’t let up for the rest of the set. The five scrappy punks on stage all clearly having the time of their life playing the club shows that put them onto the map in the first place.

The set is a healthy mix of everything the band have done until now, taking choice cuts from their earlier EPs as well as a fine selection from their exceptional Copacetic album. Evergreen and Pretence both drawn buckets of sweat from the crowd as they crowd surf at every given chance and scream the words right back at KNUCKLE PUCK. The crowd surfing is a double edged sword as always, as the amount of times people hesitate before getting off, or even worse, just loiter to steal as much spotlight as possible, is a little too frequent for anyone’s liking. Given how varied their sound can be, the momentum is never lost even when slower tracks like Conduit are given time to come and play. In fact, it does wonders to show how diverse and adept KNUCKLE PUCK are at wielding the best elements of pop-punk and emo and fusing it together in a melting pot themed after NEW FOUND GLORY.

As always, there are some joints that need tightening up, for example the second microphone that Joe Taylor uses intermittently completely erases him from the mix rather than doing its intended job. These are surface level blemishes though, as the band have their blueprint nailed down as well as they need it to be right now.

Rating: 8/10

Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in Bristol from Serena Hill Photography here: