LIVE REVIEW: The Dirty Nil @ The Underworld, London

The Music Venue Trust has done an incalculable amount for grassroots venues during and in the aftermath of the pandemic, with tonight being a joint effort between the MVT and the National Lottery to bring as many people together to celebrate live music as they can. Thankfully, the threatened downpour has (mostly) held off, rather than deterring people from making the trip out for a raucous night helmed by THE DIRTY NIL.

After early doors, it’s Bristolians EXIT CHILD who open proceedings. Unfortunately for them, and perhaps a consequence of such an early start, the room is near empty at the start of their set, when just a month ago they’d drawn a solid crowd at 2000trees. As the quartet launch into their scuzzy, dirt under its fingernails alt rock though, that soon changes, especially when they surprise with a gigantic, snarling riff. The band freely admit opening for a sold out show with THE DIRTY NIL is hardly the worst way to make their London debut as a relatively new outfit, especially when you consider they’ve released just one song so far. Hopefully they’ll be back sooner rather than later with more under their belt; from tonight’s showing, they’ve certainly got promise. 

Rating: 7/10

LOWLIVES sit somewhere between impassioned punk and grunge, the NIRVANA influence shining through particularly vocally. There’s also more than a whiff of the FOO FIGHTERS to them, and it all percolates into rough around the edges anthemic punk that can feel laconic even the drums are driving. With ex-THE DEFILED, THE ATARIS and NO DEVOTION members in their midst, they all know their way around a stage and it shows; the crowd, too, has swelled noticeably and are focused entirely on the magnetic quartet before them. LOWLIVES are also clearly believers in no-frills shows, instead ripping through as many songs as they can cram into half an hour. It works wonders too, as even slower numbers don’t let the energy drop to leave the room well and truly ready for the party up next. 

Rating: 8/10

Punk-flecked rock and roll is often how THE DIRTY NIL get described but it doesn’t do justice to the sheer energy and vitality their music overflows with. Before that though, the band make a dramatic entrance to Ride Of The Valkyries, the crowd baying for their arrival. As soon as the first riff to Celebration hits though, all bets are off. From the very outset, the band and crowd are already giving their all, every word roared back at the trio onstage. The swagger and groove are undeniable, especially as they follow it up with Nicer Guy and a rousing Blunt Force Concussion. 

Naturally, they lean into the excellent new album Free Rein To Passions, cuts like Nicer Guy, Stupid Jobs and the title track already sounding like modern classics. It’s also buoyed by forays into breakthrough album Fuck Art, Doom Boy in particular sounding colossal, and to a lesser extent their preceding two. It all sounds inimitably like the sound of one band who’ve simply refined themselves into one that delivers masterclasses in anthemic rock and roll like they do today. The Ontario trio tap into something timeless, with earworm hooks that get bellowed back to them and lyrics sung from every throat in the room; it’s finger-pointing, dancing, lose yourself in the moment music. To cap it all off, they close on an encore covering METALLICA‘s Hit the Lights in a moment that emphatically underscores their brilliance and seemingly endless capacity to bring the fun. 

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Anne Pfalzgraf here: 

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