Line-up

Headliner
Skindred Last time in London: 2 years ago

Venue

154 Clarence St, KT1 1QP, Kingston Upon Thames, UK

Skindred biography

Skindred are a band from Newport in Wales that endorse nu metal, and reggae rock. They have developed a reputation with their energetic live performances, and have won awards throughout their career, most notably “Best Live Band” at the 2011 UK Metal Hammer ‘Golden Gods’ awards.

Vocalist, Benji Webbe created the band Skindred with Daniel Pugsley who has remained the bass player since their formation in 1998. The band was fortunate enough to strike a deal with Lava Records and released their debut album “Babylon” in July 2002. The album made the number one spot of the US Reggae chart and number 11 in the US Heatseekers chart. The single “Pressure” made it to number 30 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 2005, and then the single “Nobody” peaked at number 14 on the mainstream rock tracks chart.

The band’s second album “Roots Rock Riot” was released on Bieler Bros Records. It peaked at number 6 on the Heatseekers chart and impressively number 22 on the top independent albums chart. Their third studio album “Shark Bites and Dog Fights” was released on September 21st 2009, which included the song “Electric Avenue”, a cover of the hit single by Eddy Grant. The single “Stand for Something” was released on August 11th 2009. Their fourth album “Union Black” released on April 25th 2011, made it to number 8 on the UK Independent chart, marking the band’s first appearance on a UK Chart. This album was released on the major label BMG. Their album “Kill the Power” was released on January 27th 2014, and became the band’s highest charting album in the UK yet, making it to number three on the UK Metal Chart.

The band has appeared at a numerous amount of festivals over the years, having embarked on many world tours visiting an array of countries in all of the continents. It is no wonder that they have won so many awards in their time.

Live reviews

A Skindred show was one of the first gigs I ever went to as a kid (at least without my parents) when growing up in Exeter. I caught them not long after Welsh frontman Benji Webbe had formed the ‘ragga metal’ outfit – following the demise of his first cult band, Dub War – at The Phoenix in Exeter. They were damn incredible in the flesh, especially considering this was sometime before the release of their first album. Around the release of that debut, Babylon, I saw them a bunch of times (their own gigs, festivals and supporting slots, including Soulfly in London). For years they remained a painfully underappreciated live metal band; surely Webbe is one of the greatest UK frontmen of the 21st century! He has such a unique presence and vocal range, prowling and barging around the stage while he switches between melodic singing, reggae rapping and guttural growling. No matter where they are playing or what time their set is, Webbe always manages to evoke moshing and mass sing-a-longs.
I most recently saw them in Belgium at Dour Festival and they were one of the weekend’s highlight. The nu metal-tinted riffs of ‘Warning’ and ‘Nobody’ had people bouncing, while the dancey metalcore drumming of fellow Exonian Arya would’ve made the Enter Shikari drummer weak at the knees. But, of course, it was Benji who was the focal point – as is now customary at Skindred gigs, Benji got the whole crowd to whip an item of clothing around their heads during the memorable ‘Newport Helicopter’ mosh. Exhilarating.

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