Gig Review: Hands Off Gretel / Pussyliquor / We Are One – Nambucca, London (28th March 2019)

Tonight was the first of two shows for Yorkshire alt-rock/post-grunge band Hands Off Gretel in support of the launch of their second full-length album, which the band unleashed on the world on 29 March via the band’s own label Puke Pop Records. They originally began funding the album via PledgeMusic – hitting 100% of their target in less than 24 hours – but later had to take matters into their own hands. Vocalist Lauren explains what happened in this video.

We Are One (c) Katie Frost

When I arrived at Nambucca it was already heaving with fans, mostly hanging out by the merch desk and the bar. I grabbed a pint of cold lager and headed into the venue area ready for the bands to take to the stage.

First up were punk/rock and roll band We Are One from Yorkshire, consisting of twin brothers Aiden and Bud Brennan Williams, together with three other band-mates. Their performance was incredibly energetic and there was plenty of interaction with the crowd. They played a full-throttle set of original songs, and ended their set with a cover of “Killing In The Name” by Rage Against The Machine, which went down well with the crowd.

Pussyliquor (c) Katie Frost

Main support were Brighton five-piece punk band Pussyliquor. Despite being poorly, vocalist Ari still gave everything to her performance, and the whole band were really entertaining to watch, barely staying still for a moment during their entire set. They had a stand-in drummer tonight but he also did a great job in keeping up with the four feisty girls. They played a powerful set featuring tracks such as “Lady Wank”, “C.U.N.T”, “My Body My Choice” and a new song called “Buy More Shit”. By the end of their set Ari had taken off not only her jumper, but also her shoes and trousers, and was dancing around the stage in her pants, which looked incredibly liberating!

Hands Off Gretel (c) Katie Frost

At around 9:30pm Hands Off Gretel took to the stage, opening with “I Want The World” – the title track off their brand new album. In their own words, I Want The World features twelve-tracks of “hugely addictive, and sometimes vindictive, melodic rock that is unafraid to blend the heavy screeching distortion of grunge rock with the catchy hooks of bubblegum pop, whilst keeping true to their original roots in punk rock”. I hadn’t seen the band live since the release party for their previous record Burn The Beauty Queen in 2016, and it was my first time seeing them play with their new bassist Becky Baldwin (who also plays in Fury who I saw at HRH Metal last year).

The room was heaving and if the show wasn’t sold out it must have been very close. It was nearly impossible for me to slip out of my position at one side of the stage to get to the other, so apologies that the majority of my photos are all from one angle! Everyone seemed to be having a great time and the new tracks seemed to go down well with the crowd, as well as fitting in well with the band’s back-catalogue.

I Want The World is out now and available from all the usual places, including some funky-coloured vinyl and cassette options from the band’s website. Hands Off Gretel have a handful of shows lined up for the rest of 2019 – get all the details here.

Photos by Katie Frost Photography

Hands Off Gretel: official | facebook | twitter | instagram

Pussyliquor: facebooktwitter | instagram

We Are One: facebookinstagram

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