What a night! For a chilly Tuesday in February, Dream Nails supported by Gaydar was just what my soul needed. Before they came up on the joyzine review sheet, I hadn’t heard of either band. I YouTubed Dream Nails, and was totally sold by ‘Vagina Police‘, so I put my name down and chant/spelled the chorus at a couple of my mates until they agreed to join me. I can’t think of a better gig I’ve been to this last decade.
The night started with a post-work pie and a pint at a nearby pub and I made the mistake of going to the gig all carbed up and too full to dance – this is the sort of music you absolutely must dance to.
Gaydar are a local queer punk band. The trio mix their energetic driving music with brilliant lyrics and humour, they had me howling when they rhymed kidney with Turkey in a song about travelling for plastic surgery. I loved their Pussy Riot style masked performance towards the end of their set. Just a total joy to watch! They had some pretty decent merch too, I appreciated the “J K Rowling is a munter” T-shirt.
In between the sets I took a few minutes to appreciate the venue, the gig space was so much fun, mostly black but with white doodle graffiti covering the walls and ceiling. This looks awesome when the colour changing lights hit it. The person behind the bar was great, fast service with a smile and a little banter, what more can you want? And if your answer is a gig venue with clean loos and toilet paper, you’ve got it at Zerox.
The main event, Dream Nails, far surpassed my expectations. Like I said, I enjoyed my little YouTube dalliance with their music enough to want to see more, but my god these guys are a blast live. They had the audience in the palm of their hand from the get go. I love a bit of audience participation, they had us singing along, chanting a mantra, and screaming “shut up” at the top of our lungs. They said as this world gets more fucked up they are going to just get weirder, weird way to convince me to hope for a third term for Trump, but okay. Their Witch Punk/Riot Grrrl music tapped into what drew me to alt music as a teenager, angry, weird, creative, fun and unpredictable. If I didn’t have work in the morning I would have booked a train to Glasgow to see them perform again. They also have very good merch! I almost bought a hat that said “do not perceive me”, what a vibe, but then I remembered I don’t have the face for hats and I was just bewitched by their effortlessly cool style. However, I did leave with a zine and a lighter, because I’m weak!
This gig was a buy one get one free of new music to be obsessed with. When the Dream Nails tour comes through your area you will be missing out on a truly fantastic experience if you don’t grab a ticket, get down the front and scream along!
Dream Nails’ UK tour continues until 1st March before heading across the channel for shows in Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and France – full dates and details here
Dream Nails: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Gaydar: Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Review by Lauren P
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