Old Blue Last, London, 12th July

The Old Blue Last is normally a venue more associated with the skinny jeans and leather jacket brigade of London’s trendy Shoreditch, but on this particular Saturday the place played host to a collection of UK hardcore bands all determined to leave their mark on what is slowly becoming the holy grail of East London venues. XYZ’s Carlsson braved the urine-stained streets of Hackney and went to check it out. Despite sharing a bill with the likes of SSS and Cold Ones, London’s The Dirty Money made the night theirs with a frantic show embodied by the energy of frontman Graham who spent the entire gig jumping around with the audience on the floor in front of the tiny stage.

Hot on the heels of their 2007 ‘No Escaping This’ 7 inch, The Dirty Money play New York-inspired hardcore with a UK slant that has not gone unnoticed on either side of the Atlantic. Having just finished playing several gigs on the continent, the band was well-honed and the set was faultless and frenetic from start to finish. Guitarists Mark and Rob led the sweaty crowd into their world of hardcore riffage, complemented by the pounding rhythm section of drummer Seb and bassist Anthony Dearlove, the latter of whom left the band after the show. I’ve since been assured by Rob that Dearlove “left on good terms… we all love him”.

The Old Blue Last is a great venue for intimate, in-your-face type gigs, and this was definitely one such show. By the time The Dirty Money took to the stage, the excitement in the crowd was noticeable and a few people burst into windmills by the opening chord of eponymous track ‘Dirty Money’. As well as blasting through favourites such as ‘Mind In Pieces’, ‘Dead Mans Shoes’ and ‘No One’, they also treated the crowd to new tracks from a forthcoming split 7”, of which ‘2007 Was A Bad Year’ was especially noteworthy. In between songs Graham mused on society and touched on such light subjects as the failings of a criminal justice system that jails graffiti artists for four years but allows knife criminals to walk after 18 months… Then again, this was a hardcore gig and some kind of social commentary was inevitable.

Hardcore clichés aside, The Dirty Money are a brilliant live act and a great bunch of people whose slow but steady rise to prominence is a reflection of their desire to keep UK hardcore alive and kicking in the 21st century.

Words by Carlsson
Photographs by Joost Lafebre