GIG REVIEW: Skin On Skin Brought The Heat To The Triffid
Words by Bailey Marton
A raucous sold out Triffid played host to the first leg of Skin On Skin's ‘Home, Sweet Home’ tour. Coming off the back of a successful stint in Europe highlighted by an absolutely iconic Boiler Room debut at AVAfestival in Belfast that has taken the Internet by storm, this show already had all the hallmarks of being one for the ages well before the first disc had been jockeyed for the night.
In a night full of hometown heroes, the Meanjin based Scalymoth and Romiindahouse got the party started with their bouncy ghetto tech and house vibes, setting the tone nicely for what was to come.
But it wasn’t long until attentions turned to the main event, and when lights dimmed the ‘SOS’ chants came thundering from back to front of a mosh brimming with anticipation. As the main man walked on stage to a deafening roar from the crowd with a huge smile on his face and donning a fur hat that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Tyler, The Creator, you could sense something big was brewing in the air. With the lights still dark and the fog machine kicking into high gear, the intro track rumbles through the speakers to a round of cheers from the crowd, which quickly turned into yet another roar as the bass kicks in and pops of greens, golds, and purples from the striking lights show fill the theatre.
Photo by Jack Ridsdale
From the word go Skin On Skin had the crowd on a string, effortlessly mixing tracks together like a conductor to a screaming, sweaty orchestra of fans. His intro track flowed into an unreleased banger from his famous Boiler set followed by another fan favourite from that set dubbed ‘eye for an eye’ which really shot the night into a new dimension. If the sweat wasn’t flowing off the back of an awesome Romiindahouse set, it was now.
Every mix and every new track brought a new groove to the night, with SOS’s heavy UK grime styled sampling adding some fire and aggression into the boisterous moshpit, every new drop brought a fresh wave of ‘ay ay ay’s’ from the SOS faithful who were up for a proper party on this Tuesday night. With a strong smell of oui’d and various fruity vapes wafting through the domed Triffid theatre, ‘Don’t Fuck Around’, SOS and fellow Meanjin DJ’s XCLUB’s star track from their 2022 ep ‘Everything Comes True’ came bellowing through the speakers, met this time not so much with cheers, but with angry singing (or shouting) of lyrics.
Photo by Jack Ridsdale
Despite putting on a strong show already, Skin On Skin capped the night off with three more fan favourites, his energetic remix of UK Grime legends Skepta and JME’s iconic ‘That’s not me’, leading into a quick interlude in which he grabs the mics and shouts “This one’s for the gang” before absolutely blowing the roof off the Triffid with his new ‘For Tha Shot’ and his final track ‘Violent Siblings’ that had every single soul in that mosh screaming the words to that catchy, aggressive hook.
After finishing with ‘J’adore’ by jamesjamesjames, and some ‘we want Skin’ chants from a crowd pleading for one more song, the event had to come to close, but not before some heartfelt words from Skin On Skin, showing love to his hometown crowd while they hung on to every word, showing their appreciation for a Tuesday night to remember with cheers and whoops coming from every corner. Then just as quick has he came, he was gone, but as the masses shuffled out not a single shirt was dry and not a single smile was missing on the faces of people who had just watched their king for the night tear down the Triffid stage and give us a show that truly was one for the ages.