{"id":300136,"date":"2025-07-29T03:17:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T03:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/300136\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T03:17:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T03:17:29","slug":"panic-shack-rough-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/300136\/","title":{"rendered":"Panic Shack @ Rough Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Julia Mullins<\/strong>, Co Editor-in-Chief<\/p>\n

Fuelled by caffeine rather than booze thanks to the 13:00 start time, we wait patiently as the crowd filters in: a mix of committed old punks and a handful of schoolgirls with their mums. In the windowless back room of Rough Trade, the band make their way on stage and jest that they\u2019ve lost track of time. It\u2019s midday, but when \u2018Girl Band Starter Pack\u2019 kicks in, I\u2019m jumping with the abandon of someone who\u2019s two tequilas down and it might as well be 9pm.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cardiff-based band features\u00a0Sarah Harvey, Meg Fretwell, Romi Lawrence, Em Smith,\u00a0and drummer Nick Doherty-Williams.\u00a0Currently charting in the top 40, the band played through the new album, which was recorded here in Bristol. Lead singer Sarah Harvey hilariously messed up the setlist \u2014 promptly corrected by her bandmates, who put it down to champagne consumption from their release party the night before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"‘Panic Shack polaroids’ | Epigram \/ Harvey Belchamber<\/p>\n

The album tackles both hard-hitting political topics and light-hearted social commentary with relatable lyricism. Sometimes too relatable. \u2018Gok Wan\u2019, a song about diet culture and disordered eating regurgitates the well-known line that \u2018nothing tastes as good as skinny feels,\u2019 singing with conviction, \u2018I learnt this from you Mum, I must be doing fine.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Similarly, \u2018SMELLARAT\u2019\u00a0takes aim at the kind of guy who shows up uninvited and has an endless ability to ruin a good time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luckily, the audience was certifiably \u2018rat-free\u2019 and felt like a safe haven. During the song \u2018Pockets\u2019 \u2014 an anthem about the travesty of justice that women\u2019s clothing is \u2014 I made eye contact with a man who must\u2019ve been in his fifties and we both enthusiastically shouted the lyrics: \u2018VAPE, PHONE, KEYS, LIPGLOSS!\u2019 He counted out the list in the air with his fingers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The crowd at a midday gig is something truly heartwarming. The young kids in attendance wouldn\u2019t normally be allowed into the late-night venues Panic Shack play at. It was sweet to watch them experience what might become unforgettable first experiences of live punk music.<\/p>\n

\"\"‘Panic Shack polaroids’ | Epigram \/ Harvey Belchamber<\/p>\n

While there wasn\u2019t quite the level of moshing Panic Shack are accustomed to, for fear of crushing one of the aforementioned 11-year-olds, that didn\u2019t stop the girls on stage. <\/p>\n

Like their performance, the songs themselves are frantic and high energy \u2014 and would wear a thong and fishnets if they could. The setlist feels like all the ingredients of a night out: someone invited the guy we all hate, your mate\u2019s alter ego rears its head, and \u2018she has definitely taken something.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

After singing along to \u2018Thelma and Louise\u2019, a tribute to platonic love and the perfect ending to both the album and the gig, you can tell this band are truly loving playing together. The perfect analogy of their touring life, \u2018Sack it all off and go on the run.’<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Review: Magdalena Bay @ Electric<\/p>\n

The Imaginal Mystery Tour brings together synth majesty and cosmic existentialism in equal measure.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We walked out of the venue, stunned to see broad daylight. As we left, my flatmate remarked that the drummer, Nick Doherty-Williams, reminded her of \u2018the guy from Derry Girls.\u2019\u00a0A comparison I hope he knows is a hefty compliment. The girls stole the show and that was the point. Panic Shack impressed with witty, empowering punk and made me a convert to midday gigs.<\/p>\n

Their next gig in Bristol is on the 12th of October at Electric Bristol. Start time is 19:00, so prepare for a riot.\u00a0I hope to see you there.<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Epigram \/ Harvey Belchamber<\/p>\n

Have you ever been to a midday gig?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Julia Mullins, Co Editor-in-Chief Fuelled by caffeine rather than booze thanks to the 13:00 start time, we…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-300136","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114934359772157009","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}