Electrifying Entrances: Skindred’s Ragga Metal Reign at Wembley

March 19, 2024 rocknews

Everything Unfolds

A thrilling night of rock awaited us in North West London. There was a fabulous buzz in the air as a diverse mix of rockers poured into Wembley Arena ready for an early start, as High Wycombe metallers As Everything Unfolds took to the huge stage and an already sizeable crowd at 7pm.

They received a warm reception and their own brand of metal went down well. Their 7 song set lasted around half an hour and came mostly from last year’s ‘Ultraviolet’.

Finishing with ‘From the Inside’, vocalist Charlie Rolfe made reference to her watching My Chemical Romance in this venue just 12 years earlier and wanting to be on the stage. And here she was – an inspiration to all aspiring performers.

P.O.D

Next up were Californian Nu Metal legends P.O.D, and they’d brought a lot of fans!

Coming on to a huge roar from the crowd, they gave it their all and put on a fabulous show. Opening with ‘Drop’, vocalist and force of nature Sonny Sandoval jumped, moshed and flew around the stage while bassist Traa Daniels and drummer Alex Lopez locked in the rhythm and Marcos Curiel provided that familiar chugging guitar.

P.O.D are a well-oiled machine and knew exactly what to give their fans. 2001’s ‘Satellite’ dominated the set with 4 of the 9 tunes coming from the album. ‘Boom’, ‘Soundboy Killa’ and ‘Afraid to Die’ were standout moments for us, and had the crowd singing, fist pumping and surfing.

They closed with ‘Alive’, again from ‘Satellite’ and we were left with the sound of the audience singing the chorus a-Capella with Sandoval.

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Skindred

Intro music can make or break a show. A lot of bands these days don’t really use it as something integral to their performance.

The Pogues used to come on to The Clash’s ‘Straight to Hell’. When the lights went down and those familiar chords rang out everybody there knew the performance has started. It built an atmosphere. Skindred took a similar approach. The Wembley lights dimmed and all that could be heard was Angus Young’s guitar as the instantly recognisable ‘Thunderstruck’ blasted out of the PA. Before we knew it the whole crowd had their fists in the air and were chanting “THUNDER” in time with the song. It really set the atmosphere and as the tune finished they appeared – drummer Arya Goggin sat high on a riser while guitarist Mikey Demus and bassist Daniel Pugsley flanked the stage. The backdrop – a giant painting of a Jamaican sound system – was revealed and vocalist Genji Webbe came on waving a giant Union Flag to the strains of the Imperial March from Star Wars.

And we were off……

The welsh foursome put on a stunning display of what they have termed “Ragga Metal”, complimented by a spectacular light and laser show, the beams skimming the heads of the audience and painting patterns on the back wall of the Arena.

Unsurprisingly, we were treated to a significant chunk of the set from last years awesome ‘Smile’ album, with ‘Set Fazers’ opening the set and setting the tone – complete with spectacular confetti cannons! ‘Pressure’ from debut album ‘Babylon’ was next and they cheekily wove in another nod to AC/DC with a snippet of the ‘Back in Black’ riff.

The set continued in this fashion, and the Wembley crowd were lapping it up. ‘World’s on Fire’ was followed by a brilliant ‘That’s My Jam’, which featured yet more snippets of other tracks and showed off the band’s influences. Weaved into the track were ‘Jump’, ‘Jump Around’ and – to everyone’s delight – the Proclaimers’ ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’.

The main set finished with ‘Gimme That Boom’, again from ‘Smile’ before the roar of the crowd brought them back on for a well-deserved encore of ‘Our Religion’ and 2011’s ‘Warning’.

The lights went up and the Arena began to empty of tired but satisfied fans.

Skindred head to Australia and New Zealand now, before returning to Europe to play Pinkpop in the Netherlands in June, and then to the UK where they play in Bristol on 22nd June and at Steakhouse Festival at the end of July.