Reef + Kerbdog Live Review: Epic 30th Anniversary Tour at UEA LCR Norwich

27 October 2025 rocknews

The sold-out student union building at the University of East Anglia was already filling up and buzzing with excitement as I arrived for early doors and what promised to be a diverse and exciting evening of rock.

Ross Stewart

Norwich-basd Scot, Ross Stewart got things going with a solo performance of blues and folk tinged acoustic rock. The singer-songwriter seemed initially a mismatch, considering the rest of the night’s bill, but he was warmly welcomed by the crowd and went down a storm. His guitar playing was outstanding, and he has a voice that at times almost took the roof off. Stewart played tracks mainly from his latest EP, the title track of which, ‘Then Purpose’ was a standout, his voice complimenting his guitar playing beautifully.

I loved his set, and can’t wait to see more of him!

Kerbdog

We went from the sublime to the ridiculous, as Irish alternative metal veterans Kerbdog took to the stage to a fabulous response from the Norwich crowd. I expected a warm welcome as I spotted plenty of their t-shirts in the audience.

There was one cover – and what an incredible version of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Well’ we were treated to. Stewart made this classic all his own with some electrifying guitar work.

Their sound is jagged and edgy with some killer riffs courtesy of singer and guitarist Cormac Battle and guitarist Billy Dalton. The heavy and pounding rhythm was held down by Darragh Butler (drums) and bassist Colin Fennell.

Drawing on songs from their 90s albums, they went down well with the increasingly vocal crowd, with stand out track ‘End of Green’ clearly a favourite. Their short set finished with a ‘crowd selfie” and plenty of applause.

Reef

Glastonbury rockers Reef are currently out celebrating 30 years of debut album ‘Replenish’, and Norwich got a fantastic set from a band that sounds as fresh now as they ever did.

Hitting the stage with ‘Feed Me’, the set never let up as the packed LCR sang along word for word with Gary Stringer’s vocals. His voice sounded great as he strutted around the stage and had the audience in the palm of his hand. To his left, the coolest bassist in the business Jack Bessant prowled around and provided backing vocals. The band was completed by Luke Bullen on drums and the relatively new Amy Newton on guitar. It was Newton’s instantly recognisable riff that signalled the start of ‘Naked’ and another huge cheer from the audience. Those familiar songs kept coming, but it wasn’t only tunes from ‘Replenish’ that got an airing….. no Reef gig would be complete without the 1996 hit ‘Place Your Hands’ – and what a rendition it was. It saw the crowd in full voice and for a song I suppose they are expected to play the band were clearly having a ball with it.

This show in Norwich was right at the beginning of this tour, and Reef will play across the UK until mid-November. If tonight was anything to go by the rest of the country is in for a huge treat from a band who can still blow the lid off any venue they play! Go and see them if you can!