2025 couldn’t have kicked with a bigger bang! Neck Deep was just the antidote for the impending monotony of January. Shaking the crowd out of a midweek malaise, please welcome…
NECK DEEP
The five-piece from Wrexham have an admittedly tumultuous relationship with Nottingham; however, cultivating a mass following quickly quells any former beef or skepticism for their sold-out return to Rock City.
Don’t be shy and take One Step Closer, for the band themselves are anything but that! Our first opener for the night demands more than just your attention, and we’re constantly being barraged for more energy, more crowd surfers, and more pits. Stomping into Blur My Memory, vocalist Ryan Savitski physically lives up that motif as he spins and screams his way around the stage. Charming.
It’s incredible to see the venue near capacity so early into the night. A sold-out stampede of Vans Old Skools against our floorboards for an opening act brings testament to the live circuit, and you’d be forgiven for thinking Pennsylvanian outfit The Wonder Years were the main attraction. They took our headliners on their first ever pop-punk tour back in 2013, and the gratitude for the returned favour is present in their grins. “We’ve essentially grown up with this band too, and we cannot tell you how much it means to us to be here!” Frontman Dan Campbell beams throughout. The Wonder Years close as they always do with Came Out Swinging, and they sure did give Nottingham a night to remember.
With their name emblazoned in balloons against a brick backdrop, evoking that of a grafitti tag, enter Neck Deep. A flash of pyrotechnics and we’re relentlessly thrown into the first five songs from last year’s self-titled album. What could be jarring to a casual fan is still well received, perhaps helped by onstage theatrics in the form of a blast of white confetti during opener Dumbstruck Dumbf**k. Given that the guitarists either side of him are without microphones, there may be no one to bounce off vocally, but that doesn’t stop the band careening around each other meticulously in full punk prowess fashion. Take Me With You has Ben Barlow embodying Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge in regards to his belief in aliens, and it’s not the first time they reference the band.
“You’ve come in here swinging but we need you singing – prove to us that you know all the deep cuts!”
The Beach is for Lovers (Not Lonely Losers) and I Revolve (Around You) have clap-alongs aplenty, whilst the first attempt of a circle pit arises for Motion Sickness. The band perform their own digestible version of a sometimes polarising genre, helped in turn by anthemic guitar riffs and pounding drum fills, and it’s a gratitude that the band and audience synchronise themselves into. Barlow says: “To be the arm around your shoulder or the soundtrack to your best years, that’s a better achievement than any accolade or award.”
We are really pleased to see the band making space for women to safely enjoy that delicious mayhem at the front. She’s A God called for an all-female mosh pit, and it certainly rivalled all other pits of the show in its raucousness. After classic December, that peek-a-boo-esque interval had the crowd forgoing the typical “One more song!” to decry “F**k Neck Deep!”. It seemed to do the trick just as well. They come back with a mighty encore spanning four belters, and even make time to thank everyone, and we mean everyone – from crew to bar staff, and security, the lot.
NECK DEEP PERFORMED WEDNESDAY 29TH JANUARY
WORDS: TALIA ROBINSON
ROCK CITY NOTTINGHAM
We’re not only Nottingham’s favourite venue and nightclub – we’re the UK’s best live venue with a rich history of performers that have played here. Thank you to Neck Deep for their return to the stage!
Also while you’re at it, why not check out our gig guide and see if any other of your favourite artists like Neck Deep are playing soon! We also have our club nights on a Thursday (Tuned), Friday (Get Lucky) and Saturday (Rebel Rebel) so check those out too!
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