âItâs a funny thing, rock’n’roll,â said Shame vocalist Charlie Steen during the Spinal Tap influenced opening of the band’s lockdown-induced livestream gig (filmed at Brixton Electric)Â earlier this year. âIt never dies, but it has been gone for three years. And now weâre back.â Well, not quite.
Five months after the release of âDrunk Tank Pinkâ and Shame still havenât been able to play the sort of raucous, unifying shows that their second album was clearly created to inspire. Tonight in Brighton, they get close. The first of two socially-distanced shows at Chalk, this gig is part of a 14-date tour of independent venues in cities the band havenât played before (plus Brighton, âbecause we love it hereâ). Itâs one of the more extensive tours to take place since the pandemic shut down live music.
Walking out to the âIâm A Celebâ theme tune, the band quickly bound into the snarling post-punk assault of âSnow Dayâ. Flickering between chaos and control, itâs the perfect introduction to an hour-long show that refuses to sit still. The synth led âBorn In Lutonâ is a glitching rager, â6/1â is a stomping burst of aggression and the new wave blast of âTastelessâ sees the band playing with party-starting urgency. Finally unleashed, the swaggering âAlphabetâ sounds absolutely gigantic live. Even the Britpop indebted âAngieâ â arguably the most straightforward song the band have ever written â flickers between tenderness and turmoil. The seated crowd canât help but give it a standing ovation after bellowing every single word.

âIt feels fucking good to be back,â Steen says before the thundering âMarch Dayâ. âItâs been too long but thereâs some optimism and some hopeâ.
A lot of the responsibility to make the show as entertaining as possible falls on his shoulders. An animated character who talks with his hands, tonight Steen owns the stage like a very young Iggy Pop (and not just because they both love taking their shirts off). Juggling with one microphone (more impressive than it sounds), reciting The Lordâs Prayer as fast as possible, or leading singalongs with an outstretched mic stand, he uses every party trick in his book to bridge the gap between artist and audience. However, heâs only this good because he must be. The rest of the six-piece band creates a textured, ever-shifting wall of sound thatâs just mesmerising as Steenâs antics.
While the many, many Shame shows around debut album âSongs of Praiseâ were as fast and furious as possible, their livestream hinted at something grander. Tonight, itâs impossible to avoid just how commanding the band has become.
Maybe itâs the assembly hall set-up or perhaps itâs the more dynamic songs from âDrunk Tank Pinkâ but at a time where most bands are trying to recreate a sense of normality, Shame are pushing themselves forward to create something new. Three years since that debut album, theyâve clearly had enough of waiting around.
Shame played:
âSnow Dayâ
âNigel Hitterâ
âTastelessâ
âGreat Dogâ
âAlphabetâ
â6/1â
âConcreteâ
âMarch Dayâ
âBorn In Lutonâ
âDust On Trialâ
âHarsh Degreesâ
âAngieâ
âOne Rizlaâ
âStation Wagon’
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