Rowan Bruce
Although South Wales “evilcore” crew Slighted Hand have crossed the border to be with us tonight they’re no strangers to Exchange, having opened things up for rising punk stars Knives in the venue’s basement back in May. Having already shared stages with acts like [BRICK] and Denial Of Life, Slighted Hand’s first year together has certainly been an eventful one.
Walking on stage to a group of violent moshers, Slighted Hand live up to their evilcore moniker with downtuned, dissonant guitars and fierce vocals. A highlight of their set is the track ‘Skill Issue’ which adds blast beats and screeching vocals backed by cutting bass and chugging distorted guitar riffs into their signature sound. While they may be the newcomers to the Bristol scene this four-piece have a bright future ahead of them.
With a debut EP Feel The Cold on the way this Friday, a spot at this year’s Burn It Down and live dates with Misgendered, Hour Of Reprisal and Rifle, the name Circumvent is on the lips of many a hardcore connoisseur. Despite being less than a year old, the five-piece take to the stage with the power and confidence of a far more experienced band, riling the venue up into a moshing, two-stepping frenzy.
With the house lights on to give both the band and audience nowhere to hide, Circumvent open with a tribute to the late great Dolly Parton before launching into a set full of bouncy, modern hardcore with a hip-hop flair. Unleashing the title track from their upcoming EP ‘Feel The Cold’ with an emotional speech about not only checking in on your mates but stepping up when they’re in a bad situation, Circumvent establish themselves as a unique act to keep an eye on in the UK’s hardcore underground.
A last minute addition to tonight’s proceedings, replacing German hardcore greats DEFIANCE HC, Perp Walk have quietly become darlings of the south-west’s loudest scene. Supporting acts like Fucked Up and High Vis as well as appearing on practically every hardcore friendly stage in the area, touring Canada with Bad Egg and releasing a number of highly acclaimed EPs, Perp Walk are the biggest band that only your coolest friend in cargo shorts has heard of.
Representing a refreshingly old-school corner of the chain-punk and hardcore world, Perp Walk kick, stomp and scream through their twenty five minute long set without taking a moment to breathe in between heavy hitters like ‘Demagogue’ and ‘Kingmaker’. While so many acts rush to push hardcore into new territory in an attempt to stay fresh it’s actually quite exciting to see a band embrace the genre’s roots without sounding like an outdated relic.
Travelling all the way from Buffalo, New York to Bristol’s Exchange, SPACED bring one of the east coast’s finest modern hardcore exports to the south-west off the back of their 2025 EP ‘No Escape’. While main support DEFIANCE HC have had to drop off the tour due to illness, SPACED manage to bring enough stomping, two-stepping hardcore energy to more than make up for their absence.
Filling a night in their extremely busy 2026 touring schedule alongside dates with Boston Manor, Spy, Sweet Pill and Dry Socket, SPACED take to the stage of the packed Exchange with frontwoman Lexi McCormick-Reyngoudt’s electric energy immediately setting the crowd alight. Opening with ‘Cause And Effect’, SPACED make it clear that their shows are a space to dance, shout and let off a little steam without the fear of getting stomped by some meathead hardcore bro.
Through all the distorted riffs and angry screams there’s a unique sense of joy permeating SPACED’s live set with the band outright rejecting the insecure machismo that infects the genre’s more mainstream spaces without feeling like tourists to the scene. On tracks like ‘Pressure’ Lexi grins and two-steps through, clearly having the time of her life in the city that once saw the band’s first ever overseas show. Closing out the night on ‘Landslide’, SPACED deliver an exhilarating twenty five minute set that leaves even the grumpiest Terror hoodie wearing hardcore dude grinning ear to ear as they two-step their way out of the crowded Exchange.
