Tonight was one of those ‘pinch me’ moments, having seen Skindred entertain the masses at Download Festival and Sonisphere Festival in the past, it was a rare treat to see them performing at a much more intimate venue such as The Foundry in Torquay which isn’t that far from Benji Webb’s beloved Newport in Welsh Wales. The audience knew they were in for a treat with gig-goers travelling in from the far corners of Devon and Cornwall to be in the English Riviera for what promised to be a kick-ass show.

Up first was Scotland’s very own North Atlas, who couldn’t have been any further than home if they tried but that didn’t stop them. The foursome from Glasgow includes brothers Leon and Cam Hunter with Drew Leslie and Kai Cariney who all wore black around the visible parts of their bodies on the small Foundry stage to give an organic, ‘foresty’ feel to the venue. You would have been forgiven to think that North Atlas are a long-established unit, with the quality of their latest EP release, ‘The Longest Shadow Attached to the Ankle’ but these guys are still very much in their infancy. Once they broke cover, the audience didn’t take long to warm up and sing along at a very fast-filling Foundry.

After what felt like an eternity, Blackgold entered stage left, a quintet of mask-wearing unknowns showcasing a nu-metal get-up of gold and black outfits, except the guitarist who didn’t look out of place for Torquay in his yellow, white and blue jacket! Imagine a mixture of old-skool Slipknot meets House of Pain with a mixture of Cyprus Hill, and you’re almost there. There isn’t a lot of information on the band, but I can say that Blackgold have been supporting Skindred for all of their UK tours. Now I have your attention, the setlist included bangers such as ‘Another Level’, ‘Old School Sound’, ‘I ain’t Goin’ out Like That’ and their set finished up with ‘Boogeyman’.

Now, with everyone suitably warmed up and packed into a very bijou environment, it was time to welcome Skindred to the stage!

Sporting his famous spiked sunglasses and leather jacket, Benji grabs the black Union flag and blasts straight into ‘Set Fazers’ from their latest long player Smile with the venue exploding with energy. the whole of the lower floor was a jumping mass and even this reviewer, stood on the balcony was finding it hard to resist the urge to bounce along too!

If you are a newcomer to Skindred, where have you been for the last 23 years? The band is made up of Benji Webb (vocals), Dan Pugsley (Bass), Mikey Demus (Guitar) and Arya Goggin (Drums). We did enjoy seeing Arya’s shocked looking face plastered over his bass drum - a nice touch of customisation.

After a short pause to get your breath, they launched straight into a classic with ‘Pressure’ followed by ‘Rat Race’, the sweat now pouring off everyone but the huge smiles on their faces more than make up for it. Benji talks to the audience about unity and coming together plus the pressures from the pandemic before breaking into ‘World’s on Fire’. It’s great to see how Benji toys with the audience, making the left side compete with the right side of the room during “Whoooo” and “That’s My Jam”. After ‘That’s My Jam’, Arthur Brown's intro track was blasted around the venue for ‘Ninja’.

Hit after hit, ‘Jump’ with a sprinkle of ‘Jump Around’, then a 2023 huge hit, ‘L.O.V.E.’ and one of my personal favourites ‘If I could’, (check out the Ward XII cover when you get a chance too!

The time came to sing along with Benji with our fists in the air, chanting along to ‘Kill The Power’ before slowing down to an acoustic version of ‘Life That’s Free’ with Mikey D and Benji. Next up was ‘Nobody’, which has come around again since the TikTok sensation where Benji and Co enjoyed success due to certain influencers discovering the Skindred sound before they drew things to a close with the timeless ‘Gimme That Boom’.

The heat was set to high for everyone in thevenue, Skindred returned to the stage to perform ‘Our Religion’ before the last song of the night. You could tell it was coming, lots of men whipping off their shirts in preparation, including this reviewer and I must add that it was nice to get some air to the pits! We were making preparations for take off with the Newport helicopter in Torbay! Bang! straight into ‘Warning’ from Union Black with the lead singer of Blackgold taking the role of Jacoby Shaddix for the rap part and chorus.

What a gig, the chatter since the gig has been massive for Torquay and The Foundry has done a fantastic job bringing Skindred to Devon.

This has warmed me up nicely and I personally cannot wait to cover Burn It Down Festival in August!

Review by Pete Jones

Photos by Pete Jones, Phil Sleep & Luke Evans for Live Sound Promotions