Gig Review - Gaffa Tape Sandy // prom // Had Sandy

The Black Heart, Camden - 17 February, 2026

You don’t expect to be in a jam-packed room at The Black Heart in Camden watching one of the best full bills you’ve seen in a long while on a nondescript February Tuesday night. But that’s what happened when The Season puts on a Brighton-brimming lineup of three completely different bands. For the uninitiated, The Season is the latest iteration of early-year gig festivals from the folks behind InFireworks gigs, with the promise of putting on some of the best up-and-coming bands from around the country at a time of the year when venues are astonishingly empty. It’s a huge effort, with 22 artists across 9 venues over 4 weeks. I’m pretty sure Braden and the team don’t sleep post-Christmas until the daffodils start flowering.

Anyway, back to the gig. Brighton’s Had Sandy kick off proceedings with a brand of grunge-infused emo that hits the spot. The venue is already over half full, and Had Sandy’s tight, crunchy-yet-sparkly sound quickly wins the crowd over. Singer, Jude Allenby’s vocals soar over the room (props to the sound person, by the way. It’s one of the best I’ve heard at a small venue), with the bass, synth and drums slotting in beautifully to support. It also didn’t hurt that they had Brighton’s resident hype man, prom’s Alessandro, front and centre in the crowd, screaming along and dancing with an enthusiasm I could never muster on a cold Tuesday (anyone who has been to a Brighton gig has probably met Alessandro. He’s an absolute bundle of joy and reps hard for every single band in the scene). This is the third time I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Had Sandy, and every time I see them, they get tighter and hit harder. I’m terrified of how good they’ll be next time.

Speaking of prom, Brighton’s emocore trio were up next. The three-piece infuses a kind of nineties hard rock with traditional emocore that sounds like if Title Fight and Deftones had a baby. After an extended bit about whether they have 3 or 4 minutes for a wee before starting, they fly through their set with blistering and infectious energy. I don’t know, maybe thinking you might piss yourself for half an hour can have that effect? Whatever it was, they don’t quit with the heavy riffs in a way that leaves you gasping for air for the whole set. One of the things I love about prom is Sam Allen’s vocals paired with Alessandro’s screams. In a lot of emo bands, you’d have soaring up-an-octave belting, but Sam’s slacker-sounding vocals sound so fresh in comparison to the norm. It lends a different dynamic to prom’s sound, which makes them one of my favourite emo bands in the UK DIY scene today. I can only apologise to Allesandro that Camden didn’t come through with his requests for everyone to stage dive. London crowds, right?

Finally, it was time for tonight’s headliners, Brighton’s Gaffa Tape Sandy. Considering the emo-leanings of the rest of the lineup, I thought it was odd that you’d pair them with a slightly indie-leaning garage-punk band. But from the opening screams from frontman Kim Jarvis, the room was electric and it makes absolute sense. It’s been almost ten years since the last time I saw the band, and I forgot how fucking great they are live. They’re a hard band to pin down, though. It’s like if Los Campesinos listened to more Ween, PoUSA, and Bikini Kill. Then again, there are parts of the set that feel as if The B-52s discovered distortion pedals. Then, in a heartbeat, it almost swerves into Black Keys territory. I’ll stop trying to compare them now, because there’s no point. Gaffa Tape Sandy plays the kind of infectious garage punk that gets you moving. They’ve been playing for over ten years across the scene, and have built up a good fanbase, and haven’t faltered the entire time. They move through the set, hitting banger after banger out of the park, and the audience bounce along the entire time. Early on in the set, Kim jokingly remarks, “Oasis never sold out a gig on Pancake Day. So we must be more famous and more better than Oasis.” More famous, probably not. But they fucking should be.