DITZ / Knives, Yes Pink Room. 1st April 2025

I might be tired, I nearly came to the wrong venue. That’s not happened for a while, but once safely inside Yes, I find I’ve still managed to get in early enough to catch Knives. I know sod all about them but both  the singer and guitarist are wearing Man City shirts, so that’s an instant plus. The bassist has superb hair too. I don’t often comment on bands appearances but they look great. How do they sound? Fucking loud, fast, somewhere between Atari Teenage Riot and RATM, but with a saxophone and rawness that bleeds out the speakers. They’re bloody good fun to watch, with 6 of them on stage though, the space up there is a bit limited, but it doesn’t stop the high kicks and general jumping around like lunatics. I’m knackered just watching them, at this rate I’ll be forgetting where I live too. They’re pretty heavy, but there’s a spring in their step. They’re a frenzy of power punk energy and it’s infectious, easily pulling the crowd in. Even the guy stood next to me in the sensible shirt/jumper combo who looks about 80! Is he a family member or just likes ear bludgeoning bands. Hopefully the later.

After a short break, DITZ take the stage and if Knives were loud, fucking hell, this lot are deadly! The opening songs are all from their new second record, which is brilliant… like the first. It’s not often you get a pit in Yes, especially a full on one, but it goes nuts for ‘V70’. Then the crowd surfing starts on ‘Taxi Man’. We’ve only just started, but the glorious chaos is instant. DITZ though are tight. Big riffs, dirty bass, brutal drums. They’re like IDLES but with the polish rubbed off. ‘Smells Like Something Died In Here’ adds a bit of pace variation, but up to now they’ve been fast and fucking furious. With the pit raging, singer Cal somewhere at the back of the room and the band swamped in venomous synths, ‘Teeth’ is laced with terrifying fury. There’s no focus, in the best possible way. You don’t know where to look, it doesn’t matter, it’s beautiful in every direction. ‘I Am Kate Moss’ is visceral and ‘The Body as a Structure’ is phenomenal. I think I was expecting a fairly formulaic gig. Don’t get me wrong, I love their records, but having not seen them live before, I’d made an assumption of what they’d be like and it wasn’t this dangerous. They’re genuinely exciting and I say this as someone who goes to a lot of gigs and is probably unfairly hard to please. ‘Ded Wurst’ takes things up another notch and old favourite ‘Seeking Arrangement’ is incredibly even better. Come the finale with ‘No Thanks, I’m Full’ thats full of false ends, looped feedback and unhinged euphoria, everyone looks utterly destroyed. Teenagers gasping for air between wide smiles. While the octogenarian looks both pleased to have survived and very impressed. He’s certainly not asleep and after a weary start to the evening, I’m now wide awake. It’s a stunning set from a stunning band that need to be seen live. They say this is the best gig they’ve played in Manchester so far. I’ll definitely be at the next one!