The Empty Page, Academy 3. 24th September 2026

How many Cure fans are in here tonight I wonder. A few I suspect. It’s why I’m here, after The Cure guitarist Reeves Gabrels wore the bands shirt on stage this summer, The Empty Page received some solid free promo. That alone isn’t enough though is it. A tshirt doesn’t make the band and truthfully it was more to do with the way they joyfully responded online that made me want to listen and discover some local doom-laden punk. Their album, Imploding, is a good listen, as are the more recent singles, but there’s something about them that makes me suspect it’s great live. So here we are, in a pretty chocker Academy 3 (still a great room), with a distinctly mixed crowd. Goths, punks and all brands of alternative, old and young are happily milling around, filling the space with a genuine buzz. In a fury of tribal drums and feedback they take to the stage and catch me totally off guard with some supercharged meaty indie power pop. The bass is dirty, the riffs are monsters, but there’s some serious bounce hidden amongst the venom. A lot of it is drenched in an animalistic rhythm and some very rawk riffs, but this wasn’t quite what I was expecting. They shine most when things slow down and they spread their wings a little. Having not been immediately sold, a few songs in, they do manage to grab me. It’s a very 90s sound, to which I’m predisposed, but you can’t just ape it and they do inject enough of energy to make it their own. It’s all a bit of a surprise though, less doom and more like Sleeper with a distortion pedal and zero hope for the future, ‘Big Nasty Palpitations’ being a good example of this. They’re not new by any means, but with a distinct DIY aesthetic, they’re not polished either. They’re a bit raw, a bit messy, but they lean in to it and it works, even if it doesn’t exactly ignite the crowd. There’s lots of head bobbing and gentle bouncing, but that’s really as far it goes. Well until the final few songs when some of the die hards get a bit more animated. I’d like to say that having been gripped, that I’m then totally sold, but that grip does slip. They’re fun to watch, the lad on drums is certainly putting a shift in and the front line of guitar from the dude in a battle jacket and bass/vocals from Kel, the clear focal point, is all what you’d expect from a trio like this, but I’m not blown away. I don’t want to be negative though. It’s genuine heart on sleeve stuff. It means something, this isn’t a show as much as something they have to do, a release they need, a message they carry and I’m all for that. The darker looser moments are the clear stand out for me, peppered through the set, they do keep me engaged, but on this very rare occasion, I think I might prefer this band on record. Live they’re not quite for me, but they might be for you, so don’t take my word for it. Get out and see The Empty Page. Maybe buy a tshirt.