Alongside Systems Fail, Late December, and Wasted Awakening, local University of Nottingham band Gender Envy headlined The Chapel on an evening coordinated by the university's Rock Society. Ben Blissett headed down to take some photos and share his thoughts...
To start off the night, Systems Fail opened up the stage for the night and I was immediately taken aback by the complete technical talent from the instrumentals they were pulling off; playing only covers they completely aced the songs to my surprise, for an amateur band killing ‘Master Of Puppets’ by Metallica and ‘Beast And The Harlot’ by Avenged Sevenfold, was an impressive feat for such long and demanding songs. I have nothing but massive props and admiration for them.
Next up was Late December who brought their intense screamo to the packed-out crowd, with plenty of mosh pits and jumping to be had, this band’s debut performance really came to impress, the drummer was relentless, the guitarists were ruthless, and the singer caused an absolute ruckus; the screamo cover of Bad Blood by Taylor Swift was especially fun.
After that came Wasted Awakening, who for all intents and purposes killed their covers too, but different to Systems Fail they had some original material to play that really showed their death metal prowess, with some awesome guttural screams from the singer to compliment the rough, brutal riffs and drums behind them, excited to see where this band go.
Then came the headliner, Gender Envy who really showed that they’ve earned their popularity; absolutely rocking out with all their funky and hard-hitting tunes. Having never seen this band before I really think they’ve earned their status and deserve even more, their songs are fun, meaningful, and unique and its something I really appreciate, its also really admirable that they have a distinct style, but no song sounds the same.
I also must mention the best part of the show, which was the welcoming and loving atmosphere, the line-up was inclusive, emotional, and loving songs were played, there was the launch of a new magazine there and most importantly, the drummer of Gender Envy came out as a transgender woman, which was met with thunderous applause, cheers, and screams. I’ve never attended a gig that felt more like a loving family having a party; The University of Nottingham Rock Society certainly know how to put on a show.
Gender Envy performed at The Chapel on 5 October 2023.
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