Live Review: BillyBio at The New Cross Inn, London (30/01/19)

There is something so old-school about a group of hardcore bands gathering at a small pub venue in the southeast of London on a Wednesday night to tear the place a new one. Each band bringing their own brand of hardcore heaviness with a legendary headliner in BillyBio (Billy Graziadei of Biohazard/Powerflo).

Hardcore hasn’t always been a favourite of mine but over the last few years it has found a special place in my heart as the sound evolved and more bands found ways to reinvent it. At the New Cross Inn we saw the best and the worst of hardcore in one night. The best being the actual bands and the worst being a select number of ‘fans’.

So let’s get this out of the way at the start so we can forget about it and move on from the cretins that saw fit to show of their crap kung-fu moves during some of the earlier bands. I’m talking about swinging their arms like crazy, spin-kicking and purposely trying to hurt people. It was sickening to watch and there is no excuse for this. Don’t tell me it’s how ‘hardcore’ is when four people are lining up to take it in turns to be a twat.

As for the bands themselves? Discourage this shit. What would you prefer? A pit full of happy, head-banging people or a huge empty expanse at the front so one guy can audition for meathead number 2 in a crap marital arts movie? I’d say this to the first three bands that took to the stage…compare your audience to the audience later. Who had more fun?

Anyway enough of that as it’s a hell of a night with every single band bringing their A-game and delivering a bruising and deafening set. Last Orders, Street Solider, Idle Hands and Cutthroat give it their all and are impressive in their own hardcore way. Simply put there wasn’t a bad performance from any of them. Each made a strong case for being band of the night but when it came down to it, nobody was touching BillyBio.

Most famous for being an integral part of the legendary hardcore/punk band Biohazard and most recently crossover band. Powerflo. Bill Graziadei released is debut solo record, Feed the Fire last November. An excellent album, you can read our review of it here and listen to an interview with the man below.

Promising a night of BillyBio tracks, choice cuts from the Biohazard back catalogue and even the odd Powerflo song, Billy more than delivers on his promise. It’s the Biohazard stuff that really gets the crowd moving but it is the BillyBio stuff that really stands out. An intensely energetic set that goes well beyond its scheduled finish time, Freedom’s Never Free, Sick and Tired, Untruth and the title track of the album absolutely slay.

The man is intensity personified but with a really upbeat and positive edge that has everyone grinning from ear to ear. The stage might be small but he commands it like a pro and even his ‘Justin Bieber mic’ story gets a good laugh.

By time its over, every single person is spent but satisfied. Every single band on the bill deserves credit for really going all out to impress and impress they did.