Live Review: SOiL with (hed) PE and Nonpoint at The Electric Ballroom, Camden, London (06/11/24)

It’s a sold-out night in the Electric Ballroom in Camden as the years are rolled back to the late 90s and early 00s when nu-metal was king, and the likes of SOiL, (hed) PE, Nonpoint, and The Union Underground ruled the world. A period in time where each saw huge success and each ensured their legacy would be long lasting.

In the case of headliner SOiL, it’s because of their most commercially successful album, ‘Scars’ and, in particular, the smash-hit single, ‘Halo’. I was 17 years old when this album was released and for years, there wasn’t rock or metal club that I went too that didn’t have ‘Halo’ on regular rotation as part of the night’s soundtrack. Hell, when I got married my partner and I had a selection of rock and metal party anthems from our youth playing during the late-night revelry, and ‘Halo’ went down a treat. It is an anthem for a certain age group and that age group, alongside so many more, has helped make this a sellout show (and tour with many other dates selling out too).

Tonight, it is all about Scars too as it features SOiL performing songs exclusively from that album. So, not just the first time they’ve played the UK since 2019, but the first time they have played an ‘All Scars’ set.

Before that though, there’s many a band to let loose to first, and I arrived at the venue in time to catch the latter half of Nonpoint. Unfortunately, this meant I missed The Union Underground and Nonpoint (apparently) doing a Drake cover the second song in. An odd choice, but based off the crowd’s vibe for this band, I reckon it went down well.

I do witness a bouncing crowd fully getting into Dodge Your Destiny, plenty of heads being banged for Ruthless, and a sea of ‘guns’ in the air for Bullet for A Name, though. These are strong Nonpoint songs and while nothing they do is particularly inspiring, they are connecting well with the Camden crowd and leave the stage with roars with approval ringing out.

Speaking of connecting with a crowd though. (hed) PE almost steal the entire show with their lovable brand of reggae-infused metal and punk. This, following a bit of a delay as the bass isn’t working, is a great showing from the band and proof again that when a band looks like they’re enjoying themselves it becomes infectious. The smell of sweat is beginning to get thicker inside the Ballroom and it’s all thanks to (hed) PE and tracks like Rat Race, Peer Pressure, Let’s Ride, and Renegade. It turns out that metallers, of all ages, can dance to funky tunes as well as head bang.

Which does result in my favourite moment of their set… the sight of a big pit opening during a drawn out section of Renegade. It looks like it’s going to be chaos, and the band drag it out, but then get funky with a disco beat. Which sees a bunch of sweaty head-bangers sort of bump into each other, and then not quite know what to do. It’s hilarious, but happily for them and all who want to go a bit nuts, they get the chance shortly afterwards. (hed) PE delivered and I genuinely wondered how SOiL could top the fun of their set.

Even more so as a ‘Scars’ in full show meant some of the deeper cuts are played and honestly, it’s not a wall-to-wall banger of an album. Thankfully, even the less interesting tracks of the album sound so much more powerful live, and SOiL deliver the songs with such tightness, it does feel like the years have been well and truly rolled back.

From the moment Breaking Me Down kicks the show off, the floor of the Ballroom is carnage and vocalist Ryan McCombs is the ringmaster of it all. He sounds fantastic, somehow sounding as strong as he did decades before, but having more nuances to his style that could only ever come from age and experience. A lot of the time he doesn’t have to do much singing anyway as a rabid crowd is in a constant state or rapture and singing along with just about everything.

For many, this is like hanging out with an old friend, something confirmed when Ryan asks how many people are long time listeners, and a lot of arms go up and voices shout out. However, it is notable the amount of younger folks who are in the crowd too, some who look like they weren’t even born the year Scars came out. Which speaks volumes about the everlasting appeal of SOiL.

Which sure makes a hell of a lot of sense when Need to Feel, Understanding Me, Two Skins, and The One are just some of the hits aired tonight. Although the way the majority of people react inside this venue, every song is a hit, and Ryan expresses his gratitude a couple of times, also pointing out that the UK just gets them.

Maybe that’s what tempted him to get into the crowd for the finale of Halo. Yes, you’ve read that right. He came down to the floor and sang in the crowd for the entire song. It is insane and so much fun, evident by the grins on the faces of those closest to him.

How do you wrap it all up though, encore-wise? Come out and cover Lead Belly’s Black Betty. I’d make a comment about that being an odd thing, expect a lot of people are loving it, and that’s awesome to see. Before sending everyone home happy with Pride from Redefine.

It doesn’t matter, they could have played anything or nothing, and this crowd would have been happy. I am, and I’m not a big SOiL fan by any stretch. A great set delivered with aplomb and good support bands, what more could I or anyone possibly want?