Gig Review: Sprints At The 100 Club

Sprints turn the 100 Club into a sweatbox as they lead the first of a two-night celebration of 50 years of punk bringing Leeds upstarts Bathing Suits and Crows in tow.

Punk is loud. Punk is noisy. Punk is chaotic, carnage-fuelled balls to the wall mayhem. Few bands fit that bill better than the Dublin born Sprints, who have been tearing up festivals like Green Man, End of the Road and Wide Awake in the past and prove they can turn any venue, from Mascara Bar into Troxy, into a sweatbox that will have audience members baked in sweat long before the first song is done. Karla Chubb’s frantic, rabble-rousing energy is unparalleled, and Sprints’ short, sharp songs make them the perfect fit for The 100 Club’s celebration of punk – that draws a selection of fans from a broad age range – those old enough to remember the first wave of the Sex Pistols in the 1970s and the next generation; which is reflected in the audience of the bands picked for the two nightsm diversifying the crowd with a mix of fans old and new. This is the whole premise of the show after all; ticket prices as they were in the 1970s (the beer prices are higher; but still low compared to the area of London they operate in) - owing a debt to the way things were back then - whilst looking to the future with a carefully curated two night’s worth of music.

It is a Sunday night but that does not stop The 100 Club from bouncing in the room from the off with new band Bathing Suits. I’ve caught them a few times before and the Leeds techno outfit are chaotic, sprawling, brash and fearless beyond their years; wasting no time in getting into the headbanging; starting by pulsating ‘I Can Be a Freak’ in the second song of the night that sends shockwaves through the room reminding you that they’re here to stay as an outfit and will only continue to invent themselves. They’re loud, noise-umbrella ready in the same category as bands like Prostitute (their Windmill-supporting set, now historic), Dame Area and Maquina with a Sextile-like kick to their beats. Their beasts are blasting and their guitars are instantly abrasive and find a way to ramp up the energy in the room – the headbanging begins early; and those who are there to witness their charisma and energy realise quickly that Bathing Suits are a band like few else before them. They’ve been described as the most exciting bands in Leeds right now, and by the first track it’s easy to see why – the post punk guitars allow for a vivid genre fusion that feels alive and bustling. It’s proof that the guitar can exist in the same sphere as club music – and continues to propel punk forward into new ways that haven’t really been crossed since.

Second band on is Crows, who fit more traditionally in the punk sphere but pack a powerful punch of their own. They are more comparable in scope to the IDLES/Yard Act school of post-punk bands to Bathing Suits’ dancier Gilla Band; messy and lyrically inventively fearless, unafraid to tackle the rose-tinted view of small-town England that many look back on with nostalgia. The anthems are bangers – all of them, ‘I’m Bored’ goes down a storm as it addresses the sign of the times head on and goes for the gut-punch. The crowd at this point is less stoic than it was early doors; and there is movement. Crows frontman James Cox leads a high-tempo, high energy set that seems to be the theme of the night. It’s more brooding and dark than you’d expect, and you can tell they’ve drawn more from metal than Oasis in their influence as things in the room take a darker turn, Cox raised on Machine Head and Korn as opposed to Oasis. My favourite track of the setlist is ‘Land of the Rose’ – with hook-laden lyrics that instantly calls to mind Joy Division and Public Image Ltd whilst not ignoring the indie influence of the early days of Crows, they’re in Franz Ferdinand territory. This is a band that pays attention to their legacy and their forebears whilst offering something new on the genre; evolving from their garage indie rock beginnings into something more traditionally post-punk. But to call their more modern work – at this point, ‘Reason Enough’ is a 2024 release – well-trodden would be wrong. Crows continue to delight, surprise and invent – they’re kind of what you’d imagine what Joy Division would look like were they to come into the scene today – “Goodbye to the Land of the Rose” kicks in and is endearingly honest in its teardown of nostalgia – catchy and instantly memorable.

It’s time for Sprints and at this point the audience is completely engrossed. For a Sunday the energy is pulsating through the room, lively and energetic and magnetic at every turn. Karla Chubb is aware of the fanbase she has in the room and they hang on to her every word. She uses her platform to condemn the capitalist corporate sponsors for forcing Macklemore to be pulled from Ed Sheeran’s tour for speaking out for Palestine; and focuses on boycotting the corporations as opposed to just one man whilst at the same time holding him accountable, leading a call for independent venues like The 100 Club that allow new music to thrive and exist without being boxed in and without having to be afraid of what to say; supporting new bands rather than relying on established names to sell – creating the next established names like Sprints in the process. As usual; a reminder: Trans Rights are Human Rights, and Palestine should be freed – if this is a Sprints show, you know the drill – and the rest of the time is pure unfiltered madness. Welcome to the madhouse ‘Something’s Gonna Happen’, as the lyrics suggest – building and building – and when Something does, Sprints are your friend and in full control.

Watching a Sprints show almost feels like you could be in a metal gig, and they have the heaviness to punk sounds that mean that should they want they could easily play at festivals like Jera on Air and even Download. There are walls of death, circle pits that loop around the whole 100 Club; and sit-downs that send the room bouncing. Chubb gets the whole venue involved – out of those who can stand; nobody is left standing still. That’s what you get when you put a gig that goes late into the evening on a Sunday – only the most dedicated are here – and that means you’ll get an atmosphere that rivals Lambrini Girls’ chaotic free-entry; stealth-album announcement show at the Cause earlier the month.

There is a space for these bands to find their audience, and Sprints’ revelry of madness spirals into chaos. ‘Heavy’ asks the audience if they feel the atmosphere changing, if they feel it getting hot, heavy, and then from then on out it’s pit-ready mayhem. A fan is invited up to play guitar towards the end which they relish their chance to in abandon as the majority of the band leaps into the crowd headfirst to crowd-surf their way back; and in such a tight room the audience is well and truly ready for the pit. The band themselves are no longer ‘Up and Comers’ – but they exist in the moment, as icons – defined and unique, with an attitude that makes them unconquerably fearless.  

This is a show reflective of its status as the 50th anniversary of punk, a rebellious, anti-authoritarian yet inherently earnest and pro music and the community that exists within these spaces; encouraging audiences to look after each other and look out for themselves. Sprints are a collective cathartic outlet of a band that thrive off the energy they receive from their audience, building on emotion and defiance against the elite corporate stronghold on modern music – and without bands like Sprints operating in that sphere being unafraid to use their voice for the marginalised there is no modern music.