Mad Friday Mayhem: Teesside Hardcore Turns Café Etch Into a Warzone
Café Etch is slowly morphing into Teesside’s unofficial hardcore embassy. Tonight, it’s hosting the year-end blowout for Rhapsody Records, and the timing couldn’t be more chaotic: the last Friday before Christmas Eve—known in the UK as Mad Friday or, if you’re feeling spicy, Black Eye Friday. Originally NHS and Police jargon for “the night everyone gets obliterated,” it’s now a cultural institution: the final knees-up before festive purgatory. Translation? Middlesbrough’s hardcore kids have one last chance to throw themselves around a 60-cap room like it owes them money.
Hartlepudlian debutants Final Witness pick tonight for their swansong, and honestly, they couldn’t have scripted it better. Early nerves? Sure. But once they lock in, Café Etch gets its first wall of noise—and it’s glorious. Think Municipal Waste thrash colliding head-on with Obituary-style death grooves, snarling vocals riding shotgun. For a band barely old enough to rent a van for the short journey south on the A19, their setlist feels seasoned: heads bang, limbs flail, and Middlesbrough suddenly has four new best friends. Bookmark this name—they’re going places.
Derbyshire’s deathcore veterans King Abyss hit the stage like they’re settling scores. Tracks like Fear the Dead don’t just shake the room—they threaten structural integrity. The pit? A demolition derby. Vocalist Dom stalks the floor like a man possessed, while guitarists Sam and Harry flex technical wizardry on Weapons of Mass Delusion, a track that swings between chugging brutality and fretboard acrobatics. By the time Eyes Always Watching closes, the crowd looks like they’ve been through a small war—and loved every second.
Headliners Sidewinder don’t waste time with pleasantries. Their opening mantra— “Respect the venue, don’t respect each other”—lands like gospel, and the crowd obeys with WWE-level aerial assaults. Leeds’ hardcore export delivers a set so fast and feral you barely have time to breathe. Between sci-fi nods (Starship Troopers, Gears of War) and communal whiskey swigs passed around like sacrament, this feels less like a gig and more like a church service. Damo, their preacher-in-chief, screams sermons of rage and release into the faces of his gathered flock, while Incarcerated—an anthem for anyone shackled to a soul-sucking job—hits extra hard on Mad Friday. Responsibilities? That’s January’s problem.
As the last chord rings and the whiskey bottle empties, Teesside spills into the night—some with bruises, some with literal missing teeth, all with stories. Café Etch didn’t just host a gig tonight; it hosted a riot disguised as a Christmas party. Happy Fucking Holidays.
Full Sidewinder set available below :
Show review by : James Prosho @jdprosho
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