Baltimore’s hardcore juggernauts Turnstile are currently operating at a level that they probably never dreamed of reaching. Slowly climbing their way out of a tiny music scene centred on sweatbox venues and which hadn’t seen a crossover-success story in years, they’re now legitimate breakout stars who have no trouble selling ten thousand tickets to a show at London’s Alexandra Palace in minutes.
It’s the cherry on top of a year which has seen them release their fourth album Never Enough to critical acclaim, pack out venues worldwide and headline Outbreak Festival in Victoria Park, London. Pretty good going for a band whose first two albums didn’t even chart.
Not that they’re here to rest on their laurels, instead pummelling North London with a relentless barrage of hits that’d be enough to level a lesser venue. The crowd react in kind, whipping up mammoth mosh pits which barely let up throughout. Singer Brendan Yates, never one for on-stage banter, takes a pause between songs to marvel at the amassed crowd, shouting out “the friends we met playing every pub in London” before thanking the crowd for turning up.
The mosh pit cam which is beamed behind the band shows just how many of those fans have made the pilgrimage, alternating between closeups of dedicated die hards screaming every word and birds-eye shots of the crowd ebbing and flowing like a natural phenomenon.
The setlist reflects the material which propelled Turnstile to mainstream success, leaning heavily on both the new album and 2021’s Glow On. When older cuts like Keep It Moving do get an airing though, they’re just as strong as the more recent tracks, with a crowd response to match.
There's occasional space to catch a breath, too, with Seein’ Stars providing a disco-ball-aided oasis of calm among the maelstrom before the band dive back in at the deep end with the crushing intensity of Holiday. It’s an intense, cathartic release for the crowd, with every face exiting the mosh pit being drenched in sweat and grinning from ear to ear. There's a genuine feeling of inclusive community here, partly fostered by a band who continually check in on how people are doing, but mainly pushed by an audience who are as much the star of the show as the band themselves, with enough energy pouring off of them to power most of London.
Early Turnstile shows were propelled as much by the fervor of the fans as by the band themselves, with an endless stream of people clambering on stage before leaping right back off. Clearly this was never going to be possible at a venue with security as tight and barriers as large as Alexandra Palace, but the reduction in intimacy is more than made up for by the sheer intensity of the show. A band at the absolute top of their game and a crowd which is a seething pit of gleeful crowd-surfing, dancing, mosh-pitting fans make Turnstile a band you definitely do not want to miss live.
