After 20 years, Million Dead finally fulfils the Buffyverse’s prophecy. But before Spike has a chance to catch his favourite band at the Electric Ballroom, a trip to vocalist Frank Turner’s favourite venue, Rock City.
Million Dead – The Meffs – The St Pierre Snake Invasion
Rock City, Nottingham – 11 December 2025
Words And Photography: Matt Pratt
There have been five summer Olympic Games, seven UK Prime Ministers, nine Fast And Furious films, and nineteen seasons of The Simpsons since Million Dead last graced a Nottingham stage.
Few bands can call themselves lucky enough to stay together for 20 years, let alone fall defunct for such a time and still return to some of the greatest venues in the land for one last hurrah!
Million Dead are not a band of catchy licks or chart-topping earworms, but is that a bad thing? At a time when it’s a race to the bottom of the TikTok virality barrel, a call back to the days before short-form content could not be more refreshing.
The songs may have been born out of adolescent vitriol, but they are played here in halcyonic respect, an acknowledgement of all the good that came from their union all those years ago and an appreciation to be able to share this feeling again.
Not falling victim to the modern catch-all of Metalcore, Million Dead steer clear of electronic indulgence with a traditional Post-Hardcore sound that feels vintage amidst today’s musical landscape.
If you enjoyed Million Dead on record, you were in for even more of a treat tonight. We have a set of musicians with 20 years of fine-tuning under their belt, but still remain dedicated to paying respect to the original material.
Not only have the members grown in their aptitude, but the size of the band has grown too. The band never previously had any more than four members, with two different guitarists featuring during separate runs. However, both have returned for this final goodbye, adding a thick extra layer of cacophonic glory never heard before.
The cult heroes made their first visit to the East Midlands’ musical Mecca in 2003 in support of a band with their own hiatus history, Pitchshifter. A lasting memory of the eye-opening introduction, as Turner regaled, was a cheerful punter yelling in a moment of quiet between songs, “Fuck off and never come back!”
Not only did they not fuck off, but even when they did decide to fuck off, they came back again anyway.
As a band who never truly “made it” before their dissolution, there could have easily been diminishing returns on the announcement of a reunion tour, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. The seeds of cult fandom have been cultivating for 20 years, and here on the band’s largest headline tour, it is as if they never went away, with each and every member of the audience roaring back the lyrics of even the most esoteric of songs.
The entire evening is a churning ocean of veteran Hardcore chaos. The years may have taken this fanbase’s bodies, but their fortitude still runs as strong as it did in the mid-noughties. The beauty of a tour after a hiatus, with no new releases, is that it will by definition be a greatest hits show.
Running it back with songs such as Breaking The Back, I Am The Party and Smiling At Strangers On Trains, the performance is all thriller, no filler.
Speaking of no filler, the quintet even forgo the opportunity for an encore, or an “adult peek-a-boo” as they put it. The night climaxes on a rendition of The Rise And Fall, which best demonstrates what a force this coalition of experienced performers has become.
The rich and lengthy song builds like a pressure cooker, the wall of sound permeates into the ceaseless crowd, building with nowhere to go, the anticipation erratic and thrilling. The fourteen-minute epic feels to last a lifetime yet pass in an instant, an apt comparison for a band so fleeting yet permanent.
Playing their final shows for the second time, it is becoming increasingly hard to take bands at their word when they say they are calling it a day, but failing a literal “dumpster truck full of cash”, the band assures us this is it.
Given that we have already been here before, you would think the end would feel less impactful, yet it is the complete opposite.
When Million Dead parted ways 20 years ago, they did so when there felt there was more to be said, like an unfinished novel. Now they have had the opportunity to reflect upon their achievements, their friendship and everything this project gave them.
They sign off with their most dedicated supporters, many of whom felt they had missed their opportunity to have this moment. The chapter has finally been closed off, and this relic of hardcore history can be suitably put to bed.
The Meffs
With just two members in their line-up, the sizable Rock City stage could feel daunting, but there is little of that sentiment as The Meffs occupy the spotlight.
Vocalist Lily Hopkins menacingly paces around the stage to the backing track calling for unity. Not a note has been played, yet it is clear that we are in for a punk show.
Soundtracking our broken future, with a brief interlude for a Prodigy rave, The Meffs message is not one hidden behind complex metaphors. It is an evening for Million Dead to glance back, but The Meffs’ view is firmly set on the future.
The youthful band calls us to demand more from the ruling powers, summoning the most powerful trait of music – community.
The St Pierre Snake Invasion
If the soul of Million Dead left its earthly body following their disbandment in 2005, it may well have been reincarnated into The St Pierre Snake Invasion.
Every bit as impossible to nail down to any one corner of the heavy music scene, the band share our headliner’s strong sense of uniqueness but demonstrates all of the musical evolution that has taken place since Million Dead departed.
The harping of industrial screeches alongside guttural booms and desperate vocals make the watch an uneasy one, second-guessing wherever the show might go next and making every hit land harder.
It is a bold move to open a show with such experimentalism, but the lucky few who got down early certainly have their eyes wide open now.
