Nothing says a gig in Wales like a gig in a literal castle, hosting a Welsh band. As soon as I enter the Chepstow Castle grounds, I know this is going to become one of my favourite venues. Spirits are high from everyone around me waiting for The Blackout. Though I am unfortunate to miss out on the opening acts BlackGold and The Brass Bambees, the positive talk from every person I overhear tells me I really, really did miss out.
The Blackout
Chepstow Castle, Chepstow – 7 August 2025
Words And Photography: Georgia Brittain
But not to worry, as The Blackout are due to take the stage. Ten years after their ‘final show’, and two years after their return, the hype revolving around their return is yet to die out. Even more so with the band confirming this will be their only headline show of 2025 via their Facebook page prior. 
The band explode out to Higher & Higher, which comes as a surprise as it is usually a little later in the set. This clearly was not a bad choice, though, as the high energy from all members is fed back to them by the crowd, with instant singing, moshing, jumping, you name it.
The energy does not stop, as we are followed up with classics (it feels weird to write that) such as Said & Done and Children Of The Night. All vocals are on point, instruments all sound as tight as you would expect, and I find myself envious of all band members still performing like they are in their twenties, whilst I am starting to suffer with bad knees before I reach thirty. 
It is everything you’d expect from The Blackout. Banter with the crowd, the members roasting each other, punters throwing random objects at the stage. At one point, guitarist Bob shouts into the microphone, “Stop with the fucking squeaking.” This results in a mass sound of duck squeaks, followed by them being thrown at the stage.
I am not sure who brought a mass amount of squeaky ducks, but I admire the dedication to the trolling.
We have a little cover of the intro to Blind by Korn at some point, which is stopped after the mosh pit breaks out. This is met with a lot of laughs, with Sean saying, “See, we can get the crowd if we were Korn”, and drummer Snoz replying, “I wasn’t expecting to play that ‘un.” 
Earlier in the week, the band posted to Facebook that this show would feature songs from every album. Yes, including that-which-shall-not-be-named, [Start The Party], notoriously known for being a love it or hate it album. The band seems to absolutely hate it. I suppose we all have work we are not proud of.
The song from that album tonight is Running Scared, which seems to go down well. However, once finishing, the band announces, “See, that’s why we never play any of these songs, ’cause you all just stood there thinking yeah, dunno that one.”
I guess they could not see the back of the crowd from the stage. I thought everyone reacted positively. Regardless, we get the bigger pits back with ShutTheFuckUppercut.
To close off the night, we have I’m a Riot? You’re a Fucking Riot!, which I am pleased to hear, as I genuinely thought the band were missing out on this one tonight, not used to it being a closing song.
The pit opens bigger than before, and the band is in their highest energy yet, knowing it is the last song until some point next year. Singer Sean jumps into the crowd for the ending, abandoning his microphone to a fan, who actually does such a good job that I probably would not have noticed if I had not seen it happen. 
All in all, an incredible set from a band that everyone is grateful for returning. Here’s to some more shows from them next year, and we elder emos proving we can still mosh.
Not me, though. Please refer back to my bad knees and back comment.
