Gorilla Biscuits and their very special guests Terror, No Pressure and Dynamite, give a legendary Hardcore spanking to London, and London only (commiserations to the rest of the UK).
Tonight is about celebrating three generations of Hardcore history, tracing back to one of the Hardcore Punk greats: Gorilla Biscuits. They managed legendary status with a mere two-album discography over 35 years ago, and still attract fiercely devoted and eager-to-dance crowds today. Then there’s Terror, a Hardcore group pretty much synonymous with the genre, who have been inspiring bands for over two decades with their world-famous brutal live shows and unshakeable positivity. And No Pressure, led by Parker Cannon of The Story So Far, whose punk rock hooks are sharp enough to reel in entire oceans of emos and sell almost all the merch they brought with them to the Electric Ballroom.
Gorilla Biscuits – Terror – No Pressure – Dynamite
The Electric Ballroom, London – 19 November 2025
Words: Lucy Dunnet
Photography: Ash Nash
Dynamite
But tasked with ripping the lid off the almost all-American night of raging Hardcore celebration are local band Dynamite. Vocalist Alex Money spits out, “I want to see some dancing,” which he follows not long after with, “you sure as fuck spent a lot of money to stand still. Blow the bloody doors off!” Thankfully, the Hardcore dancers awake from their support band nap, and a gaping hole opens in the Electric Ballroom so the limb-thrashing fun can begin.
Dynamite pummel the stage with their own dance moves whilst charging through a setlist of it-would-be-rude-not-to-two-step-to heaviness. As they reach their last few songs, Alex barks out a countdown with the audacity of a zero fucks given personal trainer reminding you of how many reps you have left. The message is clear: there’s no rest until Dynamite say so. Whether you earned the approval of the London Hardcore flag bearers or are left to feel like you owe them a dance-off, Dynamite have stoked the hungry fire of the night’s heavy antics and do London’s Hardcore scene proud. 
No Pressure
Punk rock band No Pressure bring the skaters, the push pit moshers, and the bananas to the front of the room in an almighty surge. They may technically be a side project, with just one full-length album and an EP, but they rile up the crowd with the fervour of a decades-old band that has plastered the walls of thousands of fans and the eardrums of even more.
Every single track is infused with the soaring hooks of pop punk and the rebellious spirit of ‘90s skate punk. As such, when Parker asks for a circle pit for Same Thing because “this is a fast one,” one crowd member shouts, “they’re all fast!” From Doin’ Fine and Sour, through to So You Say and Both Sides, No Pressure are a giddyingly addictive slice of punk rock.
The pit is an abundance of smiles, bouncing two-steppers doing air guitars, and crowd surfers, who Parker can’t thank enough for their support. “If any of you have seen us before, you will know we are all about having fun,” he adds. Formed in 2020 amidst the global pandemic, No Pressure has always been about exploring a different style of punk rock without the pressures or expectations of their larger projects. 
Even just in the band mates’ ribbing of each other, with jokes not to hate on guitarist Pat Kennedy for there only being small No Pressure t-shirts left, you can tell they are having a hell of a lot of fun. A cover of Blink-182’s Carousel is the final straw for the crowd to go absolutely mental and ignore all thoughts of how the hell they are going to keep this pace up for another two bands.
Terror
These prove to be really rather silly thoughts indeed, because even before LA’s Hardcore bruisers Terror have taken to the stage, there is a tangible change in atmospheric pressure: things are about to get positively, masochistically dangerous. Terror storm in with knowing grins on their faces as vocalist Scott Vogel declares how much he hates the barricade and that tonight will have to be all about reverse stage dives.
He imparts the Electric Ballroom with some words of wisdom before leaving it to the chaos to smack everyone in the face: “Security are being very cool, they are our friends. But we gotta make them work for it. Work on that barricade.” There are human corkscrew impersonations, backflips, grinning leaps of desperation to actually make it over the barricade, and even a Mary Poppins-esque landing run, as London Hardcore’s finest take it upon themselves to show the Terror vocalist that no barricade will stop these terrorisers.
The universal truth of Terror’s ability to leave every city they visit in blissful ruins is witnessed tonight. Their brand of Hardcore is unwavering in its ferocity, fuelled by Nick Jett’s hard-hitting beats and Scott’s prolific, gut-wrenching roars. But the messages in their music are as uplifting as London’s crowdsurfer support system; from Stick Tight to Overcome, these are songs to empower and aggressively heal, never to hurt. 
“If you came here to hurt someone, leave,” Scott reminds the crowd, as he emphasises it’s all about “positive aggression”. Even accidental tears from circumstantial kicks in the face during Always The Hard Way become weapons with which to take on the hardness of life, and anthemic Keepers Of The Faith offers a belt-it-out moment of camaraderie.
While the Terror frontman delivers an entire pocketbook of motivational quotes throughout their set, “peel that banana” has to take the front page. It perfectly encapsulates that even though there may seem to be a stark contrast between No Pressure’s sunny, melodic vitality and Terror’s dark, pounding brutality, what matters is that the banana enjoys it all. No Pressure offered the bananas free t-shirts if they got on stage, while Terror ordered their peeling. Hardcore Punk really is a beautiful genre daddy.
Gorilla Biscuits
The funky beats and groovy, gibberish lyrics of Adriano Celentano’s Prisencolinensinainciusol wind through the Electric Ballroom for one final mood change. While Hardcore icons Gorilla Biscuits bring copious amounts of Hardcore punk energy, it’s their melodic sensibilities blended with the aggression – on top of their inclusivity and optimistic spin on straight-edge Hardcore – that contributed to their influential status almost four decades ago. A status that has kept them reuniting over the years despite no producing any new music as a band.
As the trumpet intro to New Direction fanfares off the stage, it takes all of two seconds for Camden to turn into a hive of horny bees with ferocious adoration for these New Yorkers. Vocalist Anthony “Civ” Civarelli asks if London is still the city that makes things happen, before telling everyone to shake their asses for High Hopes.
When Daddy Civ tells you to shake your ass, you shake your ass, and you do so with a smile as wide as the gap between the barricade and the stage. “If you hadn’t already guessed, tonight, you gotta call me daddy,” Civ confirms, as he points to his Daddy T-shirt. “It can be sugar daddy, shit daddy or big daddy. But just call me daddy.” And presumably, if you don’t, guitarist Walter Schreifels – the man who makes all the dreams come true – will Judge, as per his band shirt. 
After praising the crowd’s great dancing and singing, Civ says he needs some voices, “for the ones not here anymore.” Big Mouth rallies the loud voices, and the pit turns into a Hardcore hokey cokey, with bodies swelling in and out in time with the teasing tempo changes; Gorilla Biscuits bring the punkiest grooves and the bounciest aggression.
“Thanks for coming out; isn’t it better than sitting around at home (see what I did there),” grins Civ, his effortless comedy adding legendary dimensions to their set. Their next track, Sitting Around At Home’s, extreme interval pacing and oozing coolness bring out such a beautifully bizarre eruption of chaos from the crowd – particularly from “the guys in Terror t-shirts, they are always the ones causing trouble,” Civ says, accompanied by yet another Terror wearing stage diver, who looks out from the stage with excessive naughty glee in his eyes.
The stage diving keeps up a consistent stream, whilst the Hardcore dancing mingles amicably with the push-pit shoving. The welcoming atmosphere created by Gorilla Biscuits and their fans is perhaps too welcoming, as someone feels so comfortable that they, in Civ’s words, “crush it in the pit; it smells like diarrhoea.” When the smell wafts out of the steaming crowd into Civ’s face, his reaction is so hilariously visceral it almost makes the grossness worth it.
A cover of Should I Stay Or Should I Go is met with an upheaval of excitement, before Gorilla Biscuits finish their riotous show with Start Today. The entire night is a whirlwind of adrenaline and unabashed enthusiasm, with every band gracing the Electric Ballroom stage giving it their all. And then some. It’s not every gig that you emotionally and physically feel like you had three headline sets in one night, and it’s not every year that you get to party with so many Hardcore legends in one night. 
