Skindred took 25 years to become an overnight success. At the start of 2023, the Welsh ragga metal crew were heavy music’s ever-reliable party force, most often seen during late afternoons at Download, Bloodstock and Reading And Leeds to get fields of festivalgoers limber. Then Tiktok caught wind of them. 2002 song Nobody went viral via an online dance craze, helping the band’s following album, Smile, reach number two in the UK charts and score them a coveted MOBO Award.
More than a year since first igniting online, Newport’s finest are still riding that wave of momentum. Tonight marks their biggest headline concert to date, making them the latest in a score of British metal acts, from Sleep Token to Malevolence, who’ve exploded in popularity since the pandemic. However, as a collective accustomed to massive stages thanks to all those inhibition-relaxing festival slots, Skindred show no intimidation in the face of this new apex.
