I recently visited Kent, for the first time since that family holiday to the Isle of Sheppey when I was like 10, for a lovely acousticy/punk/pop punk all-dayer that raised money for two brilliant causes.

Leo’s Red Lion in Gravesend wonderfully hosted Herofest, a live music event that has been raising money for charities since 2010. Four stages – two indoor, one outdoor – collectively facilitated a great variety of original and tribute cover tunes from nearly 50 acts in this Tardis of a venue.

This year, over £7,500 was raised for One Big Family – Helping the Homeless and the Elliott Holmes Memorial Fund. Brilliant stuff from Anthony and the crew who put this together! Here are the bands I saw on the day 👇

Larry_73 | B-Sharp Garden Stage

One of the acts kicking things off was pop punk band Larry_73, with a lovely acoustic set.

I was vaguely familiar with this band, having seen them at Punkasaurus Wreck’d back in January, and their melodic takes on mental health matters shone through again.

There’s something about a simple guitar and cajon setup that I always enjoy, and the stripped down but energetic vibes provided a great start to the day.

The Calaveras | Steve Miles Memorial Amphitheatre Stage

Overlapping to kick off (I really like saying “kick/kicking off, gosh) the Amphitheatre Stage was some hard rock from The Calaveras.

The five-piece band brought some mid-tempo groove to the early proceedings, while weaving meaty riffs styled around soaring vocals.

At times, their sound was reminiscent of 2000’s alt rock/metal brought by bands like Evanescence and Within Temptation.

The Godless Reds | DefZone Stage

Coming in with the most metal-sounding band name so far (not that I have much jurisdiction in that area) was The Godless Reds at the indoor DefZone Stage.

One of many bands featuring organiser Anthony Martin on the day (bloke must have been knackered!), these guys had a nice indie rock sound to them, while keeping it heavy.

The band, who have been going over 20 years at the time of writing, certainly sounded reasonably tight despite their hiatus.

Lucias Malcolm & The Broken Records | B-Sharp Garden Stage

Next, it was time to finally check out solo material from Call Me Malcolm frontman Lucias Malcolm.

Bringing along ‘Broken Records’ Charlotte (also seen in Baldhead and ‘Till I’m Bones) and Nathan (sometimes drums with Faintest Idea), Lucias sped through a punky set predominantly exploring mental health management.

It was cool to hear Nathan contribute to backing vocals here too. Drummers should do so more, in my irrelevant opinion.

3dBs Down | DefZone Stage

3dBs Down (pronounced ‘deebs’, not ‘dubs’, I only just realised during this fest) were next on my schedule, and follow that schedule, I did, sometimes.

This ska/reggae/punk band was one of a select few I’d seen live before, and their chill, trying-not-to-lose-it-amongst-idiocracy (that’s a technical term) chi always hits home.

The DefZone Stage filled up in good time for this set, and it’s the first on the day I ended up singing along to (be warned ahead of watching the footage at the end 😅).

Tailblock | B-Sharp Garden Stage

Back outside now for emo/hardcore three-piece Tailblock, formed of Gary (formerly in ‘Till I’m Bones), Jak (also seen in ‘Till I’m Bones) and Daniel on drums.

These were great, growly yet clean vocals met brooding yet dancey riffs to largely musically discuss relationship stuff.

A lot of the band’s set reminded me a lot of bands like Hot Water Music and Jimmy Eat World. Great to have finally gotten round to catching those guys!

The Startover | DefZone Stage

Back inside we go, like the Hokey Cokey, for The Startover, another band I wasn’t familiar with at all but was impressed by.

These were another group that seemed to take hints from Jimmy Eat World, and they brought songs about hanging on amidst life struggles to their first set in two years.

The set featured those lovely pop punky harmonies, and one of the guitarists even climbed up and played on the little drum set stage on top of the main stage. Mayhem, I tell you!

Jigawatts | DefZone Stage

Next was a nice boppier and poppier palette cleanser of a set from Jigawatts, featuring Si from the aforementioned trio of deebs that are down.

Coming in with lighter guitar tones and hints of RnB at times, their songs, largely about love, really got the peeps moving.

Complete with major scale vocals (that’s a music reference) and great accompanying backing vocals, Jigawatts’ set did not compromise on energy.

One Day Elliott | DefZone Stage

Staying at the DefZone Stage, I then bore witness to the fast, melodic rock tunes of One Day Elliott, a group I was vaguely familiar with but couldn’t recall seeing before, so that was cool.

A clear favourite among much of the crowd at Herofest, there was a lot of singing along to evident classics in the set.

If you enjoy bands like Lagwagon and Millencolin, you’ll probably like One Day Elliott.

Our Lives In Cinema | B-Sharp Garden Stage

No footage or pics of these, but managed to get back outside and catch most of Our Lives In Cinema’s poignant emo-style tunes.

You can find my review of the band’s latest album ‘Eat Your Feelings’ here (fuck yeah, sweet, sweet internal links to keep you trapped on this website, muahahahaha *cough*).

The Pisdicables | B-Sharp Garden Stage

Headlining the B-Sharp Stage were ska punkers The Pisdicables, who despite being without a brass section (probably just as well as it’s doubtful they would have all fit on stage!) brought the sauce, big time (that’s slang to say it was really good).

Featuring a song inspired by the Only Fools and Horses theme song, the band brought fast-paced, harmonica-backed tunes no doubt enjoyed by those new and familiar to them, alike.

There were other bands after this, but I got tired.

Closing Remarks

What was really neat about Herofest, besides the awesome fundraising work, was that most of the bands were local. It really felt like I was experiencing the best of what Kent pop punk had to offer, and I’m sure I did.

Thanks again to Anthony and the wider Herofest and Red Lion organisers for a brilliant day of live music! Up the Posh, and up the Punx 🤘