Great to be back with another fest review, this time covering the London leg of the inaugural Common Thread Tour in Camden Town!

Spread across six venues, with The Roundhouse hosting the evening portion, this fest featured a great mix of straight-up punk, hardcore, post punk and a hint of ska.

Having had little familiarity with the bands on, it was lovely to take in some new acts. These were interspersed with a certain ska band I was already fond of, plus a kick-arse heavyweight of a headliner that I knew from the Tony Hawk games (of course). Let’s dig in!

Kali Masi | Black Heart

With the choice of five venues around Camden kicking things off between 2pm and 2:30pm on this occasionally wet October Saturday, I started at the relatively intimate Black Heart.

First up here was the sculpting indie punk band Kali Masi from Chicago – formerly The Howl. This was one of many cases of me going in completely blind, but their set of melodic, mid-tempo tunes was an enjoyable opening to this fest.

The four piece combined layered riffs with contemplative lyrics, ending their set with Some Friends. If you enjoy bands like The Gaslight Anthem and The Menzingers, you’ll probably enjoy this lot’s stuff!*

*=ATOL protected, but not really, don’t sue me please

Catbite | Black Heart

Next up was that aforementioned hint of ska, in Philadelphia-founded offbeat groovers Catbite. This was my third time seeing this lot, but first since they released their new EP ‘Doom Garden’ earlier this year – so very familiar ground indeed!

Much of their set at Common Thread was off of that new EP, along with more long-standing tracks like one of my favourites, ‘Bad Influence‘.

Integrating surfy riffs and dubby tones into their sound with keys reminiscent of 2 Tone ska, the ongoing evolution of the band as performers over time was clear to see. Appropriately, said evolution has since been marked by a name change to Carbite 😜

Tigers Jaw | Dingwalls

I then quickly made the gruelling, 0.3 mile trek across Camden, to the much larger Dingwalls to check out another Pennsylvanian band in Tigers Jaw.

Bringing introspective indie punk and emo tunes to the masses gathered, their high energy was probably infectious for those in the first several rows. Nonetheless, from a couple levels of steps up I found myself bopping my head along with songs including the 90s alternative-style ‘June‘.

Plenty of catchy vocal lines to get on and sing along to in this set, overall. As I continue exploring current Midwest emo and adjacent sub-genres, this is definitely a band to keep up with.

Comeback Kid | Roundhouse

It was then time for the evening portion of the fest, all hosted by the Roundhouse – a first visit for me, and I acknowledged how round this house really was. Flat, too.

Whipping the crowd into shape first in this bit of the fest was the Canadian hardcore darlings Comeback Kid. Bringing the most energetic set of the day – and that’s saying something (don’t all phrases say something? What an odd phrase.) – circle pits were ordered and undertaken, while lead vocalist Andrew Neufield jogged and jumped back and forth menacingly and yelled “I thought this was a punk festival“.

Performing tracks like their prominent, cathartic anthem ‘Wake the Dead‘, this is not an act that chooses to excessively polish their live sound delivery over time, with their sound staying rooted and authentic as ever – and I and long-time fans will undoubtedly thank them for it greatly.

Joyce Manor | Roundhouse

LA area pop punk band Joyce Manor were the second to take to the Roundhouse stage, delivering snappy songs about love, drinking and mental health, including new track ‘All My Friends Are So Depressed‘.

This was another band who I was unfamiliar with before the fest. However, I enjoyed the Blink-182 and Weezer-inspired sounds they brought – albeit with more guitars, which left room for more intricate riffs, rather than merely acting in a somewhat wasteful, rhythmic capacity.

Upon listening back to studio versions of Joyce Manor’s discography for further background (the things I do for you people 🙄), their performance at Common Thread appeared to bring more bass into the mix overall, which enhanced the auditory experience (Corr, really pushing the boat out with the musical analysis today!).

Spanish Love Songs | Roundhouse

The penultimate act on the evening was Spanish Love Songs, an emo and pop punk act from LA who previously impressed me at Slam Dunk 2023 (just gonna plug my recap of Slam Dunk North 2025 here, and sheepishly tip-toe into the next paragraph… *whistles*).

Sounding tight with a matured polish beyond their twelve years as an active band (but not at all in a way that would impede the live sound – it’s very much authentic), the band gracefully took us audience members through a set filled with passionate desolation, with their setlist including the faster-paced ‘Kick‘.

Accompanied by textured drum patterns and keys that complement the sombre mood combined with will for hope greatly, SLS proved well worth sticking around for once again.

Hot Water Music | Roundhouse

Finally, we get to the worthy headliner Hot Water Music, who I was seeing live for the first time, having found ‘Remedy‘ on Tony Hawk’s Underground.

This set from the punk and post-hardcore stalwarts from Gainesville, Florida made me wish I hadn’t gone off to grab food when they played Slam Dunk Festival in 2022. Aging like a fine barrelled whiskey, they played a set plucked from across their 30+ years of activity, including the aforementioned Remedy (near the end, excitingly!), and the 2012 Exister track ‘Drag My Body‘.

Having almost lost my glasses in the pit (forever grateful to the people who handed them into security!), I nonetheless found this to be a lovely headline set that rounded off Common Thread London beautifully.

Closing Remarks

All in all, the London leg of the inaugural Common Thread Tour offered a showcase in some of the best of punk and alternative rock active, today in North America.

Coming away with some great new bands to continue listening to, I would certainly consider attending this fest again, should the powers that be find doing it again in 2026 to be viable.

Thanks so much for reading! Up the Posh, and up the Punx 🤘