I'm not going to attempt to make a succinct retelling of all the shenanigans that went down while we were in London, instead, I'll put together a kind of beer-drenched highlight reel. This is the kitchen gig...

A few days before we headed off on the trip, Amy from Amyl and The Sniffers had given us a heads up that they would be playing a low-key warehouse gig in some derelict industrial estate somewhere in London. So on the first day at the festival, we made the hard but rewarding decision to leave All Points East Festival early (sadly missing The Chemical Brothers) to jump in a black cab and find this warehouse gig.

After a blurry cab ride we pulled up at a nondescript building with some young punks loitering out the front, and it was safe to say we had arrived at our destination. Inside was a confusing and disorganised school hall vibe with computer games, a bar and the sound of someone playing blues in a distant room. It was awesome. This wasn't the venue though, god no, that would be too obvious. The bands were playing down the driveway in the kitchen of the adjacent building. 

There was an awesome line-up supporting Amyl and the Sniffers including fellow Melbournians, Cable Ties, as well as an act we became quickly acquainted with lead by our new favourite Londoner - Nuha. Nuha was an instant presence, owning the stage and the crowd with her kick-ass outfit and intense singing over doomish guitar and jazzy saxophone.

The warehouse building had a cool mezzanine level so if it was getting a bit sweaty in front of the stage, you could pop up the stairs and watch the shenanigans unfold below, a prime people-watching spot. It was pretty surreal being in a place where there was actual punks. I mean like dudes with full leather studded jackets and fluro dyed mo-hawks, and not in a try hard way but in a genuine "I'm a goddamn punk" kinda way. It really felt like we were amongst people that really had their finger on the pulse of what's good in the London punk world, and that night, they were all there for Austraila's own Amyl and The Sniffers.

As soon as Amy hit the stage, the energy in the room lifted ten-fold. There was people of all different ages and walks of life that were there to see her. The show was fast, loud, messy and full of grunt - everything you want from an Amyl show. Beer spilt everywhere, bodies pulsating into each other, the crowd lunging forward to get their chance to scream something into Amy's microphone.

Needless to say it was a pretty wild night, we met lots of great people that we would hang out with over our time in London and it really felt like we were witnessing something super special. A night that will remain with us for quite some time, thats for sure.