Bilk Tear Up the 100 Club - Sweat, Chaos and Pure Essex Mayhem
- Alan Bryce
- Nov 5
- 3 min read
100 Club, London – 1st November 2025
WORDS / IMAGES ALAN BRYCE
There are gigs, and then there are Bilk gigs. The kind where sweat drips from the ceiling, beer rains from the pit, and everyone in the room feels like they’ve just survived something gloriously chaotic.
Tonight, the legendary 100 Club — a place that’s hosted everyone from The Sex Pistols to Oasis — gets baptized in Bilk’s anarchic, working-class energy. With only around 350 punters crammed into the room, it’s loud, intimate, and exactly the kind of venue this band were built for.
This show is part of the Grassroots Venue Tour, a 20-date run backed by Music Venue Trust, and Bilk couldn’t be a better poster band for the cause. They cut their teeth in rooms like this — sticky floors, no barriers, no bullshit — and they’re back to remind everyone why these spaces still matter.
Support came from Funhaus and Chroma, two acts who couldn’t have set things up better if they tried.
Funhaus kicked off like a grenade going off in a rehearsal room. Venomous riffs, snarling vocals, and a swagger that made you believe every word. Their set was pure tension and release — moments of eerie calm detonating into white-hot noise.
Chroma followed with a hypnotic, abrasive storm of feedback and electronics, part art-rock séance, part sonic assault. It was disorienting and brilliant — the kind of set that leaves your ears ringing and your brain rewired.
Then came the main event. Bilk.
Formed in Chelmsford in 2018 by Sol Abrahams, Luke Hare, and Harry Gray, the trio have built their own hybrid sound — equal parts punk snarl, indie swagger, rap flow, and Britpop grit. Tracks like Spiked, Give Up, and Bad News hit like protest anthems for a generation that’s fed up and fired up. Their latest record, Essex, Drugs and Rock and Roll, dropped earlier this year and confirmed what we already knew: Bilk aren’t just a band — they’re a statement.
From the first crunch of RNR to the final explosion of I Got Knocked Out the Same Night England Did, the set was absolute carnage. Sol stalked the stage like he owned the place, firing off lyrics with venom and a grin that said “try and stop me.” Luke’s basslines thudded through your ribcage while Harry battered the kit like it owed him money.
The crowd? Utter bedlam. Mosh pits opened up within seconds, pints flew through the air, and every chorus was howled back like gospel. At one point Sol yelled, “This is what it’s about — sweaty rooms and real music!” and 350 people lost their minds in agreement.
Bilk fans are a breed apart — tattoos of the snail logo flashing under the lights, chants of “Essex! Essex!” breaking out between songs. It felt less like a gig and more like a gang reunion.
In a music world obsessed with algorithms and industry plants, Bilk’s rise feels like a middle finger to the machine. Their link-up with Music Venue Trust isn’t charity — it’s survival. Nights like this prove the future of British music still lives and breathes in the small, sweaty rooms where it all began.
A feral, funny, and fiercely alive reminder that punk spirit never dies — it just finds new riffs. Bilk didn’t just play the 100 Club. They took it hostage.
Setlist (via Setlist.com):
Brand New Day
RNR
Tommy
Are U Gonna Be My Lover
Spiked
Bad News
Blow My Mind
CM2
Skidmark
I Got Knocked Out the Same Night England Did
Do You Want It
Daydreamer
Band Life Blues
FOLLOW BILK
Comments