Skindred - O2 Academy Birmingham - 30th October 2026
It's Friday, the 30th of October, to many it’s the start of the Halloween party weekend, for us: Skindred! After an incredible surprise set at Download Festival this year, they've packed out Birmingham's O2 Academy for a sold-out, mid-2000s dream line-up featuring Spineshank and Alien Ant Farm. (If your back aches for no apparent reason, you're probably in the target age group for this tour!)
Words by Frank Iszard
Kicking off the evening, Spineshank brought that iconic noughties sound of aggressive riffs and ridiculously catchy choruses. Declaring that they would be playing 'violent music for violent people', they powered through a set packed with hits, including 'Smothered' and 'Beginning of the End', alongside fan favourites 'New Disease' and 'Violent Mood Swings'. As well as shaking hands with every crowdsurfer who came their way, Spineshank also gave the Birmingham crowd something else to cheer about by announcing James Mills as their new bass player. Cheers erupted around the Academy as he proudly declared, 'I'M FROM THE BLACK COUNTRY!', crowning him a local hero. Closing the set with 'Dead to Me', frontman Johnny Santos also revealed that they're working on new material. Needless to say, we can't wait to hear it!
Alien Ant Farm were up next, delivering a mix of newer material and much-loved classics, including 'Storms Over' and 'These Days'. During the set, frontman Dryden Mitchell told the crowd that it was the anniversary of his sobriety from alcohol and cocaine. This was met with a mixture of applause and booing, to which he responded:
'I still shoot meth up my arse, nobody says I have a problem with that!'
Other highlights from AAF included the crowd-pleasing 'Movies' and 'Wish', from the legendary Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 soundtrack (How's that back holding up?) As the band leave the stage, an audio clip of Michael Jackson begins to play, and everybody knows what's coming to close the set, the legendary cover of 'Smooth Criminal', a version so iconic that it's probably the one you think of before the original!
Time for the main event, once AC/DC’s 'Thunderstruck' comes to an end and The Imperial March from Star Wars blasts out of the speakers, you know exactly what's about to go down, one of the best live bands you'll ever see, Skindred.
Coming out with maximum energy from the very start, they launch straight into 'My People', 'Set Fazers' and 'Rat Race'. Benji then turns to the crowd and announces, 'I dunno about you, it's freezing in here!', drawing attention to the first of his many outfits of the evening (not that you could miss it!), he's sporting a massive coat, complete with top hat and cane like an absolute legend.
After a little Back to the Future reference, the band take us back in time and launch into 'Pressure'. Benji then splits the crowd in half, setting each side against the other. When the left side fails to deliver on the first attempt, he wastes no time in calling them 'wankers' for not being loud enough! This of course was to pull off the classic crowd participation of 'WOOP WOOP' and 'That's My Jam' for the track of the same name.
'Radio 01633' provides a moment for the band to display their humour, but it also included a touching tribute to fellow Welsh legend Bonnie Tyler, with Benji waving a Welsh flag as 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' played. This is followed by a cover of Van Halen's 'Jump' which gets cut short, with Benji shouting, 'Didn't I just say fucking jump? WELL, LET'S SEE YOU FUCKING JUMP THEN!' as 'Jump Around' by House of Pain takes over, the energy goes through the roof before rolling straight into the title track of the tour's album, 'You Got This'.
Taking things down a notch with 'Broke', we are then later treated to a bass solo section from T-Bone which sampled 'Another One Bites The Dust', '7 Nation Army' and 'Thriller' before 'Kill the Power' (ironically) cranks the energy straight back up. The ever-popular, crowd energising 'Nobody' brings the main set to a close, with the Academy going absolutely wild.
But we're not done just yet!
'Gimme That Boom' and 'Warning' make up the final encore of the evening, and honestly, what better way could there be to finish your night than with the iconic, T-shirt-spinning Newport Helicopter?
A night of pure energy, multiple outfits and some seriously iconic 00s nostalgia. Exactly what every Halloween weekend needs!
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