YOU GOT THIS - Skindred sell out the O2 Academy, Birmingham

Birmingham's O2 Academy was creaking at the seams for a pre-Halloween treat: a sold-out Friday night Skindred show, with Alien Ant Farm and Spineshank for good measure.

First up, though, were legendary Los Angeles Nu Metallers Spineshank. These guys have been going (on and off) since 1996, although that time has come with a number of line-up changes; the longest-running thread is Jonny Santos on lead vocals, which remain as punchy as ever tonight.

The sound is aggressive, and the rhythm is fierce, partially thanks to new addition, local lad, Jay Mills (of the Black Country's very own Hostile), who is now lending his talents to both bass guitar and backing vocals.

The highlight of the set is a rendition of their biggest hit to date, "New Disease" from the 2000 album The Height of Callousness. The warm-up is brief but does everything it needs to; after a rapid 30-minute set, the band leaves us with Santos teasing that the band is working on new material and that we should expect something soon. We cannot wait to see what they have cooking up; we haven't had a new Spineshank release since 2012's Anger Denial Acceptance.

Fellow Californians, who coincidentally also started things off in 1996, Alien Ant Farm take the middle of the bill slot and shift up the tone of the night so far.

Giving us a mix of the classics plus a healthy dose of the new material, they kick things off with "Courage" and "Wish" from 2001's ANThology.

"Movies" (ANThology, 2001), followed up by "These Days" (truANT, 2003), get the biggest reaction from the crowd and provide ample sing-along opportunities.

"The Wrong Things" from the band's most recent full-length album, ~mAntras~(2024), gets a play along with "Last dAntz." Vocalist Dryden Mitchell introduces the last song from the new album, "Storms Over," by thanking the crowd for coming out early tonight, saying that being involved with live music is a healthy distraction, and that November 3rd marks 5 years of his own sobriety.

An Alien Ant Farm set wouldn't be complete without their cover version of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal," sticking the landing with maximum crowd engagement right until the end.

You will be hard-pressed to find a British metal act who put on a better show than the boys from Newport, South Wales, Skindred. The theatrics started before the band even made it onto the stage: AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" pumping out into the Academy, strobe lights in unison as the crowd screamed along; then the stage bathed in red and the Star Wars Imperial March playing as the band emerges.

Mr Charisma himself; B Master Dred, The Patron Saint of Pillgwenlly, The Rasta of Disaster, The Pilot of the Newport Helicopter (the list of legendary monikers is long); Benji Webbe swaggers his way onto the stage, donning a big fur coat, top hat, and walking cane, though more pimped out, much like Gene Wilder's entrance as Willy Wonka, things are about to get a whole lot gnarly.

It's an explosive start with "My People" from the new and official UK Chart #1 album, You Got This, that builds in energy into "Set Fazers" (Smile, 2023) and "Rat Race" (Roots Rock Riot, 2007).

Expertly blending heavy out-and-out metal riffs with reggae grooves and rhythms, there isn't any band quite like Skindred; nothing shows this off quite as well as the one-two punch of "This is the Sound" (You Got This, 2026) and "Pressure" (Babylon, 2004)

"That's My Jam" (Big Tings, 2018) and "Big Em Up" (You Got This, 2026) keep the energy climbing up to stratospheric levels; it's impossible for the crowd to stay still, as Benji has them quite literally in the palm of his hand.

"Radio 01633" is not only a nod to the bands Newport roots but is also one of the reasons that a Skindred show cannot be missed, a high energy mash-up of Metallica's "Master of Puppets", House of Pain's "Jump Around" and Papa Roach's "Last Resort," Van Halen's "Jump," and a little bit of Sean Paul; all with heavy dub step and reggae tones woven through; Welsh flag flying high there's even a Bonnie Tyler "Total Eclipse of the Heart" sing-along right in the middle. It's a genre-melding crescendo of an interlude that ultimately ends in a huge high-octane jump pit.

The title track off of the new album "You Got This" is next, followed by "Broke." "Kill the Power" (Kill The Power, 2014) is another sonic smack in the face that the crowd laps up.

Approaching the finishing straight, "Can I Get A" from the new album is the most anthemic the band has sounded to date; it's not hard to imagine a stadium full of people's arms aloft waving along to this one. Closing out the main part of the set, the song that really put both Skindred and ragga metal as a genre on the map, "Nobody" (Babylon, 2004) sends the crowd into absolute overdrive.

The inevitable chants of 'one more song' come from the crowd, who, although almost spent, have just a little bit left in the tank. A brief skit of The Fresh Prince's "Boom! Shake the Room" precedes "Gimme That Boom" (Smile, 2023), giving a huge shot of energy back into the crowd.

The set finally comes to an end, as most Skindred sets do, with "Warning" (Union Black, 2011) and the well-choreographed shirts-off and swinging Newport Helicopter.

The band is played offstage by Carly Simon, and she's not wrong: "Nobody Does It Better" than Skindred.

There are a final few chances to catch Skindred on this "You Got This" tour, with dates in Dublin, Belfast, and Glasgow in November.