Live Review: HAWXX (With THWACK!) at Signature Brew, Haggerston (29/10/26)

A night celebrating the launch of HAWXX’s ‘The World Splits Open’ album is more than just a chance to experience a set of tracks in the flesh that perfectly define the band. It’s a chance to feel like you belong, especially if you are from more marginalised parts of society. A chance to be with likeminded people and a chance to let your emotions out in the knowledge that you are safe and secure. I know, simply by looking around the room, that a night like this meant a lot to so many people and that is all that really matters.

HAWXX help people feel heard, they help them feel supported, and they help them feel safe. This was more than just a celebration, and I am glad I got to experience it.

I’m also glad I got to experience the support band, THWACK! A band who describe themselves as orchestral punk crossed with camp rock and capped off with a political edge. A description that makes a hell of a lot more sense once you see them live, even if it doesn’t quite explain just how entertaining a band they are.

A high energy set with anthemic hit after anthemic hit; they delivered something headline worthy here and turned me into an instant fan. Even if I could have done without the Katy Perry ‘I Kissed a Girl’ cover at the end. It’s not a great cover, but they made up for it with some outstanding genre bending tunes that I am still humming almost a week later.

HAWXX are a different beast though, far heavier and more hard rock orientated, and the mood does change when they come out to play. There was still a ton of positivity in the room, it’s just that they are a more intense band and that ups the pit energy significantly. People wanted to really let lose to them, be it tracks from the new album or a beloved SOAD cover. It’s notable that some of these tracks sound way harder and harsher live too.

I thought they were great. Not only musically on point, but with theatrics that add even more authenticity to their messaging. If you thought the likes of Resistance is Justified, Macho Bullshit, and Arm the Animals sounding hefty on record, wait until you hear them live.

There are moments of levity too. Two in particular stand out. A wall of friendship that sees the crowd high fiving instead of slamming into each other, and the ending of Sacred Water. Which sees the band standing on the floor, facing each other in a tight circle, and moving as one to the haunting refrain of Thalassaki, a traditional Greek island song.

You’ve never seen crowd as still or heard a crowd as still as they were during this moment. It sums up the night perfectly. An experience that will stay embedded in the mind for a long time.