Touché Amore - gig review
- Emily Brown
- Jul 14
- 3 min read
on the 12/07/2025 hot & heavy photographer/content creator Ethan and myself made our way to the Hamilton station hotel to see touché Amore for our first time.
Opening the night is 2 of Newcastle’s own flesh and blood, “succ” and “deadshowws”
Let’s get into it!
Succ are a 4 piece punk-hardcore band from Newcastle. Having seen them only a few weeks prior with ‘terminal sleep’ I knew we were in for a treat.
They got straight into it with their up-beat rhythm, complimented by aggressive vocals and speedy riffs.
This band brought that classic old-school hardcore and raw punk sound that has similarities to the 70’s & 80’s punk bands such as misfits, sex pistols and dead Kennedy’s, with a harder vocal twist.
This band is a prime example of why you need to come out to shows early to catch the openers!
up next is deadshowws. This was my third time seeing them, it’s always a pleasure and they get better every time. Deadshowws share the vocals between both guitarists, each of them having their own unique qualities and both amazing voices.
Deadshowws have this stunning grungey-shoegaze sound, when paired with their stage presence of the drummer always smiling and belting away, the guitarists putting their all into it - nearly breaking their fingers and the bassist tying it all together with a heartfelt bow.
they create this nostalgic feeling that makes me feel like a 17 year old having a main character moment in an indie coming of age film. I can’t recommend this band enough if you crave that nostalgic inner-city underground garage sound!
Now is time for the last opener, militarie gun.
Hailing from la, California, the alt-rock five piece brought everyone together to warm up for the headliner of the night.
It was so nice to see their crowd engagement, they spoke about the last time they played in Newcastle also. I honestly don’t think there could have been a more perfect band to play before touché Amore, as Militarie gun have a similar sound musically and their energy aligned beautifully.
It was truly an honour getting to stand front of stage for these guys and experiencing their emotionally powerful set. My personal favourite song of theirs was
“i thought you were waving.” One I highly recommend you check out along with the rest of their masterful discography.
without further ado, we’re onto the final act of the night. the post-hardcore big leagues, touché Amore.
From the very second the members hit the stage, the crowd was collectively screaming the lyrics to every song.
The room felt emotionally charged with pent up energy everyone has been holding onto for years since they first discovered touché Amore.
The energy bounced from the stage to the back of the room, the sound of raw passion exclaiming from the vocalist’s lungs, the instruments fuelled with fire, focus and dedication.
Touché Amore have mastered their live set to the point it sounds exactly the same as their records. I have never seen such a polished, well put together and clean live set in my life. Well done touché amore!
They currently have a fill in drummer who absolutely killed the set! It was also pretty adorable to hear that the person filling in, is from a band who touché Amore admired greatly when they we’re first starting out, and stated it’s an honour to be touring with him on this run. (We unfortunately did not get the name of the band).
This whole night was filled with musically nostalgic magic. I personally felt like I had been teleported back to the 2015 tumblr era of pop-punk, post-hardcore and alt-rock, when music was more romanticised and at the forefront of everyone’s minds, connecting and navigating through life together through these songs and lyrics.
Standing side of stage and watching one of my good friends sing his heart out with the rest of the crowd was such a moving and powerful experience for me, as I am sure it was for him and everyone else in the room too while the vocalist encouraged it and handed the mic out.
This was a beautiful show and we are very lucky to have musicians as talented as the ones who played tonight.
so i'm giving a massive Thank you to touché Amore, militarie gun, deadshowws and succ for showing us how to relight the fire of our embedded emotional connection to music.
