DEAD BARS - Beat Generator, Dundee 30 March 2026 Live review

Last year I wrote a review for Rockfiend of the Dead Bars’ latest album, ‘All Dead Bars Go To Heaven’, in which I wrote “give them a listen and the Dead Bars might just be one of the best bands you’ve not yet heard of”. I meant this respectfully and as a reflection of how much the Dead Bars appear to have gone under the radar of the music press in the U.K. There could be a number of reasons for this - they’re a small band from Seattle without big label or management backing; they can get labelled as punk, but there are differences between US and U.K. punk, and their sound is not easily categorised owing as much to The Replacements, early Soul Asylum, the Neil Young t-shirt worn onstage tonight by their bass player, Oddo, or to grunge as punk. Equally, their short (2 minute) raw, fuzzy and melodic songs may not be viewed as a straight sell to a rock audience.

Arriving at the venue, I stopped to speak to John and CJ from the Dead Bars who were outside at the time and they appeared to be enjoying their tour so far. As I went inside there was a good-sized crowd for a Monday night - mostly punk fans and musicians ranging from their early 20’s through to original punks in their 60’s. It’s always good to see mixed ages at gigs, as when you’ve been going to watch live music for years, it’s all too easy for bands and the audience to age with you, but tonight the mix was really healthy.

Anticipation was building as the local support acts (Bucky Bombs and David Delinquent) did their thing (more details at the foot of this review) and the Dead Bars’ stage time of 9.05pm approached.

And then they were on. No changes into fancy stage clothes or regulation black - just the t-shirts, jeans, dungarees and plaid they had rocked up in.

John, their singer, took up position front and centre flanked by the Dead Bars’ two guitarists (CJ and Elliot) on guitar, Rosie took her seat behind the drum kit at the back of the stage, with the sole concession to stage wear (shorts), and Oddo (bass) hovered in front of the drums.

Opening the set with ‘Rain’ from their 2019 album ‘Regulars’, the Dead Bars launched into a blistering performance of 16 songs over the next 45-50 minutes. The bulk of the earlier part of the set was weighted towards the ‘Regulars’ album, although also featuring a few earlier and more recent songs including ‘Earplug Girl’ and ‘I Live Here Now’.

A few songs in and I was absolutely hooked, as were others around me. Any concerns which I’d had that some of the melody captured in a studio may be lost by playing fast and loud live and through a sound system which may be beyond their control were completely dispelled as the wall of sound that is the Dead Bars live engulfed us - loud, fast, intense and melodic.

Of an age when I no longer feel the need to be down front, I started off watching them from the bar down one side of the gig room, but within a few songs I was drawn forward towards the front and then to the side of the stage where I was as close to them playing as it was possible to be without joining them awkwardly on stage as I was immersed in their music. From my vantage point I could have mopped CJ’s brow if he had asked; he didn’t, nor did I offer, but you might get the picture of how close I was.

‘Valentine Heart’ heralded the first of a wonderful trio of songs from ‘All Dead Bars Go To Heaven’ ending with the looping and rolling ‘Give the Metalhead a Hug’ complete with audience vocal participation.

During these songs, as throughout the gig, I was struck by how happy Rosie looked - smiling broadly while laying down the rhythm with Oddo in front of her and beneath CJ and Elliot’s twin guitars; despite the pace, their individual and collective playing and performances looked effortless, chilled and relaxed. In contrast, John paced the stage covering every inch and spending as much time as he could leaning into or above the crowd or, as he did on several occasions, joining the crowd on the floor and jumping in huddles with them, all the time singing his heart out.

In John (Maiello), the Dead Bars have one of most captivating singers and frontmen that I’ve seen in a long time - bringing and then leaving every ounce of his soul on stage.

Heading into the final third of the gig, the Dead Bars played their latest single, ‘You Look Like A Smoker’. Released just a few weeks ago, this has already taken up permanent residency in my brain. At 2 minutes 16 seconds it doesn’t have an ounce of fat or unnecessary musical padding on it and with a vocal bridge of “give me your smoke, give me your fire” is designed for crowd participation.

With an extra song thrown in as a request from David Delinquent, followed by the wonderful ‘Freaks’, and including another couple of songs from ‘All Dead Bars Go To Heaven’ the gig moved towards its close.

No complaints about the length of the set, as it contained so much and both the band and audience were spent. And as the lights went up it was clear from the looks on faces that we’d all witnessed a special gig.

To sum up, the Dead Bars are raw, energetic, fuzzy and melodic; and to paraphrase Neil Diamond … what a beautiful (make that glorious) noise.

We could overthink this. Tonight, they played to a good-sized crowd of highly appreciative fans who knew who they were, but it was very much a punk audience and had been promoted as such, whereas as a band they defy labels, spread themselves across different genres and are deserving to be heard and seen by a much larger and wider audience.

Are they punk, rock, garage, grungey? They’re probably all and none of these, as they straddle so many styles of music. If we continue to apply singular labels and to pigeonhole bands, the Dead Bars could struggle and reach a limited audience. But if we just recognise and love them for who and what they are, much wider success is deserved. Just don’t change what you’re doing.

Would I go and see them again or recommend them to others? Absolutely, in a heartbeat. And if you can’t see them live, check them out online or buy their albums.

SETLIST

Rain

Sinkhole

I Live Here Now

Earplug Girl

I’m a Regular

No tattoos

Producto

Valentine Heart

Be Me

Give the Metalhead a Hug

You Look Like a Smoker

Pink Drink

Freaks

Last Call

I Wanna Be a Ghost

Funhouse Monday

Preceding the Dead Bars’ arrival on stage, local support was provided first by David Delinquent who entertained the crowd with his banter, guitar and songs including ‘Get Old, Get Dead’, ‘You’re So Boring, You Make Me Wanna Die’ and ‘Sharp Dressed Clown’ about his insufferable boss (polite version here to avoid getting the page jailed, but a much stronger description rhyming with a former British Formula 1 driver is worked into the lyrics of the song). Then main support was provided by the Bucky Bombs with their Fife inspired punk or “melodic nedcore” based on The Ramones, Buckfast and the Beach Boys with tunes including ‘Kelty Beach’, ‘Radios’ and I missed the title of a little ditty (not about Jack and Diane), but including the highly memorable lines of “Do you, Do you, Do you wanna go to the Krankies’ show? You broke my heart when you said no”. Great stuff.

In addition to it being my first time of seeing the Dead Bars live, it was also my first time in the Beat Generator - a great small and friendly venue in the upstairs/top floor/loft of a building with walls festooned in album covers and posters; and which has developed a reputation on the punk circuit and wider, and will see acts as diverse as The Wildhearts and Beth Orton playing in coming months. I’ll happily be back.

GMcA