4PLAY - A new music magazine for new and upcoming bands/artists. This includes gig reviews and industry personnel interviews! Read before you play!
4PLAY REVIEWS...
On the 9th of March 2026, I attended GurlzSpit's very first headline gig at The Daltons in Brighton hosted by Systemic Promotions. The support act lineup was The Rats are Taking Over, Carva and The Clubheads. This was my first time seeing all 3 support acts live but not GurlzSpit as it happens that I am friends with them, but with me being their friend, my review will be fair. The night started out with The Rats are Taking over. The singer and bassist of the band, Phoenix, actually owns Systemic Promotions who hosted the gig. After looking at their social media after the gig, they label themselves as a "midwest emo band" and I can confidently say that they are. They opened the show with such energy and Phoenix's vocals stole the show for me as I'm not going to lie, I wasn't expecting too much from them. After them Carva and The clubheads were on. They were safe to say the heaviest bands out of the whole lineup and I wasn't mad about it! Again the vocalist from Carva stood out to me, especially with the screams. What stood out to me about the clubheads were the riffs and addicting melodies of their original songs so I hope I get to see more of them.
GURLZSPIT HEADLINE GIG
On to the main event GurlzSpit! Apart from the majority of their setlist being covers, I loved the set a lot. The crowd were super receptive, especially to their originals such as Spunky Monkey and Skinny Bitch. Although the set was mainly covers, they fit the vibe of their originals really well. Penny's vocals throughout were incredible. There was one song that she couldn't quite manage but I think I was the only one who noticed that as the whole crowd were just super excited to be there. I do have a few criticisms of the stage presence. It did seem like Penny was the only one carrying the stage presence. I understand that for Matt behind the drums it may be difficult as he keeps the whole band in check but I do feel like his playing could flow a little more. Throughout the whole gig, Ruth did not look up or smile once either at the audience or the camera. This made it look like she wasn't enjoying her own gig but in all honesty I think they were all distracted by Penny and her crowd interaction to be looking at her the whole time.
For some reason, they decided to talk about politics. Now the crowd were very receptive to this but personally I feel like there is a time and a place for these certain topics and I feel like the whole mood of the gig changed. I understood where they were coming from speaking up about current government situations, especially about governments in different countries, it felt a little forced and a little out of place. It didn't feel like the type of gig where speaking up about it was necessary. I certainly wasn't expecting it but I do hope they understand in the future when the right time to speak up about it and when not to. They ended their set with an unreleased original which they had been teasing on social media which was really fun and the crowd loved it too. After the gig had finished they handed out signed setlists which I thought was really sweet.
After the gig, around the time I am writing this article, I managed to sit down with the band for a little interview to see how everything was from their perspective. Including how the venue was to play and a behind the scenes look into the gig. They loved the venue and they especially loved the sound guy. "Everyone there, all the team and the staff were lovely. The sound guy was so lovely and so attentive, he kept calling us darling”. Although the venue was nice to play, they did report back on 2 of the support bands, Carva and The Clubheads being really anti-social. I also found out The Clubheads barely promoted the gig and sold no tickets!
Apart from a few fumbles, GurlzSpit smashed their first ever headline! Let's hope the stage presence improves next time they play!