For hardcore music fans, 2017 was a milestone in the history of Glastonbury, as the festival embraced grindcore, anarcho-punk and heavy metal with a dedicated line-up in the legendary nightspot of Shangri-La.
Curated by Nottingham's , a brand new stage was unveiled for the occasion: the Earache Express. A fitting title for a venue made from an old London tube carriage (the Victoria line, to be precise), into which bands and fans both squeezed, engulfed by headsplitting volumes and thrilling chaos. Destination: hardcore. Please mind the gap.
Napalm Death
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Grindcore veterans Napalm Death kicked things off on Shangri-La's larger Truth Stage, presiding over a swirling moshpit as they tore through an extensive back catalogue. In the breathing space between tracks, frontman Barney Greenway - renowned for his "death growl" vocal style - wryly reassured the audience: "If you're not following, lyric sheets can be obtained".
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Wormrot
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Singapore's Wormrot were the first band from the country to perform at Glastonbury, packing out the Earache Express and doubtless making new fans in the process. A chaotic barrage of growls and pummelling drums on the surface, but underpinned by a metronomically precise musicianship that's required to perform at breakneck speed (and in a space the size of a tube carriage).
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HECK
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Nottingham's HECK, who describe themselves as "a rock and roll band with no computers", bounced off the walls of the Earache Express during a ferocious - and borderline acrobatic - set. At one point they accomplished the unlikely feat of performing to three separate crowds at once: inside the carriage, down in the bar and outside in the queue...
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Dead Kennedys
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A hop back to the outdoor Truth Stage for one of the original hardcore punk bands - San Francisco's Dead Kennedys. Still brimming with energy and a provocative sense of humour, singer Skip Greer railed against the music industry, the internet and American politics between leaping into the crowd to share the mic.
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Steve Ignorant's Slice of Life
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Co-founder of seminal anarcho-punk collective Crass, Steve Ignorant squeezed his backing band into the Earache Express to pelt out political songs like the chant-along Do They Owe Us A Living, pausing for breath to share his feelings on subjects from animal cruelty to equality.
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