I have always liked The Brickyard in Carlisle as a venue and I saw some good gigs there the last time I lived in the city.

The bands I saw there included the Anti Nowhere League, Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes and The Damned.

This week I returned there to officially photograph a club gig on Tuesday for the first time since before the Covid-19 lockdown (on that occasion it was The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing at the Tooth and Claw in Inverness). But the following year the restrictions kicked in and the rest is history.

For whatever reason once restrictions were eased I never really got back into going to gigs but I did cover the odd festival in the Highland capital. But I have to admit it was good to be back at a venue where you are up close and personal with the artists who are on stage.

Back in the day I always dealt with Andy Bartlett who runs the venue and it was reassuring that he still recognised me after my time away from Carlisle.

Related article: Snapped Ankles bring chaos to Carlisle’s Brickyard.

The first support of from solo performer Ichi’s Ghost who is an electronic artist who provided a deceptively dance-oriented routine spliced with alien sounds and the performance was well received by the crowd.

Next on were Jellyskin who were promoting their latest release In Brine. I was getting flashbacks to The Velvet Underground (purely because one of the band members was wearing shades), but there was also a hard, industrial beat, with analogue-sounding synth melodies, and layered vocals, which was at times danceable and terrifying.

And finally the headliners, Snapped Ankles, hit the stage with their bizarre look. The band are known for their signature Ghillie suits and bizarre woollen masks to preserve their identities. Needless to say it was a completely bonkers performance and they were completely masters of their improvised electronic instruments.

At one point the lead vocalist left the stage and ventured into the crowd but as he yanked his improvised percussion stand it sent his keyboard crashing to the ground (and I am presuming it survived as it had probably happened on repeated times during the current tour).

Having said that my camera kit tends to struggle in low light but I got some decent results on my camera phone.

Having said that it was good to get back into shooting gigs again and I can confirm that it was definitely memorable.