Benefits of small venues

Three bands for a fiver? That would always be an attractive deal. And when Benefits provides the headline act, it’s too good to miss. This is why small venues are worth fighting for, and also why they need our encouragement.

Play Brew, about 10 minutes’ walk from Middlesbrough town centre, is a craft brewery and tap room. The vibe is industrial: bare walls and exposed girders in the ceiling, plus a backdrop of vats where the next crop of beers are coming to perfection. It’s no-frills, but it works.

And it’s not just a drinking den, although the house beers are well worth a visit in their own right. From day one, the vision was to build a Play Brew community. Street food, live music, quiz nights, international footie on the big screen are all familiar fare. But there are even more niche specials like the Bark Life canine takeovers or the Lego days that allow drinkers to relive that childhood passion for clicking plastic bricks together, without the incessant background babble of actual kids wanting to share the goodies!

Then there’s the music scene. Play Brew regularly hosts shows, welcoming acts from near and far. The innovative Industrial Coast label often promotes gigs here, while those Friday specials – with entry costing no more than the price of a pint – offer a stage for local acts to hone their craft and build an audience.

And, sometimes, that brings something very special. Benefits, as mentioned in past playlists, are one of the most exciting acts to come out of Teesside. Punk in attitude, if not always in sound, Kingsley Hall and Robbie Major producing pounding electro anthems that underpin a visceral rage at the state of the nation. We start with a compelling rendition of the Chemical Worker’s Song from Ben Muriel: just over the river from the old ICI works in Billingham, a line about “every day you’re in this place you’re two days nearer death” hits hard. And that’s just the intro to new-era, drum-free Benefits.

The 2024 live show is captivating: an everyman’s journey through the often-bleak landscape of 21st-century capitalist society, with its trumped-up culture wars and crudely simplistic social agendas. Early in the set, a line about “what will I be required to hate today” encapsulates the emotive, rage-fuelled public discourse that disfigures the media and sucks the nuance out of any conversation.

Yet, oddly, Benefits in 2024 are a slightly mellower beast than their earlier incarnations. Tracks like the iconic, cathartic Flag, a caustic blast at post-Brexit flagshaggery in all its toxic forms, still deliver an ear-bending aural assault. But the background is moving closer to EDM, albeit EDM with a live violin in Missiles, one of the stand-out new songs from the set. At times, dare I say, it’s almost danceable. I mean, it’s never going to be euphoric Ibiza happycore, but there’s a gentle nudge towards a more yielding sound.

That ties in with Kingsley’s own comments about creating a space on stage that allows vulnerability. Like the best of bands, Benefits understand that relentlessly bludgeoning the audience ultimately dulls the message – or reduces it to the same simplistic failings that it seeks to counter. As the band grows, so the sound develops; next year’s promised second album promises to be one to watch.

The Benefits show at Play Brew was the culmination of a defiantly DIY evening. Our headliners have garnered widespread acclaim while steadfastly refusing to play the record industry game: no label, no ever-present PR machine, just hard work and commitment. The support acts, although subscribing to the more traditional, guitar heavy punk ethos, fit the same template. First up, Haeze brought the energy and a metal-scented thrash to warm up a crowd that sensibly got into place early. Then Fast Blood, fronted by the imposing Abigail Barlow, moved it up a notch with a powerful, punky set that had ears ringing and pulses racing.

And that’s why venues like this matter (and why the very different but equally valuable Holy GrAle in Durham deserves support). Three bands, each distinctive yet united by a common thread, getting a chance to showcase their work. Most of the audience would likely have been familiar with one or other of them; few would have known all three. It’s an affordable night out, even after sinking a couple of beers, and like the best of events it creates a little space outside the day-to-day world where we can lose ourselves. Or find ourselves.

Play Brew’s ‘Sound’ series offers regular gigs for just £5. Next up, Welly headlines on Nov. 23. Tickets available here.