R.I.P. Blakfish

When I was checking Twitter just now, I found an ominous-looking tweet by Blakfish, simply saying 'the end' and then pointing to a link for their myspace blog. Little did I know it contained news of the sad kind. One that has me holding back tears.

Blakfish at Southsea Fest

Blakfish have called it a day, citing the leaving of Sam from the band at their show in Bilbao, Spain, as causing a chain of events that led to them deciding that Blakfish is now no more.

I'm sure most of my friends have never heard of Blakfish. And most of you are probably wondering why I'm taking the time to even write this about a band many have never heard of. Well, I'm writing because these guys have had a special place in my life.

Blakfish at The Fighting Cocks, Kingston

The first time I saw Blakfish, I didn't know who they were. It was in a pub venue called The Fighting Cocks in Kingston. This was back in 2008. We were there really for Tubelord, who remains one of our favourites as well. Another band that night was Colour, and if you know Blakfish and Tubelord, you will probably know Colour had broken up as well last year.

That show in Kingston, I was instantly captivated by the positive energy these guys exude. Lyric after screaming lyric, I fell more in love with Blakfish. In between the brilliance of Colour and the power of Tubelord, there was Blakfish, a symphony of violence and energy, of a cacophony of riffs and screams masterfully remoulded into something beautifully harsh.

This was the first, but it was not the last I saw Blakfish. Every show has been a story deserving of its own space, but I will not tell them now, for the sake of brevity. But one of the most memorable ones was at Brainwash IV in Leeds, which ended in a truly beautiful stage invasion, where everyone sang the lines to 'Ringo Star - The 2nd Best Drummer In The Beatles.'

Blakfish at Brainwash IV

The song itself is an angry commentary on the sad state of the current music industry, and how appropriate it was for the whole audience to be chanting 'it could be worse, we could be dead,' over and over again, everyone feeding their energy into the mic. As we all crowded onto the stage surrounding the sweaty band members, I thought in my head, 'this is why I go to shows.' That was why I looked forward to every single Blakfish gig I went to.

Every single photo I post here was taken by me. And every one of them captured a moment in time in which Blakfish absolutely made the world around us disappear, as if the world itself only consisted of us, the audience, and Blakfish, the gods of this small world.

I'm a massive gigs-goer, catching as many bands as I can, as often as I can. And I can honestly say few bands can better Blakfish when they take the stage.

Hopefully we will see the members in another form. That kind of energy should not be kept hidden. It should be shared with a crowd that will appreciate it, and shout back every word you shout at them.

Rest in peace, Blakfish (2000-2010)

Signing out

Over and out