With the memory of their standout Bodega show still fresh in our minds, there was no way we were going to miss SPRINTS' return to Nottingham. This time, Rock City was the venue for a milestone performance which defined the absolute best of the outspoken, anarchic, post-punk spirit...
It can be a double-edged sword, comparing a band to other acts. On the one hand, it can be a useful tool to provide context and anchor something new in familiar terms. On the other, you run the risk of diminishing an artist’s individuality through comparison, of having a band’s personality be compressed, stuck in the shadow of another.
SPRINTS are an anarchic rock band hailing from Dublin, Ireland and brandishing a scythe sharp brand of lyrical wit gilded with an impassioned political edge. They are by dint of any of those descriptors apt to be uttered in the same breath as Fontaines D.C., a band who have steadily grown in prominence with each album, evolving in sound and confidence before erupting into mega-gig, mainstream status with their latest Romance. They are also a band SPRINTS happen to have recently supported on tour.
It’s arguable that Fontaines’ runaway success has – along with IDLES, Shame and others – contributed to magnetising attention back toward guitar bands, acting as a gateway for the discovery of a new wave of anxious, agitated rockers. Whether aided by this or not, based on the evidence of tonight, SPRINTS are locked in as among the next in that ever expanding lineage of milestone bands.
Support comes from Dog Race, whose own wry post-punk leanings are suffused with a manic energy that pours from the stage. Eclectic and wild, they have cited ‘leftfield and dark’ German acts such as Kratfwerk and Xmal Deutschland as influences. Live, they emit a sparking energy, the bass and electric guitars especially more prominent, as they dart between genres. You need to have an understanding of melody in order to deconstruct it, and Dog Race prove themselves adept at both.
Dressed entirely in red, Katie Healy shrugs as she yelps and barks lyrics with urgency and emotion. It’s The Squeeze showcases her impressive vocal range and intriguing affectations atop a pounding Teutonic beat, while The Leader surges, with Healy’s mantra of "To find salvation, there is a premium! For your atonement, there is a premium!" becoming increasingly feral and powerful. Definitely worthy of your time.
Tonight’s headliners enter the stage to The Game by Motörhead. Whether this is in reverence to Lemmy Kilmister (whose ashes are of course nestled within Rock City), or in reference to WWE wrestler Triple H, is uncertain.
That particular conundrum is quickly forgotten, however, as SPRINTS jump into Something’s Gonna Happen. Its moody tension builds beautifully, lulling the crowd into the show as though by hypnosis, before exploding in what will be the first of many moments of joyous catharsis.
It’s a savage start and a fierce statement of intent, and the momentum is unrelenting as they push on with muscular, snarling versions of Descartes and Adore Adore Adore. It’s several songs before the band even think about letting you take a breath.
What is immediately obvious is the sheer charisma of singer Karla Chubb. Powered by a seemingly boundless energy, she is – with no offence to the other members of the band – obviously their greatest asset. Clearly relishing every moment on stage, her smile evident between every shouted lyric, she is just oh-so at home as a frontwoman. Her singing is primal and furious one moment, knowing and soft the next, shifting in service of the noise created by her bandmates.
Throughout the evening, Chubb gees the crowd up, gleefully cajoling them to mosh, to jump, to shout, leading by example every step of the way as she pinwheels and bounces across the stage. She is also fiercely proud of her queerness and happily dedicates the gig to the queer community, sweetly pledging to use the band’s privilege to act as a voice. There’s even a heartfelt call-out to the ‘6Music dads’, too.
Touring in support of their new album All That is Over, the band play all of it tonight. Better is an early highlight, a madly catchy example of how for all their ferocity and righteous force, SPRINTS maintain a command of songwriting nous and an ear for melody that allows the listener to latch on to their songs.
Abandon and To The Bone are a brooding one-two punch, together becoming a moment of ruminative darkness resting at the centre of the set list. Onwards, through Beg and Heavy and Pieces, the band prove themselves more irresistibly talented and captivating with each track. On record, their songs wear their 90s influences coolly, mastering Pixies-inspired quiet-loud dynamics, albeit infused with very modern angst and rage. Live, they are without exception expanded and improved by the vigour and fierceness of performance.
It’s just all so polished. The lighting is considered and effective, bathing the crowd in deep reds or sweeping spotlights across the crowd. The sound is beautifully balanced; the growls of the guitars never interfering with the legibility of the vocals or the bass. That sense of rightness extends to how the band interact with the audience. During Need, Chubb – armed with a pink megaphone – jumps into the crowd and into the centre of her own mosh pit as she intones ‘I need you’.
An emotive call to arms is issued as Chubb describes ‘community, love, the arts and music’ as the antidote to the growing darknesses in the world. She urges the protection of the trans community, and leads passionate chants for Palestine. As with their compatriots Fontaines, their willingness to speak is heartening and appreciated by the crowd.
The gig truly reaches apotheosis with Desire, another song with a long, slow build. It pounds on, sweeping up all in its path before crescendoing with cries of ‘The good, the bad, the best you ever had,’ that crash like waves in a storm. Its elemental force distils everything vital about this band into a peak among peaks.
‘We are fully aware of the historic, iconic status of this venue’ says Chubb at one point. It’s safe to say they do it justice. Closing with Little Fix, during which an audience member is invited onstage to play guitar, SPRINTS’ mark has been left and those present can be in little doubt of this band’s trajectory. There will soon come a time when SPRINTS are the band casting their own very long shadow, where they are the point of comparison.
SPRINTS performed at Rock City on 12th November 2025, with support from Dog Race.
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