Chapter One: The First Three Months

By R. Loxley

When Sherwood launched at the beginning of 2025, it was a response to a long, slow crisis. The music industry has been bleeding value since the rise of P2P software, then streaming platforms, until we reached a point where music was treated as disposable. In 2020, musicians were told that their careers weren’t real jobs. Sherwood exists as a response.

Sherwood is a hand extended to the working musicians who still treat this craft like it matters - an attempt to find the best, most affordable live music, and to direct others towards it. Learning where the UK’s true musical pulse lies, and capturing it.

These first 14 videos document the exceptional musical events we witnessed in the first three months of 2025, speaking to the real unsung heroes of the underground: the fans. Their voices carry something that press releases never can, as they keep this ecosystem alive.

Resolution Festival 2025 - 100 Club

Sherwood kicked off this year at the legendary 100 Club. Resolution Festival offered eight nights of music for just £100 - unreal value considering the lineup: Discharge, Subhumans, UK Subs, and so many more. We spoke to diehard Ferocious Dog fans, as well as headliner TV Smith, and came away safe in the knowledge that punk’s not dead. It’s aging well.

Cattle Decapitation - Electric Brixton

Battle jackets, long hair, piercings, and huge smiles, deathgrind is not for everyone, and that’s the whole point. With four bands on the bill for £30, each more punishing than the last, Cattle Decapitation consistently deliver the heaviest, tightest, most technically stunning metal sets you’ll see anywhere.

Zetra - Electrowerkz

Cloaked in smoke and mystery, Zetra’s synth-drenched goth-metal was heavy, yes, but strangely comforting, wrapping around you like a spell. Fans had travelled from across Europe for this tiny show, having caught Zetra on tour supporting bands like Health. The atmosphere was buzzing, with fantastic support from Moth Slut; a beautifully special gig that proved how far people will go for real art.

Sugar Horse - The Grace

An extreme sound bath, full of satisfying, carvernous volume, The Grace’s intimate layout made every moment of Sugar Horse’s set feel massive. With songs taken from their immense 2024 release The Grand Scheme of Things, this was a colossal and immersive experience for the price of a takeaway and a pint.

Read our interview with Sugar Horse here.

Split Dogs - The Grace

The Grace is fast becoming one of London’s best bets for musical brilliance. Pure rock and roll fun, electric with charm, after discovering Split Dogs as a support act at Resolution Festival, we had to catch their headline tour. The room was packed, their energy was contagious, and their upward momentum is obvious.

Napalm Death - Electric Brixton

Napalm Death’s Campaign for Musical Destruction tour delivered exactly what it promised: relentless intensity, brilliant value, and a true gathering of the extreme metal scene. Decades deep and still untouchable, the crowd was a blur of limbs and sweat. We even caught up with Sammy from Employed To Serve in the pit. No gimmicks, no costumes, no compromise.

Chaos Theory: 15 Years Of Chaos - The Underworld

A celebration of everything that matters in underground music, day two of Chaos Theory’s 15th anniversary showcased boundary-pushing, politically charged, emotionally potent bands. Shooting Daggers brought queer hardcore with sharp songwriting and powerful crowd command, Five the Heirophant delivered one of the most immersive sets we’ve ever witnessed, and Svalbard closed the night with their signature emotional ferocity, all of it unfolding in the legendary Camden Underworld, a sacred space for so many of us. Hats off to the Chaos Theory crew, one of the year’s standouts.

Avalanche Party - The Social

Crammed into The Social’s 150-capacity sweatbox, Avalanche Party delivered one of the most commanding performances we’ve seen all year. Equal parts punk ferocity and sharp, ambitious songwriting, their set was all swagger and sweat. The manic Der Traum Uber Alles is already one of the standout albums of 2025, and these massive songs hit even harder live.

The Weather Station - Islington Assembly Hall

With a sense of curiosity in the air, many in the room had only recently discovered the lush Humanhood, Tamara Lindeman’s astonishing new album, and turned up because they had to know more. What they found was a deeply human, genre-blurring performance that drifted between folk, jazz, rock and electronica with grace. Karen Ng’s saxophone solos were jaw-dropping throughout, and the closer Sewing left the hall breathless.

Knocked Loose - Brixton Academy

The biggest show we’ve covered so far - a stacked lineup saw underground heroes Pest Control open, and the beautifully brooding Basement, whose set added a welcome change of pace before Knocked Loose unleashed total chaos. Hardcore is back, bigger than ever, and Knocked Loose are leading the charge. Thousands packed into Brixton Academy for proof that loud, aggressive guitar music isn’t fading.

Raging Speedhorn - The Underworld

Raging Speedhorn are back - heavier and funnier than ever. Once genuinely threatening, their current form is a rampaging riff machine that refuses to follow trends. With their new album Night Wolf absolutely crushing, and The Underworld the perfect pit for it, this felt like peak-era performance.

Mr. Scruff - Giant Steps

When we arrived the dancefloor was scattered with beanbags and blissed-out listeners lying on their backs, eyes closed. Over six hours, the space shifted from meditative chill to joyous movement, all guided by one of the finest record collections on earth. The crowd was full of loyal returners, and £1 from every ticket on this tour went to grassroots music venues. Mr. Scruff is a national treasure, and Sherwood will always have his back.

Juanita Stein - The Lower Third

Tucked away in the heart of Soho, The Lower Third felt like a secret haven - winding corridors opening up into a glowing room, perfectly suited to the expansive, reverb-drenched folk of Juanita Stein. Her set, rooted in the haunting beauty of 2024’s intimate record The Weightless Hour, was magnetic - quiet, but absolutely commanding. The crowd was a mix of longtime Howling Bells devotees and newcomers discovering her through this stunning solo work. Utterly smitten.

Nubiyan Twist - Electric Brixton

After a run of ear-pummelling metal, punk, and hardcore, Nubiyan Twist offered something else entirely: joy. One of the UK’s finest funk, afrobeat, soul, and jazz collectives lit up Electric Brixton with a set that felt like one big shared party. The crowd was full of couples on dates, and people of every age and background. Support act Ebi Soda were phenomenal, and baritone saxophonist Hannah Mae Birtwell’s solos took the roof off. The perfect way to close Sherwood’s first chapter.

From six-hour DJ marathons to punk legends, doom metal to folk, what unites them all is the sense that live music still matters - deeply. Sherwood was born out of a desire to protect and promote the spaces and artists that still create meaning, these videos are a living archive of where the magic is happening now, and we’re just getting started.