Skindred w / Dead Pony, InRetrospect – Venue23, Wakefield – Sunday 2nd November 2026

Skindred’s rise towards world domination with their unique brand of Newportian Ragga Metal continues on the appropriately named ‘Detour’ jaunt, seeing the band visiting town and cities not usually frequented by metal bands, and tonight saw the party roll into Yorkshire’s Wakefield and Venue 23. 

INRETROSPECT

Well before the doors opened, the queue stretched well up the road and it was clear that tonight was going to be cosy! Getting things going, having made the short trip down the road from Leeds and warming up the rapidly expanding crowd, were InRetrospect, touring in support of the recently released Aggro – The Mixtape.

Fusing elements of rap, nu-metal and hardcore the band were aggressively spewing venom one minute and then delivering epic, soaring melodies the next. Clean vocals sat comfortably alongside growls with the band sounding heavier live than on record, as the crowd began to move in response to tracks such as Sweardown and MiSunderSTooD! with the band further hyping up the crowd with chants of “Yorkshire!” and “Wakey!”. Their set was over all too soon, but I’m sure they made some new friends tonight and I’m expecting to see these guys climbing the ladder in the very near future. 

DEAD PONY

There was a change in atmosphere next when Glasgow’s Dead Pony, who were touring on the back of their highly anticipated debut album Ignore This brought a more upbeat atmosphere with their catchy, pop tinged alt-rock to a now uncomfortably full room.

Opening with Ignore This the band brought an infectious energy with them, not least vocalist, Anna Shields, who was a bundle of perpetual motion bouncing around every inch of the stage. The crowd responded by jumping and dancing along enthusiastically greeting the band as though they were headliners. Sadly Everything Burns had to be cut short due to somebody in the crowd collapsing, but the band stopped playing immediately, allowing security and the medical team to attend and get the guy to safety to recover. Freak Like Me was cut from the set to catch up time, leaving things to come to a glorious close with MANA which was dedicated to the zombie killers. 

SKINDRED

After a short turnaround, it was the turn of Newport’s finest, Skindred. Taking to the stage to the familiar Imperial Death March the atmosphere and intensity immediately went up several notches as the band tore into Set Fazers which had the entire venue bouncing. There was no let up in intensity at all during their set as they delivered their socially conscious and political rhetoric to the backdrop of pulsating party anthems such as Pressure, That’s My Jam and Kill The Power, combined with snippets of anthems such as Master Of Puppets, Last Resort, Jump and Jump Around.

Benji was a consummate ring leader, leading his troupe while also orchestrating the chaotic fun on the floor in front of the stage. The charismatic frontman was unstoppable, one second bigging up the crowd and the next playful berating them. As usual, he spent a lot of time behind his trademark black and white Union Flag, and was, of course, dressed flamboyantly throughout adding to the impact of the band’s upbeat anthems. A special mention should also go to Tommy Gleeson (of Feeder) who is covering bass following the departure of Daniel Pugsley and fitted in seamlessly. 

Flowers were thrown out to the crowd at the end of the main set, with another “Yorkshire!” chant before the band returned to the stage to pre- recorded introductions and by this time sweat was literally dripping off the ceiling as the temperature reached boiling point. The encore began with a huge Gimme That Boom before a brief tribute to Ozzy and a short rendition of War Pigs.

THE NEWPORT HELICOPTER

There was only one song that could close the set, and predictably (but not at all disappointing) Warning followed, complete with an impressive Newport Helicopter half way through – always satisfying and impressive to watch, no matter how many times I’ve now seen it! With that, the sold out crowd headed out into the cold Yorkshire night satisfied that they had been part of something special.

All photography by Andy Pountney (Event Photography Awards Winner 2024 and 2025). You can check out more of his work on shot_in_the_dark_photography2 on Instagram.

Skindred online: Website / Facebook / Instagram / X / Youtube

Dead Pony online: Website / Facebook / Instagram / X / Youtube

InRetrospect online: Facebook / Instagram / Youtube

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