You go to enough rock and metal shows and after a while you're convinced you've seen just about every possible variation of a mosh pit there could ever be. Circle pits? Standard. Twerkle pits? Scene Queen has them down. Macarena pits? Yep, seen a few of those. I swear no metal band post-2009 has been able to play more than 10 minutes without getting everyone to go down low and then 'jumpdafuckup' together. Crowds are even rowing at Deafheaven gigs now (Amon Amarth, what have you done?!).
This is, however, the first time I've seen a full-blown, all-serving catwalk open up in the middle of a rock show. If 'rock show' is even accurate - Alt Blk Era owe as much to the arena drum 'n' bass of Pendulum and Chase & Status as they do the throbbing trap metal of Ghostemane or the cross-pollinating anthemi-core of Bring Me The Horizon. Whatever: no sooner has Hunt You Down's glistening dance-pop wrapped up than the catwalk has closed up and The Underworld is back to dancing and moshing its ass off.
It all speaks to the sheer, unbridled uniqueness of Alt Blk Era - two young sisters who began writing music together in lockdown and, in the space of a few EPs and one album, have danced through metal, punk, hip hop, edm, emo and more. This year's thoroughly decent Rave Immortal saw them embrace those aforementioned drum 'n' bass leanings to craft one of 2025's most propulsive, funnest debuts - and it really comes to life on stage.
Sandwiching a full Rave Immortal playthrough between two older tracks gives the duo - Nyrobi and Chaya Becket-Messam - and their band the chance to let the album's concept loose in full. Much of the record's material circles around Nyrobi living with chronic illness and the affect that has had on her mental health, her friendships and her relationship with her sister - "I was bedridden for a year and a half," she tells Camden at one point.
It builds an emotional focal point, but it wouldn't be nearly as impactful if the songs didn't stack up, and cuts like Straight To Heart, Crashing Parties and the album's jungly title track are flat-out ragers, sparking all manners of pitting and shape-throwing. The singalongs that greet dancey emo banger My Drummer's Girlfriend, meanwhile, suggests that Nyrobi and Chaya already have at least one undroppable hit in their arsenal.
By the time Rave Immortal sees people shamelessly breaking the 'no stagediving' rule that's plastered across signs around the venue, the Underworld is a sweatpit. I hadn't seen a catwalk at a rock show before, but I have definitely just seen one of the most energetic and joyous gigs of 2025 so far.
