The sisterhood always wins in the end.
By Michael Hartmann. November 24, 2023.
Punk Witches from London, and The Ramones meets Bikini Kill. This is Dream Nails, a punk rock band from the UK, on social media.
No wonder my expectations were high back in 2017 when the band was scheduled to perform in Oslo. Dream Nails is not your average band. It is much more.
What a concert it was! After leaving the venue, I had seen an impressive gig. I had also witnessed a superpower of feminism wrapped inside the sound of an explosive punk experience.
During the concert, the girls in the audience were invited to stand closer to the stage. “Girls to the front,” said the lead singer. Feministic power.
In order to let the girls move forward, the men were asked to step back. The band members were taking charge, commanding girls to step forward, or, as the lead singer put it, “claiming their space”. It didn’t bother me at all. I respectfully kept my distance. So did many of the men around.
That’s when the problem began. Two men, a young man in his twenties and an older man in his sixties approached the stage. Their evening seemed to be planned out. But there was no way Dream Nails was going to let them ruin their evening.
The lead singer instructed the two men on how to behave around women. The two men refused to remove themselves, so she raised her voice and looked directly at them. -Do you think this doesn’t apply to you?
Ah, satisfaction.
Later, the band used social media to follow up:
Last night in Oslo was fucking rowdy – exhilarating but with an edge of danger. It was a big battle to enforce our women & nb people to the front policy but there is no way we can sing about rape with drunk men leering at us & falling over the front of the stage. A guy kept trying to touch Mimi’s pedals and her leg, so she had to kick him to get him off…
The band continued:
Luckily all the amazing lady punks surged forward & all the sweet smiling babes took up their rightful space, but wow…these things can really be touch and go. You never know how men will react to not being in control of a space, but the sisterhood always wins in the end.
Girl power!
Related story: Dream Nails: Taking feminist punk to new heights
This is Doom Loop (2023):
Dream Nails is touring! Get your tickets at dreamnailsband.co.uk
The British website Kerrang! describes Dream Nails this way: “One of the most exciting bands in British punk”.
Band members:
Ishmael Kirby – lead vocals
Anya Pearson – guitars, synths and backing vocals
Mimi Jasson – bass, backing vocals, piano, synths, percussion
Lucy Katz – drums, percussion, backing vocals
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