2025. The year we did a few festivals.

We’re halfway through the year as I see it. I know it’s not technically halfway, but you get my drift.

It’s an absolutely scorchingly hot summer night in Glasgow. It’s time for another load of random musings from your Joey B Wannabe, Scotti!

Captured live at The Brickyard, Carlisle, April 2025 by James Hadley Photography.
Used with kind permission

Three stonking gigs kicked off the first half of the year for us. Our first gig of 2025 in January was an absolute beast. It saw us make our first appearance at Rock the Gardens in Blackpool, and hopefully not our last.

We have to express our huge thanks to Rab Curran and all the team involved in Rock the Gardens. It was such an amazing event with a fantastic venue, location, and crowd. The sound and everything were perfect. We had an absolute blast, before, during, and after the event. Hell, we even managed to finish the night with an ensemble version of Am I Evil. EPIC!

To play a venue as legendary as The Winter Gardens was quite something, and we definitely hope to do so again some day.

Antisocial captured live at Rock The Gardens 3 in January 2025. Footage shot by Jon Boriss Photography and used with kind permission

March saw us return to our favourite Edinburgh haunt, Bannerman’s, for a re-imagining of the 1991 Clash of the Titans tour. Hell, we even managed to get a hold of an Alice in Chains tribute to complete the line-up in style!

The Clash of the Titans/Tributes gigs have grown as an extension of our Wee Four trips. The lads in Live Undead, and Megadeth UK have come to be some of our closest friends on the road, and gigs with them are always fun, and never dull. Edinburgh was no different. A hot, sweaty, heavy, heaving, mass of metalheads joined us all, along with The Lost Dogs doing their bit for Alice in Chains, to make it yet another memorable night in the capital.

Captured live at Bannermans Edinburgh, by Eddie McEleney and used with kind permission

A month on, and April saw us hit another of our favourite places to play when we hit Carlisle for a return of the Wee Four event. ArrAnthrax, Live Undead, Megadeth UK, and of course Metal Militia took to the stage after last hitting the venue in September of 2023.

I mentioned above about the good times we have with all of these guys, but it’s worth noting that we’ve been sharing the stage with them all in some shape or form now for the past 7 years. It’s not always plain sailing, there are some bumps in the road, it’s only natural. But this lot, they’re touring mates, they’re gig buddies, we’ve had good times, and bad times, personally, that we’ve shared. They’re family, and family bonds are strong, regardless of personalities. These bands, between us all, we have something special in this “Wee Four” tribute. How long we have with this, who knows, but by GOD we make sure and enjoy it every single time in as many ways possible as we can.

Which leads me on to another part of these gigs on the road. Road trips. We’re a band that like to have a lot of fun up on stage. We hope you all see that when you come to the gigs. But, I’ll let you into a little secret… these road trips are a lot of fun AFTER the gigs too (you should all come along and join us, please, it’s mental fun). Carlisle was another one of those memorable nights, in a dodgy overnight hotel, finding venues to go and chill after the gig, with people who have come to see us… hell, sometimes shots of some non-descript alcohol are involved before we find ourselves rolling into bed at stupid o’clock before heading back up to Glasgow the next day… but you know what, that’s rock and roll

Chilling with friends and fans after the Wee Four gig in Carlisle

So that leaves us the rest of 2025…. and, excuse the French, but FUCK ME, it’s gonna be epic.

August sees a phenomenal… PHENOMENAL… double festival header of EPIC proportions so good I’ve had to us caps twice in the one sentence.

Just after COVID, we took to the stage at Festwich, one of the UKTributeFestivals multiple tribute events back in 2021, then did the same in 2022. Fast forward to 2025 and we are in awe, and cannot wait to return to the stage, in honour of Black Sabbath, and Ozzy, at WV1Fest in Wolverhampton on 10th August. It’s an absolute honour to be invited back, and we can’t thank Dawn and the team enough for inviting us back. We’ve got a pretty special set lined up for this one, so Do. Not. MISS IT.

Yes, this was the state of us after our first Festwich. Please don’t judge

BUT… Festival fever does not end there. Two weeks later and we’re down in Leicestershire for the first ever Dubs of Rock festival. Cattows Park. Not many tickets left. So be there or be somewhere else I guess 😉

The remainder of 2025 is nothing but fun, fun, fun (to my mind anyway). September sees us return to Wakefield for another Wee Four trip. It’s going to be hot, sweaty, heavy, and a lot of fun as always.

Then, ArrAnthrax will FINALLY RETURN TO TRILLIANS!!!! We love Newcastle in more ways than we’d care to answer… and it’s a special one. It’s Allan’s 50th Birthday as well. SHHHHHH, don’t tell him. Where else to celebrate your 50th, than doon’ the ‘toon… It’s free, so get in early, cos we will have a BEAST of a set for you all.

Then we have to finish 2025 in Glasgow. Oor home toon. At the Cathouse. Legendary rock and metal establishment in Glasgow. And we bring friends… Hellbound will be in support, and we will break shit up big time to celebrate the end of the year, and my birthday 😉 …just saying

So, there you have it. Half term report card. A+++ in my eyes.

Hope to see you all on the road at some point. We do this for the love of the music. We do this because of the support, and love of you all, when we come to play. We do this in tribute. We do this because we love metal, we love our metal family, we love making these memories. Don’t ever be a stranger if you come see us. Speak with us, party with us, have fun with us, because there ain’t no party like an ArrAnthrax party 😉

I’ll see myself out

Until next time… see you down the front
Scotti aka Joey B