Live Review : Skindred @ The Tivoli, Buckley on October 23rd 2025

Let’s deal with this straight up. To try and present this as any sort of homecoming is nonsensical. Buckley is deep in the Northern most part of North Wales, a massive three and a half hours drive from Skindred country. In fact Benji and Co.’s home manor of Newport is almost as far away from the Tiv as good old London is. Add to that the fact that the Northern Welsh think of their southern counterparts with the same level of revulsion that Scousers consider Mancunians. They may share the same allegiance to the same national Rugby and Football teams but that is are far as the camaraderie stretches. What this is though is an increasingly rare opportunity to see the greatest party starters in the lands (and self-proclaimed Download house band) in a tiny venue. Other bands would see Wembley arena headline status as a proclamation of not needing to haunt these type of venues again, but not Skindred. They wear their band of the people status on their sleeves, and this show forms part of an impressive route around the mainland playing venues that bands of their stature usually ignore.

By Showtime the Tiv is so packed that the floor could have been replaced by a chasm like sinkhole and nobody would have fallen in. It is shoulder to shoulder madness as a heady mix of Tiv regulars and Skindred devotees mix in a bid to be sprinkled by the sweat from Benji’s dreadlocks. The beauty of Skindred is the fact they expertly mix political resonance with good time vibes. They are a feel good act with a social consciousness. Benji talks, a lot. He talks about the state of the world and the fact we need each other. He talks about the continued fracturation of this country’s cultural heart. The fact that it is a black man preaching this to a, mainly, white metal crowd laughs in the face of many discourse that multiculturalism has failed. Skindred are diversification personified, a ragga metal band that have as many debuts to Sabbath as they do to Jimmy Cliff. 

But politics aside Benji is also a fantastically eradiate hypeman. He owns the stage and his overflowing charisma connects with everyone who are sardine like crowbarred into the room. He talks about his history with the Tiv, which goes all the way back to the massively underrated Dub War and he talks about his joy that the venue is still flourishing when many others have fallen by the wayside. This brings him to proclaim that we need to support our local venues. When uttered by acts of their size, servitudes like that come across as tokenistic but it is obvious that Benji means it. It is in venues like the Tiv that music comes alive and this is Benji’s message for us all to take home.

Talking of music they do actually play some and this is not just a Benji spoken word affair! They revel in their heady mix of funk and heaviness. Whilst they are firmly guitar music it is, when it comes down to it, all about the bass. It is the thumbing bass that drives the tracks and keeps the beat flowing. It is dirty, grimy funk shot through with scuzzy riffs and driving break downs, but it is still fantastically botty shaking funk. Skindred are the dancing mans metal band. A fantastically vital and unique proposition that we need to exist just to keep our faith in the fact the world is a unifying place. Tonight may not have been a home coming but it was certainly a grounding experience. Proof that as much as outside forces try to divide us, our wonderful diverse and accommodating music will always unit us.

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Skindred