Snapped Ankles| TaliaBle
The Drill Shed, Margate, Kent 
29th November 2025

The day after Black Friday, Snapped Ankles converged on the Kent coast and conjured up a far greener Saturday in The Drill Shed at Margate’s Lido. November 28th may have delivered its usual dose of retail madness, but Saturday, November 29th certainly didn’t disappoint with some musical craziness courtesy of the incomparable four piece and their opening act, TailaBle. Under the barely lit orange beacon of the Lido sign, and in a new live venue, the “Forest folk” of East London donned their individually crafted stage suits for a night of “furious dancing”.

Tottenham’s TaliaBle (Rhymes with malleable) was first up on the Drill Shed stage, and apparently the first live act to appear in Margate’s newest event space. Wearing her signature hand knitted balaclava and Elizabethan white ruff, North London’s “hardcore whimsy kinda gyal” delivered a raucously unforgettable set on, and off the stage. Encouraging the crowd to “own your space…be kind…speak up…make some friends and maybe Shazam some tunes”, the up-and-coming multi-dimensional artist, accompanied by producer and guitarist Karl Brinaj, was not about to let the crowd be passive onlookers.

During an explosive 25 minute set an enthusiastic Taliable jumped off the stage more than once, at one point challenging the crowd to prevent her from getting to the bar at the back of the room. The polite, but nonetheless entertaining mosh pit ensured a high degree of audience participation and an immersive experience for many. Unable to satisfy her thirst, Taliable scrambled back onto stage as she declared, “Ok, Margate, you won”.

Taliable’s mix of punk poetry, uncompromising rap, blistering beats and theatrical performance held the crowd; some confused, some besotted, many mesmerised, but all entertained through an enjoyable and individual opening set.

Snapped Ankles, currently on a 22 date tour that’s also seen them play shows in Germany and France, took to The Drill Shed Stage just before nine. Lead singer Patrick Austin headed to the double mic stand at the front of the stage in his trusty ghillie suit as his splatter painted Hazmat suited band mates, Chestnutt, Harry, and Russell got their instruments ready behind him.

The high energy, high intensity start to the 70 minute set didn’t let up throughout, aside from one brief moment where we were all invited to take a foray onto the windy beaches of, no, not Margate, but Fuerteventura. Here too, as Ankle Austin divided the crowd into seagulls, sand, waves, and stray dogs, was the only part of the evening where the stage, and the audience, were not bathed in an other-worldly green glow.

With the help of lighting man Sammy, Austin conducted the crowd before him as if he’d transported them back to a long forgotten primary school drama class. “This side of the room can you be the waves crashing on the seashore in Fuerteventura, and this side of the room, the seagulls, maybe we could be Margation seagulls? So now in the middle here, can you feel it?…the waves crashing, the seagulls, the sun glaring down on you….the waves, the squawk…and at the back, the tourists, welcome tourists”. With a golden glow radiating around The Drill Shed, Austin invited the crowd to “Give it up for Sammy as the sunshine” before he and the band launched into a hot and heavy Raoul.

The instructions weren’t typical of the evening, but the intention was. Paddy, Chestnutt, Harry and Russell were committed to getting everyone dancing, furiously or not. Austin himself was on-and-off the stage, with and without his keyboard or one of his log covered mic stands. His energy was as infectious as the rhythms his band were producing. At times, the heady tribal beats, screeching synths and primaeval atmosphere made it feel like we were about to witness a sacrifice to the Gods.

Austin took a quick time-out to highlight the merch stand – “Where you can buy tapes for your old car” before saying, “I’m not a politician, I’m a businessman”, the opening lyrics to the aptly titled Rhythm Is Our Business. The speedier BPM was hard to resist as the set built and built. From Pay The Rent, through Bai Lan and into Where’s the Caganer? Snapped Ankles entranced and enchanted their willing audience in a merry dance. The beats blew up, the bass lines pounded in the chests of those before them, and the post-punk, scuzzy synths neatly accented some outstanding performances.

There’ll be no encore, Austin announced before he and his band closed out their performance with a pumped up Smart World. “Thank you and goodnight” looped as Snapped Ankle’s left the stage to heartfelt appreciation and applause.

The re-imagined rave that Snapped Ankles so successfully summoned up in Margate’s Drill Shed was a joyous piece of performance art delivered in an imaginative, engaging and enthralling way. It is no wonder then that they continue to get a bigger and bigger audience. Go see, be amazed, and enjoy for yourself.

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You can find Snapped Ankles online here: They’re also on
Facebook and X, as @snappedankles

You can find TaliaBle on Instagram here: They’re also on
X, as @taliable

All words by Andrew Lockwood. More writing by Andrew Lockwood can be found at his author’s archive.

All photos by Aaron Thompson. AMP Photography