Turnstile | The Garden | High Vis
Alexandra Palace, London
5th November 2025

Hardcore heavyweights Turnstile’s sold-out London show brings non-stop euphoria from start to end. Eylem Boz reviews.

Remember, remember the 5th of November, a phrase that now holds an entirely different meaning for the 10,000-strong congregation of Turnstile fans at London’s Alexandra Palace. As fireworks punctuated the dreary November sky, fans crowded around the venue, a palpable anticipation hanging in the air. Turnstile, the American hardcore band currently in the process of taking the world by storm, made their triumphant return to the capital on Bonfire Night after their infectiously energetic performances at this year’s Lido and Reading and Leeds festivals. To say there was momentum leading up to this show would be an understatement. Following the release of their monumental album Never Enough in June, the band have been the darlings of hardcore, leading the charge of the genre into the spotlight.

First to take the stage were Scouse hardcore heavy hitters High Vis, who, straight off the bat, had the crowd in the palm of their hands. Opening with Drop Me Out, the set was full throttle from the jump; the instant surge of bodies was met with vocalist Graham Sayle demonstrating the weight of the music with his body. As a legion of crowd surfers took to the air, the night’s highly anticipated ecstatic recklessness began. The frontman often took time to let the crowd know that the opportunity to play at such an iconic venue was a dream come true. In being handed such a large platform, High Vis did not put it to waste. In true hardcore spirit, Sayle took the time in between songs to remind people of the importance of community in the face of capitalism, as well as a deeply touching message about his own mental health. The explicit nature of the frontman’s passion for his music, and his lust for life because of it, was extremely touching; emotions poured thick like concrete across the audience, which drove them to reflect their support even harder. The beauty of hardcore in its simplest form is the way in which it allows for the spilling of guts to become a unifying experience, and High Vis, both in their lyrics and attitude, were an excellent example of this.

Amongst the crowd lay a cult of jesters adorned in black and white makeup waiting with baited breath for the second act of the evening – Orange County California’s The Garden. Twin brothers Wyatt and Fletcher Shears are truly in a league of their own; their music is entirely singular, a monster of their own creation that presents a tantalising polarity. The band’s stage presence is mysterious, but carries a tinge of self-aware silliness that perfectly complements what they play. Their songs of spectral hauntings and near-fatal car accidents filled with ghostly noises brought a deliciously sinister energy to the room – one that perhaps not everyone understood. Bassist and lead vocalist Wyatt Shears poked fun at this, asking his captive audience, “don’t you want to get all of your giggles out before Turnstile?”. The Garden are a band unafraid to be completely themselves, relishing in the uncanny discomfort they create. The pockets of their disciples gave their all from all over the audience. It would be remiss of me not to mention the black and white face paint running from my face as I hung dotingly on each word. Somersaulting into their last song What Else Could I Be But A Jester? the band gave their final mission statement, a chaos filled industrial-infused song whose explosive nature rivalled outsides firework festivities.

As Bowie’s classic Let’s Dance rang through the palace walls, the anticipation for the headline act Turnstile reached a fever pitch. As the band took to the stage and the opening notes of Never Enough blasted almost biblically, bodies flung themselves towards the stage almost as if pulled in by the magnitude of the sound. It was as if nothing else mattered in the world. Made up of vocalist Brendan Yates, bassist Franz Lyons, drummer Daniel Fang and guitarists Pat McCrory and Meg Mills, Turnstile are a band operating at the top of their game. Not only do they know how to use every inch of the stage, but they also extend themselves to the four corners of the venue with ease. Immediately pummelling into T.L.C (Turnstile Luv Connection), the crowd showed no sign of slowing down, colliding into each other with practised aggression. There was an overwhelming sense of community within the crowd, the hardcore sensibility of togetherness that can sometimes fizzle away as a band reaches new heights in their career was shining as bright as ever. It is hard to capture how it felt to be in the middle of that crowd in words alone; spinning around a mosh pit, chest heaving, sweat dripping, a disco ball painting the walls in white specs, the buttery-smooth groove of SEEIN’ STARS smothering everything in its path. It is not often these days that one is overcome by the persistence of the human spirit despite it all, but in the

In the middle of the Turnstile pit, it felt like everything was going to be ok – despite my bloody nose, the man’s elbow in my gullet, and sweat-soaked jester makeup. To quote that one Russian raver from that one old meme, “there is much pain in the world, but not in this room”. Everyone in the room could feel it, infectious joy unavoidable as bodies flew to the commanding guitars.

The audience were as integral to the show as Turnstile themselves, placed front and centre on the large screen behind the band. With Never Enough being a visual album, the stage design intricately incorporated the scope of the visual experience of listening to the record. With speedy cuts and multiple angles, the crowd were playing a role in this cinematic masterpiece, allowing the fans to be a part of the creative identity of the record. The true hero of the evening was undeniably the mosh pit cameraman, who captured the elation of the crowd from the frontlines, eventually crowdsurfing back over the barricade and capturing it all on video. The show felt like a team effort on all counts, Turnstile bringing their music to their people and their people giving back their energy tenfold.

What is impressive about Turnstile is that no matter the distance they go, their roots are firmly anchored. They are leading the charge, guns a-blazing for hardcore. Their sold out show at the Ally Pally was nothing if not a love letter to the genre, a euphoric swan dive into superstardom. It was the kind of show that reminds you what the subculture is all about: the overwhelming feeling of community in the room, the same community that High Vis championed about two hours before, the same creativity that The Garden unabashedly brought, all in full bloom. The euphoria of the evening has seeped into my skin, and it is a non-stop feeling that I never want to shake.

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Turnstile are next scheduled to return to London for next year’s All Points East Festival, but in the meantime can be found online at turnstilehardcore.uk. They can be found on social media on Instagram (@turnstileluvconnection) and Twitter (@TURNSTILEHC).

The Garden have just released their brilliant new single Ugly. The band can be found online at thegardenvadavada.com. They can be found haunting social media on Instagram (@__thegarden__) and on Twitter (@thegardenvv).

High Vis are a band not to be missed, and can be found online at highvisuk.com. They can be found on Instagram (@highvis).

All words by Eylem Boz, Eylem is a music writer and fashion historian. She can be found online at Instagram @itwslv

Photos provided by PR  Huxley World | credit: Trevor Roberts.