UK - South Wales

The hxc scene in South Wales is very healthy. I have only recently started going to gigs again and it is taking a while to get to know the bands and some of the history that makes the scene what it is right now but I've got to say that my first impression is that we are all very lucky to have such a busy and active hxc community. This does not happen without a lot of hard work from certain individuals and a massive amount of goodwill to protect what has been achieved.

We have regular gigs at a venue in Newport called Le Pub which has become part of the UK hardcore circuit because of the open-minded booking policy of the management and also the collective energy of the people and bands associated with CCHC (Cardiff City HC).


There's an excellent sense of community amongst the bands and you will almost certainly see them watching each other's shows and regularly supporting in other ways, such as mentions on websites, selling each other's merch and playing at gigs around the UK together. Recently all of them played together at a show in Birmingham which will hopefully become a regular event in other cities in the UK in the future.
Live clips:
Crossbreaker
Ironclad



The bands that represent the scene well are:

Wiretap!

Ironclad

Crossbreaker

Brutality Will Prevail

Harbour


The hXc scene does not actively fight for change although there is the occasional gig for charity (in fact there was one this week) and some members of the community are supporters of sXe. Le Pub recently hosted one of the few screenings of XEdge which was put on by the owner of Freestyle Skatestore in Newport, who makes an active link with the South Wales skate scene too. CCHC promotions have a strictly no fighting policy and it is very impressive watching this being enforced. All community members have a very strong sense of pride about their scene and will always be respectful to those who show respect.

More information about hxc from South Wales can be found at CCHC myspace and SouthWalesMassive. I used to write a blog about the scene here (swukmorethanmusic) but any updates will now be posted on this site instead.

Peace
Brian