January’s been a long month but its anticipated end was well-marked by the fourth instalment of the annual Rifffest event at Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen. The showcase of loud, emerging talent, co-hosted by Super Friendz* and Brooders, drew out a real mix of ages and punk revellers. It was also my chance to catch Dead Pony, after months of trying to see them while they’ve been on their pretty exponential rise.

Doors opened and Yutaniii were first to step up. Their energy-building set culminated in a slow penultimate track, ‘Cosmic Joke’, which was quickly chased by a frantic closer, ‘Bodysnatchers’. The five-piece professed how grateful they were to be playing to a swelling crowd rather than just a few faces, and they were a stellar start to the occasion.

The frenzied, all-action delivery from HELLE created this angsty 30 minutes of alt rock bordering metal. What do you expect when there’s a well-stickered Jackson guitar in the mix? Their bass was solid and rich in fuzz pedal throughout, and ‘SCARLETT FEVER’, their debut that came out in November, was a proper hit. No wonder they’ve been bagging gig slots left, right and centre!

It appears to be a good time to be Mince. They’ve gone from playing Leeds’ Lending Room to Belgrave in seemingly quick succession, and they’ve just announced a supporting slot they’ve secured at the iconic Brudenell Social Club, too. If the assignment was ‘frenetic performance’, the young five-piece had understood their orders. Between the dual mic efforts of their frontman and rhythm guitarist, there was plenty of screaming in a sea of riffs and plucked strings. And they’d done well to pick a name so easy to chant.

Brooders, the band on the billing behind the event, rose up with a dancier display than I remember from their 2020 set at this very event. Betwixt a plethora of synths, they possessed scuzzy yet sparkly bass riffs that you could fully lose yourself in. People were almost in trance-like, ready-to-rave mode as the room filled even more.

They were followed by a totally raucous Girls In Synthesis. What a fine example of a three-piece who can shred and bring the noise this event has a reputation for! Everyone was all ears.

But it turns out those ears had been warming up for DITZ in particular, an outfit with no fear of dialling up and down the tempo at free will, and exhibiting the most experimental, electronic, synthetic transitions. I wasn’t ready for what they brought, and nobody was worthy.

Through the surfing and singing within the crowd to the most deft, workout-esque drumming I might’ve ever witnessed, believe me when I say they were unreal. And it was largely all down to their faultless rhythm section. I think anyone there would’ve agreed it was the sort of epic spectacle you’d never wanted to stop. That’s the benchmark for 2023 now — can it be beaten?

10:30pm struck and along came the headline act, Glasgow’s Dead Pony, who were handling the drive to Leeds and back all in a day. Props. As mentioned, this was finally my ticket to beholding this band’s power on stage, and it was very visible from the off why they come critically acclaimed and they’ve been rocketing towards countless major gig and festival slot acquisitions.

Amid the movement around the stage and down on the floor in the crowd, their frontwoman Anna was entirely captivating. Their ferocious cover of Nelly Furtado’s ‘Maneater’ was seriously slick, and ‘I Don’t Need A Lot’, ‘Zero’ and ‘23, Never Me’ (my favourites) were just as immense live. Sign me up for being front-row again soon, because their co-ordination between SPD and raw, shredding riffs was sensational, and so were Anna’s angelic yet feisty vocals.

*With thanks to Super Friendz for the press access