THE HARA + PROFILER – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 11.3.26
The Hara materialise at the Green Door Store in Brighton courtesy of Lout promoters as part of their extensive UK tour to promote their ‘The Fallout’ album.
Support comes from Profiler, a four-piece from Bristol. They comprise vocalist and founder member Mike Evans (who was formerly also the band’s guitarist), bassist Joe Johnson, drummer Jacob Andrews and guitarist Jay Remnants. They describe themselves as “a nu-metal reawakening”, but quite honestly, to me they sound a lot more like Rage Against The Machine, which is certainly no bad thing in my book.
Before the band take the stage, I note that they have a six string bass and a seven string Jackson guitar awaiting them. It would appear that these guys are serious musicians. When the band arrive they are as impressive as their instrumentation suggests. They may not quite be at RATM’s standard yet, but they’re still a young band and they’re clearly well on their way. They have plenty of electro tricks up their sleeves too. For example, during opener ‘Dope’ the backing vocals are distorted to give them an evil growling sound.
Jacob Andrews’ drumming is pretty spectacular, especially during ‘Illusion’, a song which is, intentionally or not, accompanied by more dry ice than I’ve seen anywhere in quite a while. ‘Late Again’ is a brand new song which is going to be released in a couple of weeks. Jay Remnants’ guitar is particularly melodic in the introduction and the verses. During ‘Depth Perception’ Joe Johnson taps, which is not something you see a bassist do every day. At one point during the same song guitarist Jay Remnants plays using no effects whatsoever, which is also quite rare to see a guitarist do these days. Mike Evans seems to be a natural frontman. He’s got the voice and the moves, together with a good rapport with the audience. All in all, Profiler feel like a band who are going places. Let’s hope that one of those places is Brighton, and that they come to see us again before too long.
Profiler:
Mike Evans – vocals
Joe Johnson – bass and backing vocals
Jacob Andrews – drums
Jay Remnants – guitar and backing vocals
Profiler setlist:
‘Dope’ (from 2025 ‘Masquerading Self’ EP)
‘Illusion’ (from 2025 ‘Masquerading Self’ EP)
‘Late Again’ (unreleased)
‘Revert’ (a 2021 single)
‘Depth Perception’ (a 2025 single)
‘Luciferian’ (from 2025 ‘Masquerading Self’ EP)
‘Upgrade’ (from 2025 ‘Masquerading Self’ EP)
‘Identity’ (unreleased)
The stage is set for The Hara. There’s an old fashioned red telephone at the back of the stage. I can’t help wondering why it’s there. Is it for emergencies, or perhaps so they can phone a friend? Doubtless we shall find out in due course. Also none of the guitars have headstocks, and are of a type that I’ve not seen before. Maybe I’m just out of touch. The singer’s mic stand is festooned with miniature skulls, which is nice.
We don’t wait for long for the Manchester band to take the stage. They all went to BIMM in Manchester, but didn’t meet until after they’d graduated. They’re a three piece comprising Josh Taylor on vocals, guitarist Zack Breen and drummer Jack Kennedy. There’s no bassist. My heart sinks somewhat when I see this, as having listened to their new album ‘The Fallout’ I assume that there’s going to be a lot on the backing track. I must confess that I was slightly disappointed by the new album as any rough edges had, I thought, been overly smoothed off. The production, whilst powerful, felt a little flat. It lacks the dynamism that they display live.
They certainly don’t lack dynamism as they kick into ‘Enemy’ from the new album. There’s nothing that’s obviously on the backing track, although there is the odd synth wash in the background later on in the set. I wonder if I detect a slight hint of autotune, although that may be my ears! The purpose of the red telephone is revealed on the second song ‘Rockstar’, during which vocalist Josh uses it to have a conversation with a ‘mystery woman’, as the tabloids would say. I’m delighted to be able to say that the band are far more raw live than they are on record, with Jack Kennedy’s drumming being particularly awesomely ferocious. Indeed, I would go as far as to say that live, as a band they are a completely different beast. The audience acknowledges their ferocity by forming a circle pit, with guitarist Zack Breen joyfully joining in whilst still playing!
Before ‘Easier To Die’ Josh tells us that he loves Brighton. We all do mate! The song has a brilliant riff with some ace guitar licks as well. ‘Off The Edge’ is about people “f*cking with your emotions”. Josh crowd surfs. Maybe it’s some kind of cathartic act. We get an oldie: ‘Fool & The Thief’, “old skool from 2021” Josh tells us. ‘Kings’ however is another song from the new album. The opening backing vocals are on the backing track. This is a very minor criticism though. The sound that the three of them make unaided is incredible. ‘Stay’ has a surprisingly delicate guitar intro, which isn’t matched by the rest of the song.
Josh puts on a long leather coat for ‘Psycho Killer’ (no – not that one). Who said rock theatre was dead? He loses the coat for ‘Fire’, which features Zack’s guitar set to (at least) ‘stun’. For ‘Violence’ Josh tells us that he’s “going to get a bit vulnerable’. This should be worth seeing. Apparently this is a love song. It doesn’t sound like one. The following song ‘Monsters & Demons’ sounds a lot more like a love song, despite the title! Apparently ‘The System’ is the band’s “little dance song”. Josh asks for a mosh pit and one appears. Just like magic! A crowd surfer gets to the front and ends up on stage. The band are very welcoming and gracious about it.
Josh is apparently being stalked by a panda, which would obviously be a very worrying experience for anyone. To illustrate the horror of this, Zack appears wearing a panda head and is soon in the pit wearing it, and still playing. Josh is also later in the pit during ‘Animals’. During the closing song ‘Friends’ Josh gets us to sing the riff back to him. Pretty much the whole crowd bounces and there is much dry ice. The song, and thus the set, has the most explosive and cataclysmic ending. A storming climax to a cracking show. One in which the material from the new album has been shown to have an entirely different character when played live, and The Hara have proven that the only barrier between a band and their audience is collectively in their minds. We’re all one musical community. What a gig!
The Hara:
Josh Taylor – vocals
Zack Breen – guitar
Jack Kennedy – drums
The Hara setlist:
‘Enemy’ (from 2026 ‘The Fallout’ album)
‘Rockstar’ (from 2023 ‘Survival Mode’ album)
‘Die In The City’ (from 2022 ‘We All Wear Black’ EP)
‘Easier To Die’ (from 2026 ‘The Fallout’ album)
‘Off The Edge’ (from 2020 ‘Play Dead’ EP)
‘Fool & The Thief’ (from 2022 ‘We All Wear Black’ EP)
‘Kings’ (from 2026 ‘The Fallout’ album)
‘Stay’ (from 2026 ‘The Fallout’ album)
‘FYI’ (from 2020 ‘We Are The Movement’ EP)
‘Psycho Killer’ (from 2026 ‘The Fallout’ album)
‘Fire’ (from 2023 ‘Survival Mode’ album)
‘Violence’ (from 2026 ‘The Fallout’ album)
‘Monsters & Demons’ (from 2026 ‘The Fallout’ album)
‘Intergalactic Sabotage’ (from 2026 ‘The Fallout’ album)
‘The System’ (from 2026 ‘The Fallout’ album)
‘Twist The Arrows’ (from 2026 ‘The Fallout’ album)
‘Bury Me’ (from 2026 ‘The Fallout’ album)
‘Trophy’ (from 2026 ‘The Fallout’ album)
‘Animals’ (from 2020 ‘Play Dead’ EP)
‘Friends’ (from 2020 ‘We Are The Movement’ EP)
