Upcoming pop-punk rockers, The Hunna, took to Newcastle’s Riverside earlier this month to play their album 100 to the sold-out crowd.

There was a lot of anticipation inside the Riverside venue. The hype surrounding the band has been building up since their debut album was released last summer. It is, therefore, not surprising that every one of their 11 shows on the tour, except Birmingham, sold out. The crowd had a variety of ages, mostly students, but younger and older fans filled the venue too.

"The band are a bundle of energy on stage"

It was one of the strangest openings to a gig that I have ever experienced. The band have made their name as a rock group but yet, when the lights dimmed, the song ‘Party Monster’ by The Weeknd blared out and I thought I was in the wrong place. However, who would have thought, The Hunna proceeded to walk out to the words of “lips like Angelina, Like Selena, ass shaped like Selena”.

Once this madness was over the gig kicked into full throttle with the euphoric ‘You & Me’ and the crowd started the first of many mosh pits yelling “we are wild and we are free”. The band are a bundle of energy on stage with lead singer Ryan Potter topless and with pink locks flowing. The image screamed “our music is mainstream, but we are not” but was nonetheless effective on stage.

All through the set, The Hunna wasted no time changing from song to song and after the opening ditty followed ‘Never Enough’ where Potter’s vocals shone, sounding identical to the recording.

Album tracks kept on coming until the band reached ‘Sycamore Tree’ and the lights were lifted on the crowd. They stayed on, illuminating the fans, for the entirety of the most ballad-like song of the album, creating a moment of intimacy.

‘Alive’ followed and Potter announced that it was their next single of the album. He entered the crowd halfway through the performance and was, as can be expected, mobbed by youthful hands. A photographer emerged from backstage to snap the moment. No doubt, this photo will end up on The Hunna’s Facebook and Twitter pages where they are second to none for interacting with fans. Their pull on social media is, without doubt, where the majority of their fans are harvested from.

"The Hunna have mastered the skill of a catchy melody"

When the first chords of ‘She’s Casual’ were played, the whole crowd sang back the chorus and didn’t stop until the song ended. ‘We Could Be’ and ‘Rock My Way’ sandwiched this with the final song of the evening, ‘Bonfire’. Just how loud the venue became for this last track was incredible. The Hunna have mastered the skill of a catchy melody and this really shone with ‘Bonfire’. Everyone left, still humming “And we blew up like a bonfire, fire, fire”, onto Newcastle’s Quayside.

I would say that The Hunna are a band to watch for in the future but they are already making a name for themselves. The atmosphere in Riverside was deserving of a much larger venue and, given that so many shows sold out, that must be soon to come.