Time to Hammerdown at BuNker 11

Hammerdown pulled in four metal bands to let rip at BuNker11 in Worthing. A night of metal and rock. Loud and fast! Perfect stuff!

Crooked Shapes, One Last Day, Stone Soup and Table Football – Bunker 11, Charles Dickens pub – 20 09 2025

Bunker 11 and Hammerdown

Welcome to the renamed, rebranded and refitted performance area at The Charles Dickens, Bunker 11 for a night hosted by the brilliant team of Hammerdown All In Management.

The weather outside that night was not great, but inside down below The Charles Dickens in Worthing at Bunker 11, the bands were about to create a rockin’, metal storm! Sadly due to transport issues we missed Table Football – next time guys!

Ok lets go through the bands we managed to catch! First up for me a new outfit Stone Soup, then One Last Day and scroll down for Crooked Shapes!

Stone Soup

Stone Soup: photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

A lively bunch led by a charismatic vocalist, Paul. Their set was most definitely in the fast and furious bracket. These guys have been around for a while and Paul said they all get together once a week to put in some practice and writing and to have a blast! They have had some music releases and a new album coming soon.The Stone Soup set was made up of new material from their forthcoming album. We had some real face melters such as a timely State Of America and A.I.Mageddon. The set was so damn powerful with buzzing riffs and breaks, sadly the lighting was pretty poor for this and the drummer was sat at the back in the darkness. Couldn’t see him, but we could definitely hear him.

“Lets see some hands in the air for this one” and a surprisingly dense sea of hands shot up. Two guitars regularly jostling with each other, a solid powerful bass and some super vocals make up this band.

Every electric, valve frying sound is perfectly nailed down into place with the chugging heaviest riffs I have heard in a while and inspired guitar breakdowns reigned supreme. This was a band that grabs you by the throat and pulls you in. It’s a familiar metal sound, but under that layer they are so much more. These are damn fine banging tunes.

I want to see them again, they need some more gigs down South to get their name out. Stone Soup seemed to be in a particularly playful mood this evening. They are really, really good and put up a solid fiery 30 minute set. The last song of the set was Fuzzy Brain, their latest single, complete with a brain woolly hat worn by Paul!

Stone Soup are overflowing with energy and confidence, strong performances from the whole band, put ‘em all together and you have a powerful live sound.

Stone Soup: photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

I think I have found another favourite band! You can dig into Stone Soup on FaceBook here: https://www.facebook.com/stonesoupbluesband

One Last Day

One Last Day: photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

I make no secret of my admiration for these guys, even if they did mention I was wearing an old T Shirt for their earlier album The End Is The Beginning! They have undergone some changes since we last met and I was introduced to their unique sound. A new vocalist was in place now. They had no bass guitar tonight but had some bass tracks they used. One Last Day still put up their sound brilliantly, full of epic guitar solos and powerful soundscapes.

Their set was again dominated by some meaty and rapid riffs, some fabulous drumming fills, and the new front man’s unbridled energy and vocal work. What the bands influence and drive, with the new vocalist, gives to their sound is a direct and new freshness.

One Last Day: photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

They are offering a pure unadulterated entertaining set and they stunningly succeed at this entertaining the audience. Gareth pulled off some great poses, he also ventured into the crowd to plant some awesome guitar work. They take the crunch and pace of rock and metal and inject it into a completely different unique style and genre. It’s that mix of styles that makes them so enticing and do no wrong in my view!

After some SIX powerful songs including No Chemical, Its A Sin, I Hate Everything and the final one being The Bottle Got Me, the small but perfectly formed audience was well and truly warmed up. The stage was set for Crooked Shapes.

One Last Day: photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

One Last Day are on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/OneLastDayOfficial

Crooked Shapes

Crooked Shapes: photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

Love this outfit and was great to back in front of this trio. Hailing from Reading UK, Crooked Shapes are an alternative melodic hard rock group that fire up the senses with no-nonsense sonics that down a storm with rock fans.

Crooked Shapes pack in some melodic vocals and harmonies, with hard hitting in your face guitars, bass, and drums. Lets not forget the hair! Put it all together and you have a powerhouse called Crooked Shapes. They are unique and exciting. Crooked Shapes always give an unparalleled show in terms of stage presence and tempo, they give you a mini-festival opening act kind of vibe – such is their level of intensity.

An electrical glitch delayed things for a few minutes, but a swap out soon had the guys doing what they do!

The trio opened up with Volition followed up with the powerful Where are You? and On The Edge, then they ignited another banger with their latest single release Misery. Guitars and a kicking rhythm from the drum kit situated again in the dark at the back welded it all together in a wall of buzzing, howling guitars.  This was loud, fast and a great set to fire up the crowd.

The riffs are crisp and don’t stick around look enough to get boring, the drum and bass working in perfect unison. There is a fresh breeziness and bounce to their set which feels strong tonight, and went down well with the crowd. Their sound stays pretty heavy yet it is all skilfully well-balanced, featuring a mash-up of crashing metal riffs, powerful bass and drums. You can dance to these guys, shake your hair or head bang it up in a mosh pit.

Crooked Shapes presented themselves again, stronger than ever tonight, playing with precision, passion and enthusiasm. They are a formidable live act with such an astonishingly good catalogue of material that they don’t need bells or whistles. Well played guys!

Crooked Shapes are on FaceBook here: https://www.facebook.com/crookedshapes

All the bands tonight proved, as always, to be immensely enjoyable and you know what? I would happily go see any of them play again. A great line up, well played and thanks and respect to Hammerdown.

Hammerdown is a fresh, exciting management company & booking agency, based on the South Coast of England, with agents around the UK. You can find the guys on their website by following this link: https://www.hammerdownallin.co.uk/

Hammerdown is a Sussex based brand promoting rock and metal across the county, from successful festivals at 850 capacity venues, to grass roots venues like Worthing’s brand new BuNker11. Hammerdown strives to provide grass roots bands the opportunities to perform on big stages, and works with musicians on brand development throughout their careers.

Bunker 11 can be found underground here: https://bunker11.co.uk/

BuNker11 (BN11) is the home of grass roots live and original music in the West End of Worthing. The venue currently hosts regular monthly gigs by TOT Presents and Hammerdown music promoters as well as some gigs by Paralytic Promotions. While most of the gigs are punk, post punk, rock or metal they are keen to mix genres and push boundaries.

If you are a local band or performer looking to perform please get in touch. They have a full backline and the venue supplies a sound tech.

And finally…

Thanks to Hammerdown, BuNker11 and all the bands playing