Summer Bash 2025: An Introduction to Tape It Shut!

Wait, what?! You need reasons to get you, your bother, your mother and that homeless person down the street a ticket for this years landmark seventh incarnation of Summer Bash?! Alrightly… well first off it’s at The Facebar in Reading on 26th July which means air conditioning from the heat of the sun or shelter from the rain! Secondly there will be no less than eleven bands (see below) taking to the stage, a line up put together by your wonderful hosts Mercury’s Well! thirdly it’s an excuse to put in a Hawaiian shirt or grass skirt (or both) and join an in door beach party with flowers, inflatables and cocktails without having to get any sand between your toes! Need more?! Read on!

Here’s the complete line up for the seventh incarnation of Summer Bash:

Hidden Mothers
Masquerader
Black Skull Ritual
Buds.
Tape It Shut
Turning Point
Skin Reaper
Mercury’s Well
Gutlocker
Remnant
Killswitch Enchambers (Killswitch Engage Tribute featuring former members of Kill Chambers)

As the headline subliminally suggests, this piece is of course an introduction to the almighty Tape It Shut, a band wo declare themselves to be “a strange brand of lighting fast political punk rock entertainment! Mixing the styles of bands like Frenzal Rhomb, Sonic Boom Six and Random Hand!“. Now having witness on stage previously we can tell you first hand that that statement is pretty accurate but it doesn’t say anything about their sense of humour, live energy or catchy, sing-a-long choruses. Let’s put it this way. They love a bit of satire and in evidence of that we submit before the court song titles like “Thank F*** For Toilets“, “Pandora’s Box Of Sex Toys” and “Super Rapid Fire Free Money Game” and after a decade in the game, they’re still going strong. Recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Daly George (Burnt Tapes, Miss Vincent, Making Friends) they’ve just bounced out new single “Employee Of The Hour” and there is absolutely no doubt you can witness that one live at Summer Bash! All we’re saying is… you’ve got time to learn the lyrics!

On the new single, the band comment: “We have all had experiences in our workplace that make us feel like ramming screwdrivers into our eyes. We’ve had to put up with awful workloads, monsters of managers and customers that make us feel like dirt. All for so little pay we can barely justify coming to work the next day.

When we wrote this song we were mainly going after Andy’s manager at the pet store where he worked. A man who didn’t believe in mental illness or disability, something which Andy is medicated for and had frequent doctors appointments to check in on. His manager would often say things like “Why can’t you do this like everyone else”, “Do you really need to go to those doctors appointments” and “Other people aren’t as slow as you”, effectively picking on his disability under the guise of the store not hitting targets.

Whether in retail, IT service desks or hospitality, we have all seen this trend of businesses being fine with disability and mental health until their employees fall below the expectation of productivity. This supposed ‘drop below the line’ is often the start of a company finding the quickest way to make sure these undesirable employees either quit or get disciplined. We are more than productivity targets and numbers on a screen, we are human beings, and workplaces shouldn’t forget that in the pursuit of profit. We are more than productivity numbers on a screen, we are human beings and workplaces shouldn’t forget that in the pursuit of profit!”

We’re proud confirm that Metal Noise dot Net is returning for a third consecutive year as the Media Partner for Summer Bash! Mercury’s Well will be hosting the seventh incarnation of their annual Hawaiian beach party themed event on 26th July 2025 at The Facebar in Reading.

Get your tickets -> here