Live Report: The Chats blow the roof off The Academy

It’s 9pm sharp at the Academy when Queensland punk group The Chats hit the first buoyant guitar note of the night, the venue buzzing with excitement seemingly all the way to its foundations.

It’s clear from watching The Chats for even five minutes that the band have the recipe down to be, pretty much, the perfect punk band: the grit, the tongue-in-cheek attitude, the infinitely heavy yet perfectly crisp sound, just to name a few.

The Chats at the Academy on August 19th, 2025. Copyright Jason Doherty/ hotpress.com

In their simple look of graphic-tees and jeans, their youthful demeanors and never-dropping smiles, the band can’t help but inspire images of charmingly grainy, low-budget rock films from the early 2000s. In just a couple songs, the story writes itself: a group of well-meaning, lost but incredibly talented dudes trying to make it through. Only instead of the expected dirty, sweaty basement, they’re playing to a sold-out Academy.

This visual and sonic impact, The Chats also owe to their absolute and irreverent charm, in the half-laughter painted on their faces for the duration of the set, the constant and delectable crowd banter, and the way vocalist Eamon Sandwith keeps proudly pointing to his fellow band-members during particularly enjoyable solos.

The Chats at the Academy on August 19th, 2025. Copyright Jason Doherty/ hotpress.com

From opener ‘Billy Backwash’ and all throughout their one-hour, 22-songs-long set, where every track is as hard-hitting and chest-heaving as the last, the band doesn’t slow down for a second, never stopping for a single breath despite the incredible physicality of their performances.

As if on queue, the crowd responds to each burst-your-ears-loud note with twice the amount of energy: in the Academy tonight, the mosh-pits and crowd surfing start early, and never tire themselves out.

The Chats at the Academy on August 19th, 2025. Copyright Jason Doherty/ hotpress.com

Within the incredible energy of the night, standout tracks, ‘6L GTR’ and ‘Smoko’ manage to further ignite the-already-lit-up crowd, inspiring venue-wide chants and the distinctive smell of sweat, characteristic of a truly great punk gig, joyfully filling your nostrils.

It’d be difficult to think of a sound any more rousing than The Chats’ – messy, loud, abrasive, and yet incredibly controlled and measured, vocals and instrumentals sounding right out of the studio.

The Chats at the Academy on August 19th, 2025. Copyright Jason Doherty/ hotpress.com

If Sandwith offers a vocal performance for the ages – incredibly powerful, brisk and technically perfect — guitarist Josh Hardy is just as much of a frontman as his singer. Solo after solo, riff after riff, it is clear that he creates much of The Chats’ unmistakable melodic flair, with inhumanly fast-paced finger-picking and unwavering showmanship.

If technically and visually impressive, the incredible quality of the show lies in the pleasure that the band visibly take in playing for their Dublin crowd. Early into the night, Sandwith reminisces about their previous appearances in The Academy in 2019, and then 2023, joyfully hailing themselves as “veterans” of the legendary Dublin venue – and for good reason.

The Chats at the Academy on August 19th, 2025. Copyright Jason Doherty/ hotpress.com

Concluding the evening with an unbelievably spirited and head-bang worthy rendition of AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’, where Sandwith showcases the insanely crisp range of his voice, The Chats leave their crowd covered in sweat, their voices strained and dazed smiles plastered on their faces.