[ATTENDED: October 15, 2026] The Droogettes
I found out that Lauren Ash put out a record when I saw this show listed at Kung Fu Necktie. I had no idea she put out any music. So I had to look her up. And she has an album out. And I really liked it–90’s era pop punk, funny lyrics and catchy as anything.
I had not heard of the opening band, The Droogettes who have clearly named themselves after A Clockwork Orange (their logo confirms). Imagine my surprise to read that
Philadelphia’s The Droogettes have been making noise since 2013. Equal parts street punk grit and pop hook glory, their “Sugar Oi!” sound sits somewhere between Cock Sparrer’s working-class anthems and Blondie’s downtown cool – melodic, hook-driven, and built for singing along. After a six-year hiatus, the all-female five-piece is back, louder and sharper than ever.
The band came out on stage and clearly had a large fan base in the audience. They are a five piece and while I didn’t really love their recorded sound, live, they were fantastic. They played short punk songs–three chords, lots of backing vocal chanting and very little nonsense. As Creepoid Records says: they inject the Punk and Oi! movement with an all-female alternative to a scene that is mostly male dominated.
They were great! (New) lead singer Ami Friend (who is the singer for Lips of Kohl) has taken over vocals and she is great–intense, funny and full of energy. I actually prefer her vocals to the original (sorry).
They played fun, fast punky songs. Some had solos, but most didn’t and most had fun chanted choruses or just Hey Hey/ Oh Oh parts that were a lot of fun to sing along.
I didn’t know that they played any covers–Oi is not something I know very well, but I see that they played a UK Subs cover and a Clash cover of a song I’ve ever heard of. And I had no idea what a Bovver was until I looked it up (they are boots).
The most fun part was that for Make Boys Dance, Ami called the men forward and did had each one of us spin as she held our hand over our head.
It was also clear that they had many many friends in the audience which was fun to see, especially as Ami walked through the crowd and acknowledged them all personally.
It was a really fun set, and by the end we were encouraged to sing along and I think most people did.
- Teenage Nights ⊕
- Keys to Nothing
- Ex-Island
- Blood Money
- Riot (UK Subs cover)
- The Long Goodbye
- Make Boys Dance ⊕
- Dying on a Vine
- Bovver Girl ⊕
- Garageland
- Tiki Bar ⊕
- I May Take a Holiday (Clash cover)
⊕ Clockwork Girls (2018)
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