It’s the last show of the year for me, and it was a fucking banger. Newcastle’s Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs finally got to play their sold-out gigs at the Electric Ballroom after Covid rescheduled several dates, and it was worth the wait. These guys popped on my radar during the lockdown, and I’ve been hooked ever since hearing their stellar 2020 album Viscerals. They remind me of early Clutch crossed with Tomahawk and Jesus Lizard. It’s dark, moody, psychedelic, and heavy as hell.
The UK music scene is absolutely on fire at the moment. While there are tons of new bands alongside old favorites doing reunion tours and celebrating monumental albums of the past, there’s a notable new crop that keeps chugging along. Building an audience is arguably the hardest thing for a band to do, especially during a pandemic, but the ones who can deliver both on vinyl and on stage are going to win. Pigsx7 is one of those bands. Three albums in, and they can do no wrong.
Critics love them, fans are coming in droves, and everything is seemingly falling into place, minus the uncertainty of Covid, of course. This was night two of two sold-out gigs for the band at the legendary venue in Camden. I’ve been to plenty of sold-out shows at the Electric Ballroom, and it’s usually packed to the gills, but this time it was surreal. The Covid variant is keeping people at home as the venue was at less than half capacity. Let that sink in for a moment, sold out show, less than half the people turn up.
That seemingly didn’t bother the band though, as they crushed their set and rallied the fearless fans into a fury. “Reducer” and “Rubbernecker” kicked off the set with a bang, followed by songs from the band’s three albums with a heavy focus on the latest. While I do love Viscerals, the real highlight was closing out the night with “A66” from 2018’s King of Cowards. This one hit hard. At one point, I thought I was watching Ministry during the Psalm69 tour with the heavy, almost industrial feel which went on for nearly 10 minutes. Riff upon riff, layer upon layer, the groove was an absolute monster. A proper closer for a set that never let up.
The band took a minute before their final song to say that they don’t play encores because they think bands that do encores aren’t playing their best songs in the normal set. It makes sense, I guess, but I would have loved to hear a couple of more songs. There’s something quite elegant to a ten-song playlist, though. It reminds me of albums in the ’70s. No filler, all killer, ten songs and done. Once this pandemic is over, I think these guys will take over the world, and it was great to see them in a smaller venue before they explode.
