PIGSx7 close off their American-tour with a packed house at the Mercury Lounge in NYC, April 4th.
Bringing their doom-infused, trance-inducing fervour from Newcastle all the way to the Lower East Side, they annihilated any expectation of what a 6pm-gig should look or feel like.
Opening the show was locals, White Hills, who immediately launched into noise and performance qualities more akin to small festival stages than a clubs’. The sound of what I thought were lasers(?) helped me imagine this as the band-version of Dr. Frankenfurters lab team at the end of Rocky Horror… lots of latex, gleaming lights and horror-show drone vocals. This was a strong start for the ripe ’n ready PIGSx7 fans nodding along in the audience.
As for PIGSx7, they entered with borderline WWE-level glory; a photographer following the action, blazing walk-on music and a crowd that had long awaited to catch their favourite act. Some of the fans let me know they’d recently caught them at SXSW in Austin, last month.
By the time our sweat-covered Freddie Mercury-look alike announced they’d be playing ‘Ultimate Hammer’, the lead track off their most recent album, ‘Land of Sleeper’, the audience was fully in tune with the band, tracking guitarist Adam Ian Sykes’ every movement with similar cult interest as I’ve witnesses with rocks’ other great acts. I really enjoyed the way Sykes and Grant commanded the audience together and gave a proper live sense of stereo dueling guitars.
Meanwhile, there was no rest for the wicked, ie. singer Matthew Baty, who took no respite bar one drink of water half-way thru the set. He continually engaged the audience, thanked them for their time and attention, and even got my +1 to dig a style of music they weren’t really prepared for at 6pm on a Tuesday… kudos.
As a unit, PIGSx7 are strong. I mean, like the kind of strong you get from touring nonstop with albums serving as beautiful interruptions that the die-hard audience studies before seeing their beloved band live in action again.
The last time I caught these guys was at Kendal Calling 2022 after my TM and I dragged our sleepy-very-drunk asses to check em out and it was the sort of memorable that makes you say, ‘I’ll never miss this band again. Ever.’
More impressive than that, though, is that they had a similar impact to my sober mind on a Tuesday afternoon.
That is a no-bullshit band.
Till next time-
Allez,
Tortcha
