Liam True
Taking the stage first are arguably the most chaotic band you’ll see, not just in this lineup, but in the present South Wales rock scene, Shlug. A Cardiff staple, they’ve played more venues than you could even name; they’d even play your back garden if you asked, then nice enough. But tonight they’re taking to the stage as an opener to rile the crowd up. As they walk onto the stage, they look innocent enough. But that’s where it ends.
Within 10 seconds of taking to the stage, guitarist/vocalist Ellis Acton-Dyer removes his shirt, and the band explodes into ’20th Wax’. Acton-Dyer throws himself around the stage as he beats his guitar within an inch of its life. Bassist Ethan Poole furiously strums to keep tempo as the band gets faster and progressively louder with each song. Consisting mostly of newer material that will be released in their forthcoming EP, Eat God In the Death House, the band have the slowly filling venue eating out of the palm of their hands as they’re captivating, not only musically, but also as performers.
Getting on the barricade, giving their instruments to the crowd while they control the background programming or simply forgoing the microphone to scream equally as loud, Shlug are a force to be reckoned with. And as they leave the stage to a thunderous applause, Shlug has left an everlasting impression on every person who has witnessed their set tonight.
After Shlugs’ chaos, we’re greeted by second and direct support tonight, Hang Linton. A one-man guitarist backed by a mixture of various beats and avant-funk bass lines. Before he starts his set, however, he asks, “Do we have any dog lovers here tonight?” then asks us to howl and bark, finally calling us all weird, as he kicks his set off with ‘Mad Dog’.
It’s an interesting watch, as Linton is mostly singing without a guitar in hand or programming the background noises whilst dancing. If you look across the room whilst he’s playing, there are a few heads nodding to the pulsating electronics and even more puzzled looks. Hang Linton isn’t bad by any stretch; it just doesn’t feel like the right crowd for this type of avant-garde soundscape, with most songs blending into one another with no clear indication as to when some end and others start. But as Linton finishes his final song, he thanks the crowd, takes a bow and seems to have won over more of the crowd than those first few songs seemed to have thought.
The lights go dim, AC/DC’s ‘For Those About To Rock’ plays over the PA, and toward the end of the song, where ‘FIRE!’ is being repeated, Pigsx7 walk onto the stage, and before they’ve even taken their places, the venue erupts, making vocalist Matthew Baty grin as he takes his place near the programming stand. And with a small drum-stick count from Ewan MacKenzie, the band erupts into the near two-minute hypnotic opening rhythm of ‘The Wyrm’ before Baty, in his classic wrestling attire, barefoot sporting a Bret Hart tank top, growls into the crowd as they give it back just as loud.
Guitarist Adam Sykes crouches toward the end of the song, fiddling with his guitar, and as the band halts, Baty states, ‘Adam’s just changing the strings on his guitar; he thinks Cardiff deserves fresh strings!’ to an almighty roar. Then, without missing a beat, he turns to the crowd and nonchalantly asks, “Does anyone have any questions?” Whilst throughout the gig Baty doesn’t really speak to the audience that much, but on the times he does, it’s more of a surreal stand-up segment. Case in point being the headbanger of the night competition, where both winners receive a joint present consisting of a bag of carrots and a magic trick performed by bassist Johnny Headly. Or the playful jabs at Download Festival for booking artists such as The Vengaboys and Scooter and not themselves.
The entire set is mainly made up of material from ‘Death Hilarious’, and you can’t even argue against it. The oldest song, of which you can even call it such, is ‘Viscerals’ from the 2020 album. ‘GNT’ was on the setlist but crossed out and not played, which is a shame as it would have put the crowd into a frenzy, but leaving the venue and hearing people speak about what just transpired, no one is complaining about what material Pigsx7 played tonight.
By the time the ending song ‘Toecurler’ comes around, swallowing the venue in a red hue, Pigsx7 have shown they’re utterly uncompromising as ever. If you ever see that this band is on a poster in your local venue, don’t think twice about grabbing a ticket to the madness.
