REVIEW: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs at Foundry

Written by Chloe Robertson

Stood in the darkened Foundry, pint in hand, I could not have imagined the level of vigour that would explode within the next hour and a half (despite being in a room surrounded by super cool people clad in black band tees and leather). Although having been lucky enough to have already seen supporting act Lambrini Girls in festival earlier this year, their glorious nod to feminine rage through music excelled tonight in Sheffield, somehow creating an intimate space amongst the chaos, and setting us up perfectly for the arrival of Pigsx7.

The guys came out, Matt barefoot (naturally) ready to burst into a performance of Mr Medicine, a song which single release in 2022 has consistently drawn me further into Pigs’ work, using it’s somewhat monotone intro as a means to set a tone, before integrating Matt’s vocals to bring in a significantly alternating beat. And of course, the live performance did not disappoint. There are few hard rock artists, who use dynamic movement, and interaction to truly convey their own feeling towards a certain track, and on Thursday night, this concept was given a run for its money.

Following on, I’m keen to note the performance of ‘Reducer,’ a nod back to 2020 ‘Viscerals.’ The instrumentals in this track were immense, a real hitting scene after opening with Mr Medicine, the infamous solo drum segment of the song riling up the audience to the level Ifeel we were all most anticipating pre-set. Even better than I could have imagined, the amalgamation of appreciation toward Black Sabbath, and notes of more modern hardcore punk idols, such as Idles (no pun intended) really brought the first section of the gig together for me. And, although there was next to no crowd communication in the first half, I almost feel as though this was necessary, as each segment rolled on, the incline from melancholy introduction, into full fledged disorganised hard rock, was brought about solely through instrumental, un-interrupted, genius – and I don’t use that word lightly.

Although I’ve just gone on about the lack of crowd communication within the first half of the set, Pigs absolutely shifted it in the opposite direction during an interlude, during which they presented us with a scenario, which went along similar lines to these… Next time we get into an uber, or taxi, and they ask us what we do for a living, we should reply, “I am in a band.” To which, if they have any sense of nose, they should reply, “oh yeah, what’s your band called?” To which we say, “Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs PIGS!!!!” And with that, they’ll regret they ever asked. The handling of the story rippled laughs throughout us, and simply seemed to boost the already fuelled atmosphere. Thank you Matt Baty!

Anyways, after this burst, the guys proceeded straight into World Crust, setting up the end with a continuously heavy bass and deterioration into less lyrics, more power! By this point, in all honesty, I think I’d seen one of the best start and middle of a set I have ever seen, so for the rest of the set, I was focusing more on what I had just seen, rather than what I was seeing in the moment. Regardless, the set was brilliant – full of energy and excellently crafted.

After the gig I was lucky enough to chat to Matt and ask him what song he felt went the best in the set, to which he told me The Weatherman, and of course, I can’t disagree. Right in the middle of the set The Weatherman just solidified the atmosphere, going back to that crazy bass, and descending into chants that just echoed around the room made it feel almost like I was in a Viking’s living room, incredible!

Overall, Thursday noted the sheer capability that Pigs hold to create and uphold an immense atmosphere without, missing, a beat. I left the gig wanting to immediately watch the entire show again, and by any means, if everyone else sees what I see, I’ll be able to see them again many times over, in many different places, for a very long time ahead.