PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS REIGN SUPREME AT LONDON’S KOKO CAMDEN

LIVE REVIEW  Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs at Koko Camden, London 04/04/2025 by Morris Shamah

Newcastle quintet Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs absolutely tore the roof off of London’s Koko Camden on Friday night. Celebrating the release of their 5th LP, Death Hilarious, which came out that day, the stoner-noise-metal band played no less than 5 songs off the new record, all of which were raptly appreciated by the adoring crowd. Koko’s small but mighty main floor erupted with each riff-climax, full of circle pits galore.

Before the metal titans took the stage, semi-hardcore punk band Irked played a quick and furious opening set. Hailing from the North East, the pink-guitar-wielding speed-thrash punk band blistered their way through their slot, rarely pausing, just delivering banger after banger as they jumped in the audience and prowled across the stage. They did take a minute to note, however, that there’s nothing wrong with the sound mix- the vocals are supposed to sound like that – ie, heavily distorted and barely discernible. 

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs took the stage bang on at 8pm, which is far too early for a titanic metal headlining set – but alas, Koko is more of a nightclub now than a music venue, and priority is given to the not-so-late club night that follows. Oh how the mighty have fallen, what was once a legendary club for indie and punk artists is now hawking overpriced cocktails to a crowd that’s too cool for live music but too mainstream for an actual nightclub.

As is tradition, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs came out to AC/DC’s 1981 anthem “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)”, and then launching directly into Death Hilarious standout track “The Wyrm.” “The Wyrm” is a multi-sectioned colossus of a song, which starts with a fast and furious riff section before dropping down in intensity and then ramping back up – it’s fantastic on the new record and even more impressive live. Lead vocalist Matt Baty described “The Wyrm” as “mega” in our recent interview, and to the London crowd, most of whom had only heard the song for the first time that very day, it was a fantastic introduction to this era of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – noise metal, but with more bite than stoner smoke. 

What followed over the next hour plus was nothing short of a masterclass. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs are built for the live stage. Backlit with their own overwhelming lighting array, they command the audience beautifully, whipping them around into a frenzy and dropping them back down with some well-timed and truly hilarious stage banter. Did you know that Eurodance group Vengaboys are playing the UK’s premier rock and metal festival, Download Festival, this year? Well you do now. Later in the set, Matt introduces the band – but instead of using their names, he introduces them as famous classic wrestlers, complete with their stage intros from back in the day. Crowdwork is a rock band staple, but the levity here is not only necessary, it’s a brilliant way to work in cool down moments and a chance to breathe without dampening any of the heaviness of the massive tunes.

And, bolstered by the speed and intensity of the new material, massive is exactly how the band sounds on this tour. Matt hurls himself to the music, punching the air and wrapping the microphone cord around his neck, looking very much like a professional wrestler himself. He forgoes a mic stand, preferring to leap and snarl about, retreating to a side-stage synth set up with the music calls for some psychedelic sweeps and swoops of sound. Sam Grant and Adam Ian Sykes’s twin guitar attack positively screams off the stage, chugging and churning up the air like some sort of industrial machine. John-Michael Joseph Hedley’s bass and Ewan Mackenzie’s drums are a righteous thunderstorm. Put together, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs are a freight train; a heavy metal behemoth. New material such as Stitches and Collider fit right in alongside older classic crowd pleasers like Ultimate Hammer from 2022’s Land of Sleeper and King Of Cowards’ “GNT.” It’s giant tune after giant tune with only breaks for Matt to lighten things a bit. There’s no need for crowd instruction or for anyone onstage to split the room or encourage movement or crowdsurfing – the music talks (or growls) for itself. Men and women alike crunched and crushed into each other in a glorious frenzy, shoulder to shoulder in embrace and jubilation, while Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs projected their almighty riffage right in their faces.

At the end of the night, Matt Baty and Adam Ian Sykes (aka The Undertaker, aka Judge Mental) identified the “Headbanger of The Evening” – a young teenager who never once stopped bashing about. They brought the kid on stage and gifted him a once-a-night custom Headbanger Of The Evening hat, sending him back in for the grand finale, the nine-minute ode to north-east England’s very own highway to hell, “A66.”
There’s no encore. There’s just Vengaboys on the PA, while the crowd continue to headbang along until the lights come on.

SETLIST

1. The Wyrm
2. Mr Medicine
3. Ultimate Hammer
4. Reducer
5. Carousel
6. Stitches
7. GNT
8. World Crust
9. Big Rig
10. Blockage
11. Collider
12. A66

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Morris Shamah

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