“GLASGOW, YER F**KING GORGEOUS!” THE SCRATCH ‘PULL LIKE A DOG’ ON NIGHT ONE OF THEIR BIGGEST UK TOUR YET

LIVE REVIEW | THE SCRATCH w/ The Wran | SWG3 TV STUDIO, GLASGOW | 23rd April 2026 by Anne Kelly

Sometimes a gig heals cracks you didn’t even know were there. That’s how I felt leaving The Scratch at Glasgow’s SWG3 this week: drenched in collective sweat, ears ringing, heart both full and rapidly pounding. It was my favourite “proper” gig in long time. The band dominated the stage, but the crowd matched them and then some: surfing, circling, and singing like their lives depended on it. It had that raw physical and emotional connection that reminds me why I love live music and the community that drives it.

It was a sun-drenched afternoon in Glasgow’s West End but still, we chose to descend into the dark depths of SWG3 for The Scratch. On the first UK stop of their Pull Like A Dog tour, Dublin‘s “big smelly moshers“ proved their shift towards a heavier, metal-fused sound as their best move yet. It’s folk-trad with a harder edge, and in Glasgow, it felt like a band finally realising their full potential.

Kudos to The Wran – four brothers from Waterford – who proved a perfect fit to warm up the evening. Leaning into traditional Irish music with a grunge-rock flair, they commanded a dark, misty room with raw talent. A set built on real tension; subtle yet ferociously powerful drone-like vibrations filled the space, while haunting harmonies and clever orchestration kept the crowd’s eyes and ears transfixed on the stage.

Despite having only 30 minutes to convert the room, they won the audience over within the first five. Every track built towards a teasing climax, turning the room from still observers to a moving mass. By the time their slot ended, the crowd was only just getting started, leaving the air thick with chants of “one more tune” ringing across the room.

Unfortunately there was no more from the opener, but the room were more than warmed up. When The Scratch arrived, there was no looking back. Launching straight into ‘Pullin’ Teeth’ and ‘Pull Like A Dog’ from their new album, the band didn’t just ask the crowd to split – they commanded it. Already chomping at the bit, the room erupted. It was the most organic, naturally occurring pit I’ve ever witnessed; there was no resisting the pull, and I was drawn into the chaos instantly.

After a final, painstaking trip to the bar through the packed crowd, I funnelled myself back into the thick of it. Standing on the edge of the madness, nonchalantly sipping away until the opening bars of ‘Cheeky Bastard’ echoed out and my role of passive observer vanished. Swept into the chaos, resulting in wearing my drink in the process, the current was too strong to fight, so I went with it. By the time the final chorus of: “He won’t stop singing Champagne Supernova” rang out, I’d been swept from the back of the room to the front, fist clenched against the steel barrier.

The pit works in mysterious ways, and there’s nothing quite as satisfying as feeling its raw power firsthand. The momentum surged as The Scratch delved into new material: ‘Gladrags’, ‘Mother of God’, and the live debut of ‘Roses n Poses’. Between songs, the banter was effortless. “How many gigs has that flag been to?” Daniel “Lango” Lango asked a fan draped in a tricolour. “Hunners!” came the reply.pLango repeated, impressed. When he called out for the Irish in the room, the roar was patriotic and deafening.

By the second half, the chants of “Ooh Ah, Up the ‘Ra” filled the air – a refreshing, if controversial, break from the standard Glasgow “HWG” routine. The room was clearly leaning into its “greener” roots.

The energy shifted beautifully when guitarist Connor “Doc” Docherty stood alone with an acoustic guitar. “I used to sing this with my dad… I’ve never performed it in these parts,” he shared, before launching into Christie Moore’s ‘Joxer Goes to Stuttgart‘. It was a moment of pure belonging not lost on a Glasgow audience; the room sang and clapped along with a collective, soulful pride.

“Glasgow, yer fuckin’ gorgeous!” Lango proclaimed, calling for one last push before ‘Blaggard’. Of course, the “last song” was a ruse; they returned in full glory for ‘Old Dog’, with the crowd somehow finding a gear higher than the last. It was glorious. In a touching moment, Cathal (McKenna) handed a setlist to a young lad perched on his dad’s shoulders – a tiny star celebrated by the room. I later gave up my spot at the barrier for him, his dad acting as a shield against the sea of bodies still descending toward the stage.

A ferocious cover of Motörhead’s ‘Ace of Spades‘ triggered one final eruption. The Scratch has the heavy-metal DNA to pull off an iconic track like that without it feeling like a gimmick, and the floor of SWG3 groaned under the weight of a room pushed to its absolute limit. By the time the opening chords of ‘Another Round’ marked the actual end of the night, the air in the studio was a humid cocktail of steam and adrenaline.

Yet, looking around at the sea of grin-plastered, exhausted faces, it was clear that nobody was actually ready to leave. There was a defiant energy in that closing singalong and collective refusal to let the moment end. By the time the final note rang out, we were ready for exactly what the song promised: another round.

Walking back out into the sharp bite of the Glasgow night, the serene sunshine of the afternoon felt like a lifetime ago. My clothes drenched and my voice reduced to a croak, yet I haven’t felt this alive in months.

There is a rare kind of magic in a band that can command a room to tear itself apart one minute and stand in a hushed pride the next. I found exactly what I was craving in that chaos. This was only night one of the UK leg; if the rest of the tour carries even half of this intensity, then good luck to everyone else—you’re going to need it.