My third from last gig in 2025… in a year when I seem to have missed more gigs than I managed to get along to for a combination of reasons not worth going into here..Let’s just say I need to resolve to ensure 2026 is much of a shit storm than 2025…
There was the potential for me to be missing this one too, but with this line up, plus the knowledge that this would be the last ever outing for Junk Pups it was a no brainer to pull out all the stops and make it by hook or crook. It was a stripped back Junk Pups that took to the Hug stage for their one last hurrah. It’s a weird feeling knowing you are seeing a band you love playing their last set. I’m sure we’ve all seen loads of bands unknowingly for the last time but when you know it’s the final time it’s an odd mixture of feelings, it’s kind of a sadness mixed in with a warm feeling knowing that you’ve seen the band play some cracking sets over the years and that you’ve got the privilege of seeing the band as they bow out. The stripped back performance certainly showcased Jack’s remarkable vocal and reminded me of one of the things that wowed me on first hearing the band. Kicking off with Hoi Polloi, Jack and Izzy played a crowd pleasing set of Pups classics interspersed with a couple of covers including a beautifully emotional take on Kate Bush’s Why Should I Love You. The last ever Junk Pups song to be played live was their brilliant Miss Behave single, and as if that wasn’t enough, I don’t know about anyone else but I had a genuine lump in my throat and tear in my eye when they closed their set with the Dolly Parton classic, I Will Always Love You.
Next up it was Vibrator hailing from my ancestral home in the North East, Aberdeen. The band had an entirely different vibe to Junk Pups and somehow managed to squeeze about a dozen or more songs into their cataclysmic half hour set, a set which has grown and developed since the last time I saw them supporting Cavegirl and the Neandergals. The band started and finished their set with a sound that channelled the surf punk guitars mixed with eerie outer space like sounds made famous by Pixies alongside Black Francis style yelps, yells and hollers, the middle of the set was more akin to a morphing of NYC hardcore à la Minor Threat/Fugazi and Gallows, and I was enthralled by watching drummer George pound the skins to within an inch of their lives. Definitely a force to be reckoned with and ones to watch.
I don’t know how I’ve never managed to catch a live set by Maz and the Phantasms until now but I really need to see this band more often now that I’ve broken my duck, their melding of musical styles to create something quite unique was remarkable. And when you hit the audience with an opening salvo of the epic full throttle punk infused Voices in My Head, followed by an impactful Factory Hell that mixed hard as hell glam bass lines with Patti Smith swagger and attitude you’re onto a winner straight away. The melding of styles I mentioned was a joy to behold and marvel at, with shades of spaghetti western coming through at times and somehow wrangling sonorous Spanish guitar rhythms from two electric guitars was quite something. The band closed their set in style with singalong fan favourite, A Pigeon Shat in My Room – mission accomplished. And yes Maz, Free Palestine, Fuck the IDF and Fuck Eurovision.
I’ve not seen Water Machine in an age, and boy was it great to be back in the saddle (I’ve also just realised that on my sabbatical from writing I missed doing a write up of their glorious debut album – I must rectify that) opening with a double whammy of Bussy and Dog Park, Hando and the band were in fine fettle playing a boisterously raucous set, which was more than matched by the riotous reaction of the crowd in the Hug, at one point almost ending in disaster when one of the moshers nearly wiped Hando out and her Korg almost met with a disaster. I don’t know about chaos at the Dog Park but there was certainly chaos in the dancefloor…Disaster was averted though and the band brushed off the incident continuing to play a incendiary set as if their lives depended on it, a set that contained banger after banger, it’s impossible to pick highlights – I think my smile just got wider and wider with each song they played…River was sublime, the fuck you attitude of Hot Real Estate was undeniable, while Water Machine Part II was just one huge grin inducing celebratory anthem. One of my (many) favourites Blisters “closed” their set the song reaching well, quite simply a blistering high octane crescendo. But of course things weren’t over as the crowd bayed for “one more tune”… but one wasn’t enough, with Flore taking on lead vocals and Hando on bass for a riotous Sabotage era Beastie Boys take on Junction before the band ended their set on a high with the crowd singing along in unison as At the Drive In brought things to a jubilant close.
