Stepping into “Le Pub” in Newport on a cold Wednesday evening, this feels like a proper gig. A small confined venue, with posters and stickers across the walls. Dingy toilets with taps that aren’t working properly and the smell of sweat that drips from everywhere. It’s the perfect venue for one of the UK’s most electrifying live acts of the past decade.
The supports are also both great with local band Dactyl Terra receiving a sizeable early audience and a really warm reception during and after the gig; even in the face of broken guitar strings. Baba Naga have been following PABH around on tour for a few nights already now and their prog-metal is something which makes the time go by very quickly. Doing what Tool can do with only three members is no mean feat so they are definitely ones to watch in the future.Now for the main act, Pulled Apart By Horses.
People here are anticipating something visceral as they are accustomed to with the band, but will the new songs lack their trademark energy? One big change tonight is that Tom Hudson has decided to put down his guitar in favour of being more of a frontman. Does that hinder the energy they are renowned for on stage? Not at all, in fact it feels even more electric than ever before. I’ve seen them countless times before in a number of venues big and small, however they have never been as great as they are tonight!
A lot of this is due to the new material showcased which is all fantastic. It was said that this tour was a chance to trial these songs out there and see if they work; they most certainly do! They start with “Pipe Dream” which sees Hudson on stage banging a tambourine of all things. However Noel Gallagher he isn’t and as the song builds to its gloriously rocky end, he’s already throwing himself around every square inch of the stage. This is followed in quick succession firstly by “First World Problems” and is the first of many times where Hudson gets himself right into the middle of everyone and he spits out the lyrics. “Is This Thing On” follows and is yet another absolute banger. The sound of these new tracks feel like an absolutely perfect blend of everything they have done before, mixing the heavy garage riffs and grooves of old, but with the maturity that they’ve possessed in the later few years. As a band everything just clicks and works together so well, from James Brown’s complex guitar playing, to Rob Lee’s bass lick all kept together by Tommy Davidson on drums. It’s a brave start to come out of the blocks with three brand new tracks and it most certainly works.
Introduced as a love song “Venom” sets the precedent for the rest of the night in terms of audience activity, with the front pit being energetic from there on out. We’re treated to three more new tracks, with “Rat Race” standing out the most based on audience reaction alone, yet each one of them are great in their own right. I lost track of the amount of times I found myself making ridiculous faces after having it melted off by the next riff and noticed a lot of people doing exactly the same thing.
During “Fear Of Missing Out”, it feels like pure rock and roll. Hudson is in the middle of the crowd yet again but is this time encouraging everyone to crouch down as he almost preaches to the masses. They all launch into a frenzy towards the end, one poor chap next to me goes flying and spends the next 30 seconds trying to find his now broken glasses on the floor.
It all finishes with a deuce of songs from the early days. “High Five, Swan Dive, Nose Dive” is organised chaos in the best possible way and set closer “I Punched A Lion In The Throat” gives everyone a last chance to get even sweatier.
Over a decade as a band there is no sign of them slowing down at all and they feel stronger than ever. This is quite possibly the best version of the band that we have yet and the new record is already at the top of my most anticipated albums to come. Welcome back guys!