Live Review: Pup - Glasgow : The Razor's Edge

Live Review: Pup - SWG3, Glasgow

Support: Goo, Illuminati Hotties
11th May 2024

Puno Rock gurus PUP took over the SWG3 TV Studio in Glasgow on 11th May with support from Illuminati and Goo. I was there to capture all the action and soak in the raw energy of it all.

I grabbed my pass, and headed to the pit just in time for Goo taking to the stage. Their Facebook describes them as ‘Fuzzy Poppy Indie Stuff from Keighley, West Yorkshire’ but I think that’s an under-reach when it comes to their sound which came across a lot more punk rock in person for sure! They definitely gave it their all and paved way for the intensity that was about to come from two more heavy hitting acts.

I was impressed at the energy Goo brought to the stage, they clearly wanted to make people aware they were more than just an opening act. Guitarist Sam was serving out riffs and licks galore while also giving many amazing photo ops, due to allowing his flaming red locks to take centre stage while head banging away to each song! Singer Tanisha Badman (cool name) brought a slightly softer edge to the group but had powerful vocals which were a mix of punky and folky at times. All in all an enjoyable set for the four-piece.

Photo Credit: Laura Muraska-Ross

Now we move on to Illuminati Hotties, and this was not to be missed, singer Sarah Tudzin fronts the band and brings with her a wealth of producing, mixing and sound engineering, as well as sick guitar skills and attitude. As soon as she walked on to stage, she waved to the crowd and jokingly stuck her middle finger up and her tongue out at the photographers in the pit. She knew that would look awesome in photos and also warm the crowd to the band straight away!

They opened with ‘Can’t be still’ which seemed to be a firm favourite with the crowd and is very reminiscent of bands like Weezer., which I for one absolutely loved. Sarah had a way of building her relationship with the crowd throughout their set and had them lapping it up, creating pits and having a continuous bounce on throughout! A standout moment was when they brought singer Stefan from PUP appeared on stage to sing ‘Wreck my Life’ with the band, along with a birthday cake for Sarah, he then asked the crowd to sing along to a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ which the crowd happily sing along too…the singer looked shocked and emotional but went on to do a cracking version of their song with Stefan!

Considering last time they played Glasgow was in a much smaller venue, I hope Illuminati Hotties can keep up the memento and come back here with a headline tour of their own to SWG3 or a similar venue in the near future! They are a great band live and thoroughly enjoyable to watch!

Photo Credit: Laura Muraska-Ross

Next up, and Canadian rockers PUP came bouncing to the stage at 9.20pm to a roaring crowd and the TV Studio was packed to the gunnels with people wanting to make sure they could get a glimpse of the musicians doing their thing on the dark stage. Opening with their song ‘No Hope’ got the crowd going nicely for the rest of their set, during which, when addressing the crowd to talk, a rather cocky audience member decided to mock the singers Canadian accent to which he came quickly back with ‘cause you Scottish people sound so normal’ and the crowd laughed.

Highlights from the set were ‘If this tour doesn’t kill you, I will’ which given the bands somewhat testy history of falling out, is a tune where than seemed to really let their hair down and their angst out, I also loved ‘DVP’ as it’s just as good live as the recorded version and firm favourite ‘Paranoid’ which led into the last few songs of their set perfectly.

This was a brilliant all round night of punk rock and mayhem, and the TV Studio was a perfect setting for this. All in all I’d be happy to relive it again, although maybe better earplugs next time as it was definitely loud!