Live Review: Pulled Apart By Horses - O2 Academy, Oxford 27/03/2017
Leeds most brutal rockers Pulled Apart By Horses got down to business at the Oxford date of their UK tour, and our photographer Joe Dick was there to catch it all!
Had been excited for this show for a while now, had wanted to see Pulled Apart By Horses for years but something always seem to come up when there was an opportunity; tonight I was adamant to see them play those songs I used/still do love so much.
A sad turn out for opener band Thee MVP’s, starting their set with an ear blistering guitar screech that probably wasn’t need for the very small amount of people standing sheepishly at the bar. Never the less I enjoyed their set of fast and punchy tunes, the band seeming to blast through their array of songs at 100mph, a personal favourite would be ‘Slimelord’ with its intelligent lyrics over a base of raw and harsh guitar riffs. Rock and Roll at its purest.
The start of Tigercub’s set started out a tad bit slower than the previous band but soon picked up with huge songs like ‘Memory Boy’ or the heavy hitter that was ‘Destroy’. Long hair, dark blue lights and songs with emotion coming out of every orifice; I felt like I was at an 80’s The Cure show which don’t take me wrong is something that I enjoy. A tight set of seven songs was perfect to warm up the now slightly larger audience for the main event to come.
Straight out of the gate you could tell Pulled Apart By Horses were here to play a great show and have a shed load of fun regardless of where or how many people where watching them, they all strode on stage with frontman Tom Hudson looking like a modern day Kurt Cobain with all the swagger of Cpt Jack Sparrow. Starting their set off with the two big songs of their new album ‘The Haze’ & ‘The Big What If’, which loosened up the crowd and got them into the party spirit that should have been there a while ago. Next up they played my all time favourite ‘ I Punched a Lion in the Throat’ which I had seen video’s of in the past but nothing beats seeing it up close, sweaty and personal; they definitely did not disappoint! The sweaty fun didn’t stop at any point through out their set, with songs like ‘Prince of Meats’, ‘Lizard Baby’ and ‘Back to the Fuck Yeah’ all hitting hard and resonating beautifully with the audience; they even had time to play a cover of classic Beatles song ‘Helter Skelter’. The show was ended with two more favourites of mine, ‘V.E.N.O.M’ & ‘High Five, Swan Dive, Nose Dive’ which seemed like a perfect way to end such a huge set from an all-round incredible band, I was slightly disappointed with the audience turn out for this show but in the end anyone who didn’t come missed a great show from 3 top notch bands.
Words and Photography by Joe Dick