Pop Will Eat Itself

I had the privilege of seeing Pop Will Eat Itself a couple years ago, and they were exactly what you would guess from the name: an alternative rock band that dismisses the folly of generically manufactured pop music, and is good enough to back up all the trashtalk it dishes out.

This group actually draws inspiration from a lot of hip-hop groups, such as Public Enemy, Run DMC, and The Beastie Boys, which is great for me since my favorite genre is hip-hop.

Just as the name suggests, there’s a huge counterculture undercurrent in their music and it’s all done quite subtly and organically, with nothing ever forced. The only thing they force is their will on everybody in their audience, with their oppressive energy a constant smothering presence that proves infectious as the entire crows was bouncing with every beat.

These guys may be rockers, but they’ve also picked up a few things about being emcees as they’re experts at getting the crowd involved and hyped up. 2014 is a busy year for Pop Will Eat Itself with both an EP and a full album coming out, so everybody should take a trip out to catch a show on the accompanying tour if it comes to their city.

I've been to a few gigs over the years and recently there's been a lethargy from the crowd to let go and dance and enjoy the atmosphere, tonight was a very welcome exception, the PWEI guys from the very first song had so much energy and enthusiasm even since its 25 years since I saw them live last! The night got better every tune, Graham and the guys were genuinely friendly and just so energetic for an older band! Very impressed and very pleased to see they could still cut it, highlights were 'Get the girl and kill the baddies' 'W
Can you dig it?' and 'Bulletproof' awesome!

The gig was fantastic. 18 songs of pure energy from start to finish. The Slade Rooms were a great venue for this intimate gig, keeping the energy in the mini mosh pit throughout. The tribute to Pete Shelley with the track “Homosapien” ended the evening perfectly and poignantly. The set list also saw a cover of the Prodigy’s “Their Law”. I can’t wait to see PWEI and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin in April for “Love From Stourbridge”.

Simply brilliant. I haven't seen them in 20 years, much smaller venue than Reading Festival but great balance of old stuff and some new. Energy, sound were great, interaction with the crowd was great considering there was only about 250 of us