Pg.99, Thou + Moloch at Scala, London, 15.04.2025

Some gigs feel like a warm hug from a friend, and this was one of those nights. I haven’t been to Scala in years – the last time was certainly before Covid – but there used to be a time in my life when I would know every nook and cranny of that venue like the palm of my hand. Walking back into it on a Tuesday just before the Easter weekend made me instantly find my way around, but it was difficult as the place was packed to the rafters.

Moloch

The Nottingham 5-piece Moloch frequently accompany Thou on tour, and true to their name, they delivered a staggering performance. It was HEAVY with a capital H, a glorious barrage of sludge, just as I like it. They are loud, confrontational and angry, and the crowd slowly packing the main room of Scala was eating with their palms of their hands. Craig Mulcahy locked his gaze on the bass cab as he kept wringing a ceaseless, bone-rattling rumble from it. Steve Larder’s guitar work snarled with expressive grime, attitude oozing from each chord. Chris Braddock’s spine-curdling vocals were full of fury and at times so intense, he would peel his t-shirt off his body, meanwhile, Henry Davies slammed the snare just shy enough from punching through it.

The crowd resonated with each note, absorbing them as they came in waves, with a sea of clenched fists punching through the air in unison or rhythmic, contemplative headbands. I could sense immense loyalty and devotion emanating from the audience. I chatted to a guy in the middle of the front row who came all the way from Italy, staying overnight at Rome’s airport to catch the first plane over, having not slept at all since his arrival. The setlist, scribbled on a ripped-up brown paper bag, instantly became a prized possession of another fellow front rower. Moloch are masters of the split 7″ EP, and the only track from an LP I could identify was ‘Hang’, the opener of 2018’s Bad Place. But regardless of what’s on the setlist, Moloch deliver an immense, visceral performance. They are playing the Cosmic Vibrations Fest in Sheffield on 23rd August, and I would check that out.

Thou

There was an air of anticipation for Thou – this tour was a double headliner with PG99, and on Tuesday, Thou came out second. The front row filled up even more and some people brought a banner that read ‘The Severed Genitals of Every Rapist Hang Bleeding from These Trees’, in reference to the song from their 2013 LP Oakland – and it was clear that their fanbase is intensely loyal. From the first notes of ‘Voices in the Wilderness’, the Baton Rouge outfit delivered an intense, highly emotional performance, underpinned by relentless, colossal turmoil. However, in between the heavy sludge, there were understated, often chilling melodies served by KC Stafford’s guitar. Andy Gibbs is a perfect counterweight to Matthew Thudium’s strong delivery, with a noticeable contrast between their jovial nature and the assaulting sound they produce. This is how their audience spans the musical range that goes all the way from the heavy, raw intensity of AMENRA via grunge and punk to the complex post-rock of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Bryan Funck’s voice is piercing, dripping agony from each syllable. He loomed over the mic, often wrapping it tightly around his neck as he paced the stage.

Moloch set the contemplative, funereal tone, and the audience followed suit for Thou, which prompted Bryan to joke that we were looking as if we forgot our moustaches and monocles to go with all the chin stroking, which encouraged the sole brave crowd surfer to emerge over people’s heads. Considering that their songs frequently explore the themes of gender identity, they have a loyal following among the trans and gender diverse community, and Scala felt like the safest place for them to be that night. However ,the Wednesday Supreme Court ruling of the biological definition of a woman might have already been looming over people’s heads, resulting in unified ‘chin stroking’ and head banging as the set went on.

Thou are known for covers and they didn’t disappoint by bringing out ‘There There’ and ‘Cold World’ from the back catalogue of folk hardcore punk outfit Pygmy Lush in anticipation of performing alongside them at this year’s Roadburn Festival. They then returned to their recent album, Umbilical, with ‘The Promise’ and ‘House of Ideas’. They finished their crushing set with ‘Their Hooves Carve Craters in the Earth’ from Oakland. Quite a few of the people in the crowd were heading out to Roadburn soon afterwards, and I am jealous of them seeing Thou again and again.

Pg. 99

Then it was time for Pg. 99, or pageninetynine, the punk rockers from Virginia, who were simultaneously new to me, but felt instantly familiar. Even though the room felt ever so slightly emptier after Thou, the ones who stayed wasted no time to start the mosh pit. As someone who has never seen Pg. 99 before (that I’m aware of, but they’re as far from easily forgettable as they come), I had the pleasure of experiencing their beautifully orchestrated chaos through wide-open eyes. They came out eight strong, with Chris Taylor and Blake “Tiny Dancer” Midgette on vocals, each commanding their side of the stage with a steady, poised pace.

The rapport they have with their fans is incredible – both vocalists would often leap to give the adoring crowd hugs or high-fives. This was in between the utter carnage they unleashed on stage. If you’ve never seen them before, I don’t want to spoil it, but I’m sure Chris Taylor scaling the Scala balcony and crawling over the stage, just to appear seemingly out of nowhere to ‘boop’ every photographer’s camera, sets a good scene. It’s impossible to tell when one song ends and another one begins – it’s just a one incredible barrage of noise with well places brakes – during one, that allow Blake Midgette sat in ‘his’ corner of the stage, closed his eyes and just chilled for a while, as he should after conjuring intense levels of energy out of the room.

The’ve been going on since 1994, so their discography is immense, but they have focused on Document #8 from 2005 quite heavily, with ‘Your Face Is A Rape Scene’, ‘Punk Rock in the Wrong Hands’, ‘In Love With an Apparition’ to name a few. The whole time the mosh pit was going strong, crowd surfers were going through the pit and the musicians were joining the crowd in the masterclass of ferocious punk. I left feeling like not only I visited an old friend, but I’ve made a bunch of new ones. And the Italia guy in the front row will fly home with a precious setlist scribbled on another shred of brown paper, which I’m sure will be treasured.