Photo Credit: Andy Davies
Despite it being a cold Wednesday night, Welsh punk urchins Pizzatramp pulled in a respectably large crowd who got to witness the absolute lunacy on display from the band. You’d have to have been living under a rock for the past few years not to have caught them by now. Full credit to them — their relentless gigging and sheer refusal to take anything seriously have made them one of the most entertaining live acts on the UK punk circuit.
If you’re here for the music, well, there is some of that — in the form of short, sharp blasts of hardcore punk fury, namely My Back’s Fucking Fucked and Millions of Dead Goths, which are simple, balls-to-the-wall staples of any Pizzatramp set. But if you’ve seen the band before, you’ll know the onstage banter is just as much of a draw as the songs themselves.
Frontman Jim tries telling the crowd about the time he broke the news to Kerrang! magazine about the death of Dimebag Darrell. He claims he was quoted in the issue alongside Metallica and that he’d found the magazine online and brought it with him for tonight’s gig. All didn’t exactly go to plan, though — he drunkenly couldn’t find the article, and the whole story fell apart, only adding to the hilarity.
There have been rumours floating around for a while that Pizzatramp are calling it a day. We sure hope not, as they’re one of (if not the) best comedy punk bands the UK has to offer.
Onto tonight’s headliners: Manchester’s own Bruise Control have packed out The Croft and waste no time pummelling through their savage brand of punk ’n’ roll. Through no fault of their own, it takes a couple of songs before the crowd loosen up and all hell starts to break loose on the dancefloor.
Tracks like Spinners Mill and Dead on Arrival hit hard and keep the momentum going — the latter sounding like Turbonegro getting thrown out of the Rovers Return on a rowdy Friday night. The dancefloor doesn’t let up for a second, with frontman Jim joining in the fun, dousing himself in beer and clearly having the time of his life while doing so.
Taxman goes down a storm, as does new single Gone to Ground, with the song’s infectious chorus, which has been stuck in my head since. It’s also refreshing to see a band take a stand against gigs being a sweaty boys’ club. “We only have one rule,” guitarist Niall Griffin tells the crowd — “If someone falls down, pick them up. Other than that, keep your hands to your fucking selves.” The lads dancing up front are also told to head to the back at one point, creating a safe space for everyone else. Spot on.
There’s a cheeky cover of Paranoid by Black Sabbath before Jim heads back into the crowd, causing absolute mayhem one last time before the band leave the stage, declaring that they “don’t do fucking encores.”
Manchester has produced one of the country’s finest live punk bands, and it’s clear they won’t be tearing up small venues for much longer. The band have just announced a tour with Canada’s The Dirty Nil in spring 2026 — catch them in a sweaty venue before everyone else cottons on to one of the UK’s best-kept secrets.
Words and Photos: Andy Davies
