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The Academy 2 is a jungle tonight. So hot it’s near tropical, the room is filling with tiger-masked teens – a gift if you sign up to the Pull Tiger Tail mailing list. Soon an ambush of tigers (yes, that’s the collective name) is prowling around the stage waiting for the show to begin.
A laser warp effect announces the beginning of To My Boy’s kooky-electro celebration of technology. Metronomic single ‘Model’ recounts designing a model on a computer, multilayered ‘Outer Regions’ fills the room while ‘The Grid’ is underpinned by frantic, machine fired drums, beneath stabbing, swirling guitars and echoing vocals. The stage is also a visual feast. Beams of white and coloured light flash and slice the stage, matching the tone and pace of the set. Jack Snape sings boldly in front of us while Sam White salutes the sky with his guitar before wielding it jerkily to the robotic rhythms.
It’s been almost a year since this Gigwise reporter first saw To My Boy in Bristol supporting Klaxons. The passion is still there but the performance is now tighter, more controlled and confident. Ending with 'Game Over', a chaotic, manic cavalcade of vocals, synth and guitars, To My Boy have left an indelible mark on us.
The Academy 2 soon gets fuller, hotter and louder. Suddenly it’s plunged into darkness and a single torch is paraded across the stage. Pull Tiger Tail are here. The infectious disco beats of ‘Mr 100%’ get us dancing, the soaring intensity of single ‘Hurricanes’ singing and ‘It’s About Destruction’, with its electro clomps akin to To My Boy, get us clapping. It’s strong and solid. ‘Let’s Lightning’ spirals like a maze with complexity at each turn while retaining an indie pop edge. Crowd pleasing stuff.
Pull Tiger Tail are a polished act. They have the tiger masks, the tiger t-shirts and a pin up in bass player Davo. It’s a well oiled marketing machine but it’s not just a commercial enterprise. They have forward-thinking songs and talent to back it up. They’re going to go a long way.
