Pet Needs brought their ‘A game’ to Bristol recently and showed a full house at The Exchange just why they have had such a massive 2022 while releasing a new album and touring just about everywhere!

To get the cold night started, Bridget kicked things off with her fresh punky, rocky high energy tunes. It seems her usual band members, bar her drummer had other arrangements so she called in a few favours with her ex-bassist and even her father on guitar. While the line up may have been a little improvised, the set was tight and well delivered, with Bridget belting out some impressive vocals. The punters were in early and it was good to see the songs well appreciated.  She even got a great mosh pit going for her song The Pit (?).  Watch out for her new single, The Drive premiering on 16th December. Catch it HERE

And after a quick fire change, it was time for the headline act. Pet Needs have been touring non stop throughout 2022 with a long running support of Frank Turner’s tour, solo shows, Frank Turner’s Lost Evenings Festival, Germany, Ireland and now this headline tour of the UK. Oh and they released their fantastic second album in the autumn too, now that’s what I call a hard woking band!

The energy from these guys from the first note played is phenomenal, as they smashed through the first song ‘Lost Again’ lead singer Johnny and guitarist brother George covered every inch of the stage. This is the 3rd time I have seen them this year and they just seem to get better a better. The musicianship is first class and the tracks are so good, the crowd were engaged from the start and Johnny chats so easily and gets everyone involved. The pace of the set is incredible they flew through ‘Pavlovian’ and ‘Kayak’ before they revert back to the new album for ‘Ibiza in Winter’.

And the cold weather outside was long forgotten by the time they reached mid-set and the crowd were jumping, dancing, moshing and joining in with every line. And these 4 lads from Colchester looked like they were loving every minute of it. Bridget was asked back on stage to join the band on the angry break up song ‘The Argument’, which Johnny was quick to reassure everyone was fictitious, and not about him and Mrs Marriot! Which was good because it was 3 minutes of screaming at each other, like a full on argument!

Closing out the set was incredibly strong and breathless as it hit break neck speed with ’Toothpaste’ , ‘Nobody Ever Warned Us’, ‘Tracey Emin’s Bed’ before finishing on ‘Get on the Roof’.  There was no repeat of George getting stuck in the air vent in the ceiling as he did while crowd surfing in The Louisiana on a previous visit to Bristol, thank god and the crowd left exhausted but so very happy.

Pet Needs give absolutely everything, the energy and sheer enthusiasm for what they are doing shows in every song they perform, It’s infectious and everyone in the room can’t help but get involved. The songs are so strong and the second album ‘Primetime Entertainment’ is a fantastic follow up, and development, to their debut ‘Fractured Party Music’.

2022 has been crazy for them, but they are an explosive live band and hopefully their 2023 plans are bigger and better than ever. I can’t wait to see what comes next for these guys.

Words and Pictures GM Gig Photography