As a long-time fan of the band, when I heard that < PIG > would be performing in Dallas, I was absolutely stoked to go. I had seen them play once before, several years ago (2016, to be exact) in Houston and remembered it was a great show. I was—once again—far from disappointed.
I arrived at Three Links—a small club located in Deep Ellum—thirty minutes before the doors opened. This was mostly due to overpreparation on my part, as I was very worried about showing up late, but it turned out to serve me quite well. Notably, it gave me an opportunity to chat with the guy at the door, who knew “about 40% of the bands playing” personally. This led me to discovering that, interestingly enough, most of the musicians playing that night (aside from Raymond Watts and En Esch of < PIG >, of course) were from Texas.
After finally making it into the venue, I found it to be (probably somewhat unintentionally) very appropriately themed for a concert that attracted a lot of goth and goth-adjacent types. Due to Halloween being the week after the show, the club was lined with Halloween décor. I proceeded to acquire my first (of two) merch purchases and chat with some rather lovely people—both fans and people working at the venue alike—before making it over to the stage.
The hour between entering the venue and the start of the show, as well as later on between sets, was run by a local DJ, DJ Culturegang. He played some fantastic hits that definitely helped to pass the hour until the bands started.
First up was the local opener, Spankthenun. The band was a perfect opener both in name and energy, and despite the short set, they had a lot of good interaction with the crowd. I definitely felt more hyped afterwards.
Next up was unitcode:machine, another band local to Dallas, but is currently touring with < PIG >. The band is a one-man project, but played as a three-man show, including the drummer who would play later on that night for < PIG > (Bradley Bills of Chant). The energy of Spankthenun was definitely matched in their set.
Thirdly was Curse Mackey, who played his final show on the road that night, before going back home to Austin. Being the only band that night without additional touring members, he definitely had more of an emphasis on stage presence and set dressing than the other bands, but managed to play an excellent show. It was during his set that I noticed the crowd had definitely grown significantly, filling up most of the venue by this point as the main act grew ever closer.
And then finally, after a lovely mix of bands, it was time for < PIG > to play. The four touring members—Steve White (KMFDM), Bradley Bills (Chant), En Esch (several bands, but currently producing music just as En Esch), and Raymond Watts (the mind behind < PIG >)—took the stage.
From the first song, it was immediately obvious how good this set was going to be. They played with an absolute whirlwind of liveliness and pure presence—a captivating act from start to finish. Despite the fact that the members are all middle aged at this point (Watts especially, being sixty-three as of this year), and Bills having played a full set earlier, there was so much energy happening onstage. Watts bounced around the stage as he laid out old classics, including his works on the album Sinsation, all the way through the newest of tracks from the 2024 album Red Room, all without noticeably wearing out (aside from pauses to gulp down water).
En Esch, a longtime collaborator with Watts, played three different roles throughout the show, as both backup vocalist, guitarist, and occasional keyboardist—each of them, he did amazingly well. I’ve seen him in multiple bands throughout the years, including Pigface, and his energy on this show with Raymond definitely ranked as one of his best performances. Their energies worked extremely well in their set.
Interlaced between the actual music was a lot of appreciation. It was easy to tell that—not only through his words, but his energy as well—Watts is a man who loves and appreciates his fanbase. And considering the crowd (particularly one of the people I talked to often throughout the night and stood next to) were just as happy to be there, it definitely made the show even better.
This sense of gratitude extended to the other artists as well. After the show, I had the opportunity to talk to most of the artists, and every one of them were extremely nice towards me. It reminded me of why I absolutely adore industrial shows, and I was very glad to have had the opportunity to go.
