Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

A strong heart, a powerful stance and a set list you could ask out for dinner and watch it devour the entire meat section with passion in its eyes and a drool forming on your lips, it might have only been the fourth time that Kangarilla Pig have performed live as a unit but the steam, the energy they give off is enough to make both the Flying Scotsman and the and Rajadhani Express seethe with jealousy and their drivers ask for the number of their coal supplier.

With a healthy past behind them, Ian and Mark take their previous experiences from their bands Daze and Catch 22 and with the superb Aaron performing like a trooper on bass, Kangarilla Pig become boisterous, they are actively lively in their approach to making the crowd interested in their music and as they growl and play with the sentiment of exuberance inside Hanger 34, you can only imagine what Liverpool’s harder edge would have been like in music terms had such musicians been given their time to develop over the years; in Kangarilla Pig, there is an answer, a response that is both satisfying and deeply cool.

As part of an evening’s celebrations heralding the return of Rain to the Liverpool stage, Kangarilla Pig were arguably the perfect addition and comrades in arms on the night, powerful, precision and satisfying, a band to which even a broken string during the set knew no bounds of holding back and in which anybody with a soul in the crowd would have mentally noted down to see play again, wherever they might play and attack the airwaves with.

Opening their set with songs such as Batcave, Today and Hideaway, Kangarilla Pig made perfect use of their time on stage and placed before the Hanger 34 crowd a collection of songs that were cool, calm and excitable. With tracks such as Insane again, Head in the Clouds and a truly awesome version of Tears For Fears Madworld played out in the night, Kangarilla Pig sounded as if they had played every night for a month, full of fire in their collective hearts, brimming with possibilities and above all a reminder of what Liverpool was once able to boast of inspiring long before the Manchester scene found a way to spirit it away.

A band to see more of, to enjoy, Kangarilla Pig is a piece of the jigsaw that was missing!

Ian D. Hall