Independent Venue Week is such an important one; it showcases the greatness of the smaller pubs, clubs and event spaces, which aren’t connected to larger establishments, but still lay on gigs. And demonstrating exactly how important such venues are, and how much people rate them, is Sowerby Bridge’s The Blind Pig. It specialises in free gigs upstairs — and its Werther’s vodka shots for just £1.50 (full disclosure: we didn’t try but were sorely tempted). As we’d never had the chance to swing by and enjoy any live music there, it seemed the opportune time to change that, and catch Keighley’s Goo headlining…

The Tall Trees were the almighty opener. The three-piece have been on the circuit as a band for a good ten years now, and their CV also includes throwing the whopping Noise In The Valley festival last year. It was wildly successful and brought Pulled Apart By Horses out of the shadows — and a massive crowd to match. 

Scuzzy, bluesy rock is what The Tall Trees specialise in, so their set was raucously loud but seriously on-point. Although their frontman wielded a six-string, it delivered an excellent bass tone — and one that worked superbly to underpin the thudding drums and blazing guitar licks. Heavy and pacy throughout, it was hard to pin down a favourite in the sea of belters, and they served up a whole load of new material, too. But interestingly enough, the tune they ended with — ‘Forget It’ — is proving most replayed currently. Sick, screamed vocals and a whole heap of shredding? Yep, they’re a trio to tick off in 2025.

The bodies at The Blind Pig had been well and truly warmed up for Goo, a quad having a bit of a moment right now, following the announcement of their upcoming shows supporting PUP. Their loud, fuzzy indie-rock had heads bopping in no time, and the token synths on certain songs nicely mixed up the romping guitars. ‘Payday’ (I think was its name) was the liveliest banger, though I’ve been having a groove to ‘De Novo’ and ‘Call In Sick’ while writing this. They ranged from classic indie-rock melodies to heavy surges of chugging chords, and they also parted with a few newer offerings towards the finale, too. 

Prepare to see plenty more of Goo in 2025, as well as The Tall Trees and free gigs at The Blind Pig!