Packed in at the Pack Horse IX

A Mucky Pup Promotions Event

The Pack Horse 

The ninth edition of Packed in at the Pack Horse is a tale of two halves. That of the music and that of the work of Mucky Pup Promotions. Full disclosure, this was my first time at a Mucky Pup event and, honestly, I was blown away by the level of care on display. Upon ascending the stairs, the first thing that greeted me was a table of handmade zines full of wordsearches, mazes, descriptions of the bands, recommendations of local band’s new music and even an approval message from Dermot O’Leary (the authenticity of which cannot be verified). As soon as we turned to enter the main room, we were warmly greeted by Will, the tendons behind the Mucky Pup operation. 

Will is exactly the type of man you want heading up an operation like this. All it took was to be mere seconds into a conversation with him and his knowledge and passion for not just the Leeds music scene, but every music scene in a 200-mile radius, came to the fore. He was spouting out bands he thought were great and people he’d love to work with like a mastermind contestant at gunpoint. It wasn’t just his penchant for the music that shone through, but his dedication to everything that surrounds it. He was discussing avant-garde film photographers who had photographed his gigs, the importance of zine culture and the videographer for the evening, Moth, who was there with an analogue cassette wielding camcorder. This was as holistic of a music event as you could get in terms of pushing every aspect of the scene forward and Mucky Pup’s keen eye and hard work was to thank for this.

The entertainment for the evening came from a carefully curated set of four grunge, punk, post-punk and leftfield bands that complimented each other greatly. First was Manchester’s Cinder. Industrial filled grunge that punched deep and often sank into punk to do so. There was a reason Will handed a pair of earplugs to us closest to the drums and that’s because they were hardcore and cymbal heavy in a way that cuts through you in just the right way. Next was the first of the evening’s meat duopoly, Cinder’s fellow Mancunians, Meat Bags. Raw old school punk, angry and political, viscous, and loud. Then, out of nowhere, shredding guitar solos that follow vocals that sound like Charles Bronson decided to channel his anger into music. Top stuff. Neo-plastic followed them up with some appropriately meaty post-punk sounds. Bass heavy with classic post-punk yelled vocals for a performance that any fan of the genre would relish. The night was topped off with Tinned Meats, the band, not the sad dinner. From Crabs to Napalm Death inspired one second jazz prog noise pieces, you never quite knew what they were going to do next, but you knew it would be damn entertaining. 

 It is here then we return to Will and Mucky Pup as, throughout the night, he was doing his very best to put on a premium evening. Be it from ensuring bands knew when to watch each other through green-room roundups, to coordinating the crowd, to bring everyone forward and filling smoke-break-fuelled crowd gaps and even signing up the groups to Sixty Seconds with Stub interviews, the man did not stand still all evening and the event was a triumph because of it. Keep an eye out for future editions of Packed in at the Pack Horse. Anyone with a vested interest in music and keeping it thriving has a duty to be there to support a promoter of this calibre. 

Words by William Hatfield (@wrh.2001). Pictures by Natasha Dobson (@n_j_dphotography).

First picture: Meat Bags. Second Picture: Cinder: Third picture: Neoplastic. Forth picture: Tinned Meat.