For American bands touring in the UK, you can imagine there’s a checklist of sights and experiences that they have on their bucket lists. How many have scraps on their lists though? For Chicago outfit Stuck, who just landed for their first official UK tour, the potential for a post-punk punch-up was seemingly too much for a group of young lads and mid-show / post-show there was almost a rumble, much to the delight of the band and yours truly. Thankfully it was just handbags at dawn, though it added a little bit of spice to what had already been a spicy Manchester debut for the visiting Stuck.
“I’m far too earnest to be in a punk band…” Said guitarist and vocalist Greg Obis earlier in the night when they were a few songs in, confiding in the crowd that they had been worried about attendances for their first UK outing, but had been pleasantly surprised. I must admit, I too was a tad concerned about the turnout, particularly given their show in London the night before looked like such a rager – and especially because Manchester crowds can sometimes be a wee bit frosty! These worries were put to bed pretty quickly though when a rush of kids broke through to the front and set off a room-filling pit that had nearly everyone pile in, setting the tone for the evening with the busy room of people vibing and getting into the groove.
Their Manchester debut had been a long time coming. We first discovered Stuck around the release of their debut album ‘Change Is Bad’ in 2020, not long after they were due to host USA Nails on a tour of the states. Tour plans were significantly aborted due to the pandemic, but during the UK lockdown I personally hammered ‘Change Is Bad’, taking it on many a lengthy walk up and down the Mersey. Not much else to do, right? It was a trip then four years on to hear not only cuts from their debut LP, but everything they’ve put out since – its full length follow up ‘Freak Frequency’, as well as the 2021 EP ‘Content That Makes You Feel Good’ and their most recent singles, ‘Deep Tunnel b / w AITA?’. The latter, ‘AITA?’, was great on the night – near enough just vocalist Greg Obis asking ‘Am I The Asshole?’ over and over again.
A few songs in and the fucking lads from ‘Bottom’ came and stood directly in front of us, determined to knock our pints out of our hands. After much shuffling about, they disappeared after just one song, seemingly for the rest of the night. Over to the right, as the band thrashed out the closer of one, a tall lad whizzed his huge mop of hair left and right like he’d been set to full speed setting. Later on, he had his arms around the shoulders of his mates doing that can-can thing we used to do at gigs and a tear rolled down my check at the realisation that I was at least 15 years older than him.
A Scottish voice mumbled something loudly between songs and I think I was the only one that caught bassist David Algrim laughing, asking no one “…What?” From the off, Algrim’s tongue was lolling as he contorted his form during frantic opener ‘The Punisher‘ and he’d soon be putting maximum effort into everything all night, busting it out with gusto. Obis too looked wild-eyed at times, looking left and right as he hammered away with dagger-sharp, running down the plug hole guitar and the occasional yelped vocal.
Living up to the title of their EP, creating ‘Content That Makes You Feel Good’, Stuck must’ve been pleased with their debut up Norf. With a red hot crowd energised off everything dished up from the stage, Stuck ripped it through half hour of power and had the room wanting more. As the band rushed over to placate punters at the merch table at the end of the set, bassist Algrim sauntered off stage scratching his neck like he’d just done a big shift. Well earned, lad!
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