Destroy Boys // SWG3 // 27.01.25

Have you ever been to one of those gigs that is so captivating and so all enthralling that you go home and end up playing your guitar until the early hours?

Arriving early, I was amazed to see that the venue was already half full and that the largely young crowd had already tightly packed out the front of stage areas. With such an air of excitement and lively chat, it was hard not to be engulfed by it. The night was only ever going to go one way.

Californian Punk Rockers Destroy Boys primarily came to Glasgow to promote their current album ‘Funeral Soundtrack #4’ but the night was much more than that.

We all know that the world is currently spinning off axis, like a Gyroscope in the last throws of stability and the pre-gig presentation by Extinction Rebellion Scotland and the presence of Youth Demand ensured that some serious topics of the day were addressed. In addition, the importance of mutual respect, awareness, empathy and activism were to be continual topics in the set. The age of Destroy Boys is often mentioned and yet tonight their maturity and positive live force is something to be celebrated amongst their much younger fan base.

‘Here we, here we, here we fucking go…’ started to be chanted as the house lights went down and Destroy Boys came on stage to an explosion of sound. Impossible to see anything, it was only when the red stage lights came on that you could see Violet Mayugba’s expression of total shock as she looked out at the gathered crowd….it was as if her breath had been taken away amazed at the enormity of support that she had just glimpsed.

As expected, the new songs feature heavily in a blistering set. The crowd loving every moment…at times too enthusiastically. Emotion busting songs such as ‘Cry Baby’, ‘Shadow’ and ‘K Street Walker’ results in some serious crowd surfing and yet, one of the main highlights is a stripped down version of ‘Boyfeel’, with Alexia Roditis, SG in hand and the crowd joining in. A final encore of ‘Fences’ sees the band leave on a sonic high with applause and gratitude being shared in all directions.