CUD – life affirming and 100% genuine

If every gig sounded this good the world would be a joyous place.

CUD’s return to the Islington Academy some ten years and a handful of months after their triumphant explosion back onto the live scene was a treat for the ears – as well as the eyes.

Flamboyant as ever, and basking in the confidence that having a whole set of ‘no filler’ tracks makes fully justified, the CUD band’s sound engineer dialed in his best stadium sound settings and unleashed a pure pop beast…

Blasting through their best songs – many as chosen by ‘tens of thousands’ of fans in an online poll – CUD demonstrated once again how important it is for bands to deliver hooks that once latched in can never be extracted.

Lyrics and guitar riffs, basslines and drum beats – anyone who was a fan back in the day has every nuance of CUD’s repertoire seared into their brains…and tonight’s show brought back delicious memories of mis-spent youth with every note.

They are back at the Shiine On Weekender coming up soon – and are already plotting for next year as new recordings are threatening to materialise into a new long player.

Photos by Sara Bowrey