The Pill is a punk girl duo from the Isle of Wight in the U.K., dishing out raw and chaotic energy since 2019. Lily on guitar and Lottie on bass share vocal duties. Rufus is joining them at the drums.
People call them “a kick in the teeth” (in the best way), and yeah, that tracks. The Pill’s scrappy, chaotic punk is all attitude and zero filter. They take the weird stuff life throws at them and turn it into loud, messy, hilarious gold. It’s unhinged, it’s fun, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
I firstly heard of them when they released their second single on Spotify, “Scaffolding Man,” last year, and when I saw they were touring in France, I knew I had to be there.
The Supersonic is a rock venue in Paris with a unique approach to programming shows that I haven’t seen anywhere else: instead of the usual opener and headliner format, they feature three separate concerts in one night, each lasting around 45 minutes. On Friday, the venue was packed; it was even challenging to move around as a photographer.
The night kicked off at 8:30 p.m. with DEVAH. French songwriter and singer Blondoxx, also known as Cécile Quiltu, describes her music as a blend of “untamed drugstore cowgirl, marked by Ennio Morricone, American folk, and blues rock.”
She was backed by a full band of four musicians: a drummer, a backing vocalist, a bassist, and a guitarist, in addition to herself.
She sang multiples songs from her discography, including “In Love With A Drag Queen,” “FREAKNMEOUT,” and “SPITFIRE,” her latest release on Spotify. She also covered “Ooh La La” from the iconic duo Goldfrapp.
At 9:30 p.m., it’s Spare Skin, the French post-punk trio composed of Anne-Lise (guitar, vocalist), Olivier (bass) and Alisson (drums), who entered the stage.
They opened their set with their song “Mean to Be” from their latest EP, Spare Skin. The lead singer, Anne-Lise, took a moment to introduce the different themes behind the songs they were about to play: catcalling, street harassment, anger, the past, and control. Heavy, serious topics, all transformed into high-energy punk songs.
And to end the night, The Pill took the stage at 10:30 p.m. The energy in the room was electric. You could feel the excitement buzzing in the air, with people ready to welcome them to France in the loudest and warmest way possible.
The duo clearly felt it too, and threw it right back at the crowd with even more intensity.
Sometimes when I attend shows where the lead singers are also playing an instrument, I worry, especially as a photographer, that they might stay stuck behind their mics and not move around much. But that was absolutely not the case here. Sure, they had to sing, but they barely stayed still for a second. They danced with each other, jumped around the stage, laughed between songs, and kept the connection with the audience alive the whole time. It was the kind of set that made it impossible not to smile.
They played all of their songs availaible on major streaming platforms, including “Woman Driver,” “Money Mullet,” “Scaffolding Man,” and “Problem.”
They also surprised the crowd with unreleased tracks like “Salt Father” and “16-60.”
Every time a new song started, the crowd exploded, with mosh pits breaking out like waves across the room, people jumping, shouting the lyrics, and losing themselves in the moment.
After they wrapped up their original set with “Bale of Hay,” the venue shook with fans screaming “one last song, one last song” at the top of their lungs. The duo didn’t hesitate. They ran back onstage and launched into “Mullet Money” one more time, sending the crowd into an even crazier frenzy.
A wild encore that made sure the crowd got exactly what they came for.
Follow The Pill : Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | Website
Follow DEVAH : Instagram | Spotify | Soundcloud | Website
Follow Spare Skin : Instagram | Spotify | Soundcloud
Leave a Reply