Sneaky Pete’s is bursting at the seams tonight — the kind of sweatbox that feels more like a rite of passage than a gig. Edinburgh’s CBGBs, if you like, and Toronto’s Ducks Ltd. look right at home. This is their habitat: no airs, no gimmicks, just four people rattling the walls with songs that feel like they’ve been waiting for a room like this.

They hit the ground running with Train Full of Gasoline and Cathedral City, all nervous energy and chiming guitars, before Old Times steadies the pace. Then Under a Rolling Moon arrives, and it’s brilliant — expansive, shimmering, the sort of track that could soundtrack a midnight drive but somehow feels even better packed into this basement.

Momentum builds: Deleted Scenes at breakneck speed, Hollowed Out with a darker weight, and new song Forever (On and On) which already feels road-hardened. How Lonely Are You is one of those perfectly tight indie gems — sharp edges and glorious jangle, like early R.E.M. still hungry and scrappy.

And then comes the surprise. When You’re Outside delivers harmonies so clean and unexpected you double-take. It’s indie-grunge stitched with harmonies The Eagles would nod at — not what you saw coming, but all the better for it. Heavy Bag rolls into The Main Thing with seamless ease, before Get Bleak erupts, glorious and undeniable.

Finally, 18 Cigarettes. Their anthem. Their closer. The one everyone’s waiting for. And it’s every bit as brilliant live as you hoped — a sweaty, euphoric full-room shout-along, Sneaky Pete’s vibrating like it might just lift off Cowgate.

Tom McGreevy anchors it all on vocals and guitar, with Maddy Wilde’s bass lines tight and punchy, Kurt Marble’s guitar cutting through, and Jonathan Pappo driving it all home on drums. Together they’re lean, relentless, and locked in.

Ducks Ltd. are the real deal. One of those bands you stumble across in a packed room and know you’ll brag about later — “I saw them back when…” Get in now, before they outgrow the basements and sweatboxes.

 ****

Reviewed by Steve H

Venue : Sneaky Pete’s

Time 19.00

Date 24th Aug