Viagra Boys | Getdown Services
Alexandra Palace, London
6th March 2026
After a year on the road, Viagra Boys returned to London for their largest headline show yet. Despite frontman Sebastian Murphy admitting to not being in peak physical form, Tom Parry sees them putting on an incendiary set.
How have a band that artfully sneers and snarls at society like Viagra Boys become so big that they sell out Ally Pally’s 10,000-capacity Great Hall? Easy, I suppose, there’s plenty to be surly about these days. This was a gig spilling over with anticipation. In the soggy queue outside, hemmed in by security, the air fizzed; people with a pent-up aggression they needed to let loose were early and raucous. The post-punk outsiders from Sweden have become a vent for the dispossessed hordes; unlikely generational anti-heroes.
Before them, support act Getdown Services were an even more unlikely duo to see pogoing topless in tight-fitting shorts before a knowing, singing-along crowd. They have a unique appeal, an admirable disdain for acceptability, but the act did have its limitations in a venue of this scale, as they seemed to acknowledge. They don’t take themselves too seriously. That attitude can work, but beneath this high ceiling, it seemed a little ludicrous, almost end-of-the-pier. Clever one-liners and amusing observations over pre-programmed beats don’t function as well when you can’t make out the lyrics.
Viagra Boys, however, were far more conscious of the significance of this milestone gig in their career. They warmed the crowd up with a roving camera roaming the audience before fixing on random people, who then had to down their pint. Cheap and easy pre-show entertainment, which had the right effect. Murphy strode out in a full tracksuit behind his shades-wearing bandmates, only to jettison the top before the first number, the appropriately-titled Man Made of Meat had started. All eyes were on this peculiarly magnetic singer straight away as he prowled, leered and preached his twisted, pithy and often hilarious lyrics. Opening with an edgy anthem for these times set the tone for the rest of the performance. It was amusingly surreal to spin around and see every face around me shouting out: “I am a man that’s made of meat / And you’re on the internet looking at feet.” As bizarre as seeing the Viagra Boys logo projected onto the historic stained glass window at the back of the hall.
The piledriver pace barely let up for the first section of the gig. Murphy interrupted proceedings to explain how he had been to a doctor that morning because of chronic back pain, so therefore might not be at his best. There would be none of the usual breakdancing tonight, he apologised. This had minimal effect, though, simply because the driving songs did enough by themselves. The energy was palpable. People threw themselves around with abandon, despite Ally Pally’s sometimes over-zealous security. At one point, there seemed to be a row brewing, with Murphy saying he was on the verge of getting thrown out of his own show.
While the focus was always on Murphy, an enigmatic and challenging presence with his tattoo-covered torso and imposing physical size, the other members of Viagra Boys were collectively tight and kept the music raw. The saxophones added a rousing emphasis over the taut rhythm section. For most of the time, they stayed in the background, happy for Murphy to dominate the spotlight, although keyboard player Elias Jungqvist did a triumphant crowd-surf across the mosh pit at the end. Barring a slightly saggy lull in the middle of the set, perhaps because of the limitations of the venue as much as the music, this was a vibrant and life-affirming show. Viagra Boys are as fiery and relevant a live act as you are likely to see right now.
Check out the band on their website | Instagram | Facebook
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Words by Tom Parry, you can find his author’s archive here, plus on Twitter and his website
Photos © Paul Grace. For more of Paul’s writing and photos, go to his archive. Paul is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and his websites are www.paulgrace-eventphotos.co.uk & www.pgrace.co.uk.
Getdown Services photos by Aaron Thompson. AMP Photography
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