Two Friday nights ago, on May 26th in UCLA's Student Housing Neighborhood, Los Angeles rising artist Sugar Pit performed a headlining set at "A Night 2 Remember", a night of underground music performances put on by Indie Sauce, PSY Sound, and Tuned In UCLA. Pookie attended and is here to shed some light on what exactly went down.
(Photo by Alec Manning)
It's a Friday night in Los Angeles. May 26th. The occasion: Sugar Pit headlines “A Night 2 Remember”, a UCLA house show put on by Indie Sauce in conjunction with PSY Sound and Tuned In UCLA. The lineup also includes G Luné, (one of Pookie’s fav artists whom unfortunately had her wisdom teeth removed earlier in the day and couldn’t perform) Christopher Normann, Sorry Ghost, and Spooky Marvin. Sounds in-between sets are provided by the impeccable Chloe Chaidez, who sustained the energy as the audience eagerly awaits the next band. This is an excerpt of Pookie's experience.
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I enter the residence at around 10 o’clock. There’s about 100 of UCLA’s finest underground music lovers congregating in a fully concrete backyard. The atmosphere and vibes are effervescent. Christopher Normann just finished playing their set, and warm cheers coming from the audience signify that it was very very well received. Next up is Sugar Pit, the night’s much-anticipated headliner. I’m super stoked to see Sugar Pit live because for the past 2 weeks, his song “Customer Service” has been relentlessly stuck in my head, as well as the now viral video that accompanies it.
(Photo by Alec Manning)
It’s 10:31PM and Sugar Pit has officially taken the stage to begin setup. They are a four piece band, 2 guitarists including Sugar Pit, a bassist, and a drummer. Sugar Pit’s guitarist Prtty Ridiculous instantly catches the audience’s eye as he sets up. Wearing a Wednesday Adams-esque little black dress with fishnet stockings and a charm bracelet, Prtty is undeniably serving the hardest visually IMO as he puffs his cigarette and sips from his flask. I now decide to ingest my remaining two tequila shots before the performance officially begins.
Frontman Sugar Pit takes the mic, donning his signature curls and a velour Adidas tracksuit, he opens his set by asking the audience to chant with him some positive affirmations, “I am beautiful, I am loved, I am smart.” Very dope. He then dives into his opening song “Seller/Buyer”, an eccentric punky track from 2019. Sugar's energy on stage is carefree and comfortable while he performs his first number of the night, and the audience is totally thrilled. The next song Sugar Pit performs is “Supply/Demand”, and this is where things start to heat up. Utilizing dark, heavily distorted bass and crashing drums, this song is gothic meets industrial meets alt. punk, the crowd was loving every second of it. Sugar Pit’s music is known for having infectious hooks and experimental productions that seem to pull you in deeper as the music progresses, and I can tell you my head banging was only getting more intense with each bar.
(Photo by Alec Manning)
Sugar Pit powers on with his jaunty headliner set, mosh spits spontaneously appearing and dissolving with every chorus. Possibly my favorite performance of the night came when Sugar Pit performed "Why I Come Back Home". This song just hit me in the best, most profound way. I had never heard this track, but the combination of these soulful, disgruntled guitar chords and Sugar's itching, vibrant vocal tone and lyricism meshed perfectly. He inspired a feeling of raucous nostalgia that was truly awesome. One of the greatest moments of the entire night.
A couple more impressive performances take place before the song we're all waiting for. The one we know all the words to. "Customer Service" by Sugar Pit. This song is a modern day satirical ode to the mundaneness of work in the form of a boisterous, fun, wildly experimental production. Clocking in at just under 2 minutes, "Customer Service" is a song you'll want on repeat. Everyone in the audience is ecstatic as soon as they hear the beat, and Sugar Pit is completely in his element. Jumping all over the stage and into the audience, Sugar brings the energy to it's highest peak. The mosh is moshing. "I'm working I am working I am working working I am working" we all chant as we crash into each other. It's really a great time.
(Photo by Alec Manning)
Next up is an unreleased track. Sugar Pit announces his next single, "Compete", available June 9th, and proceeds to perform. Let me tell you, this is a song for champions. Sugar Pit carries the energy we all had for "Customer Service" and grows it. This track reminds me of "Short Skirt Long Jacket" by Cake, I hear similarities in Sugar Pit's amped vocal tone and his laid-back yet bravado approach. This track is dope, and the crowd is soaking it up. With the viral success of "Customer Service" and now here, listening to "Compete", it's undeniable Sugar Pit is headed somewhere great. For his final performance, Sugar Pit aka Kian Stevens-Winston plays a song called "Sneaky Hands", a fast-paced gothic indie rock song he released in 2022. As he closes out his set, the final mosh fizzles out. Tonight was dope, Sugar Pit killed it. If you're in LA and can make it to one of Sugar Pit's next shows, I highly recommend you do so.
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