I was fortunate to be invited to a secret gig in King Tut’s last night ahead of the start of their Summer Nights series of gigs. This annual showcase features a whole host of the best of new and emerging Scottish bands and the warm up event featured three bands who have headlined at either Summer Nights or New Years Revolution, Leisureland, Awful Eyes and Alcatraz.
The venue was packed with invited members of bands who are performing at this years event, many for the first time and as such, one of the Summer Nights promoters, Meg hosted a Q&A before the bands played their sets with all three acts giving some insight and the benefits of their experience. Alcatraz guitarist Aaron was clearly feeling mischievous and ended up getting the mic removed by his bandmates before he said something that would get him cancelled or barred… And I just realised we never did hear the story of what happened to Meg’s
finger…
First band on the bill was Paisley’s Leisureland, a band whose frontman Adam has such an uplifting dynamic magnetism about him, you can’t help but be drawn in by his larger than life personality and his infectiously engaging stage presence. Leaving nothing behind, he puts everything into his performance with the band creating a soulfully bluesy indie rock sound that provides a perfect foil for his deeply resonant voice, soulfully smooth and warmly gravelly in equally measures, and channelling fellow Paisley buddy Paolo Nutini. They were the ideal band to get the party started, their powerfully anthemic songs really kicking off things with a high energy vibe. Feeling Kind of Blue was exceptional, before they ramped up the vigorous spirit several notches with their closing salvo of the brilliant Suzie and reaching their zenith with an exuberant Waster.
Awful Eyes continued the party atmosphere by including their lively cover of recent Glasgow visitors The B52’s classic Love Shack mid set. Growing Pains was an early set highlight packed with effects laden guitar and bass giving the song some mind-bending textures. Olivia’s solid bass sits at the core of the bands sound, with the rhythm section bolstered by new drummer Shannon. Percy switched between sax and guitar and created some mean riffs and licks on lead guitar, complemented by Jess’s smooth rhythm guitar riffing, with some jagged inflections. Their recent single Snakes and Ladders was a pulsating set highlight before they closed their set with a rapturous Post Punk Revival, Jess taking on lead vocals with a pointed and bitingly acerbic delivery, and encouraging a raucous pit. Liv mentioned their set a couple of years ago at Tenement Trail which happened to be the first time I managed to catch the band live, despite me being slightly worse for wear due to some day drinking continuing into the wee small hours, I remember being well impressed by the band at the time, it is great to hear and see the their progressions, they have developed their sound exponentially during that time to the stage where it has really swelled filled out along with a more confident stage presence and musicianship.
It was down to the mighty Alcatraz to close off the night with their explosive hard n heavy sound, furious dual guitar shredding from Aaron and Robbie paired with Liv’s booming bass and Peter’s pounding drums and Dec’s synth grooves and beats, and of course the icing on the cake of Ellie’s fiercely expressive and forcefully potent vocal. Their set was off the scale, a total mind-blowing set of searingly exhilarating songs, kicking off in style with a reverb heavy Want Me before an incredible Seventh Heaven seamlessly leading into a sensational head banging version of You Make Me Bleed. The peerless sextet hit a home run with a blistering take on their upcoming single Messiah and somehow upped the ante even further with the suitably disorientating aural mindfuck that is I Hear Voices, underlined by face-melting, twisted electronic beats. Their set closed with Ellie on ferocious form, prowling the barrier like a creature possessed, the intensity of their set closer Nowhere Man reaching boiling point as the band created a glorious cacophony of gargantuan proportions. This is a band on top of their game, if there is any justice in this world they’re going to be huge.
Check out the burgeoning Summer Nights schedule of gigs, if I didn’t have to work, pay a mortgage and deal with all the other things life throws at you, I’d be stage front for every one of these gigs… as it stand currently, my first Summer Nights gig will be Close Control on the 10th of July with Brittle, Bite the Bullet and finally I’m getting to see Corrine…
