One of the questions on my mind had to be, how do The Interrupters follow a gig as good as The Wildhearts?
It didn’t take long for them to answer my question.
First up though it was the turn of Buster Shuffle and The Skints. We arrived just as Buster Shuffle were finishing – though I heard enough to tempt me to investigate more of what sounded to me like a Chas n Dave meets ska mash up. The Skints impressed me musically. Some cracking bass lines and laid-back tunes – and you can’t beat a bit of sax. A lovely version of Dawn Penn’s You Don’t Love Me into the bargain. I’m not sure if it was lively enough for some tonight though. Maybe they were just a little e too chilled for the night. I can imagine them playing a summer open air gig, sitting relaxing in the sunshine listening to their mellow vibes with a few beers. I shall investigate them further too.
A Night to Remember
What can I say about The Interrupters? In the space of a year they have gone from playing The Garage (a damn fine gig it was too) to having their Glasgow gig upgraded from SWG3 due to demand for tickets and subsequently selling out the legendary Barrowland. The quartet (with added live member on brass and keys) are consummate performers. They are more than familiar with how to put on a memorable show. The gig was a masterclass in how engage an audience, knowing when to lark around and have a bit of banter, but most importantly though having the tunes and the musicianship to back it up. The result? A storming gig and a night to remember.
The songwriting and choice of songs in the set is cleverly aimed at making followers of the band feel they are part of something special, an Interrupters family if you like. Kicking off the set with A Friend Like Me, with Got Each Other & Family spread throughout the powerful set, they had us in the palm of their hands from the word go. I’m sure this family vibe and is in no small part to the Tim Armstrong/Rancid effect. The Interrupters are like Rancid’s little brothers and sisters, taking influence from them but bringing their own personalities and polish to the show.
Justice & Equality
Standing up for your rights is another big theme of the bands writing with anthems advocating justice and equality strewn throughout too…Take Back the Power, Title Holder, Judge Not and She Got Arrested all powerful messages & big tunes.
Then there were the fun bits too. Just enough to add to the atmosphere and enjoyment but not too much to take away from the sheer glory of the band in full flow – their flawless take on Billie Eilish Bad Guy, a wee drum solo here and bass solo there, a snippet of The Specials – all perfectly placed to make it a faultless evening.
As the night progressed there was an exponentially perceptible increase in audience engagement and enthusiasm, if it was possible given that we were all theirs from the off. Maybe it was the beer, but I’m pretty sure it was down to the band, but it just kept getting better and better as the set went on. It was one of those special Barrowland nights when you look across the room and the whole place is bouncing from from to back. They were skanking in the aisles too, well, not aisles per se but there was some energy being expounded in the bar area. The Interrupters were the match, we were the Kerosene as they lit the blue touch paper launching into their incendiary final track sending us home hyped and happy.
Roll on the next time. Just a thought – a little double header with Rancid would be nice. After all, it’s been a while.
For now though – they gave us everything…