Barrowlands

Bleachers – Barrowland Ballroom

Live music, Music Review

On their triumphant return to Glasgow, Bleachers prove that the only way from here is up – and two saxophones are better than one!

Bleachers’ frontman Jack Antonoff alleges that the first and only time his band played in Glasgow there were nine people in the audience. Speaking to fans who were in attendance that night it was more likely into triple digits but for the bargain price of £10 – even in 2015 – it seems almost criminal that anyone could’ve passed up such a gig. In the nine intervening years, the band has expanded their catalogue to four albums of nostalgia therapy; Breakfast Club anthems touching on love, loss and the general specific of 21st century angst. While Antonoff has collaborated on many, wildly successful projects with other artists it’s in Bleachers that his musical identity is its most raw and authentic. The sound is iconically New Jersey, iconically millennial, and in this Bleachers has forged an irresistible dynamic. And so for their second Glasgow outing – at more than triple the ticket price – Bleachers upscaled not once but twice, from SWG3 to the iconic almost-2000-capacity Barrowlands Ballroom, and sold it out.

Scottish-born, London-based artist Kaeto landed the coveted support slot for this From The Studio to The Stage Tour and duly delivers an uncompromising set of amalgam pop which is simultaneously ethereal and violent. Closing with the instantly familiar groove of No Body, she ensures the energy in the room is high ahead of the main event as she heads to the merch desk to give away postcards.

With the pervasive oscillation that is characteristic of their songs, Bleachers opt for an understated start as latest album opener I Am Right On Time winds the crowd up gently. It’s going to be a long night but no-one quite knows that yet. They come out all guns blazing on Modern Girl though. There are three saxophones on the stage and they’re immediately threatening on this track. In fact, there’s very limited relief from the intensity of dual saxes and dual drums throughout.

The fierce urgency of How Dare You Want More fades into the sweet simplicity of Wake Me. Antonoff recalls that first Glasgow gig with energetic sincerity and dedicates his cathartic grief bop Everybody Lost Somebody to the supposed nine people who showed up in 2015. His affection and genuine appreciation for the Scottish audience is voiced often and the love is clearly reciprocated with exaggerated ovations and occasionally thunderous singalongs.

The romantic devotional Me Before You carries tones of Springsteen’s Secret Garden and so when it segues tenderly into an actual Springsteen collaboration – hypnotic dream sequence, Chinatown – the crowd is already there waiting. As a songwriter, Antonoff really excels at building these quite straight-forward, mildly intense and melodramatic, love songs and the mid-set is loaded with them. There’s very few artists who can pull off 80s pastiche with both earnestness and self-awareness but this is where Bleachers have made their niche. Addressing the crowd, he speaks with an almost aggressive friendliness (New Jersey, man! IYKYK) about what it all means to him; where music comes from, inspiration and genius; what he loves to feel in music as a listener and as a performer, and eventually he rambles onto a cover of The Waterboys that nearly brings the house down through audience participation.

They carry on, unrelenting still. The one-two punch of Rollercoaster and Let’s Get Married sees Antonoff commanding the crowd to rise on one another’s shoulders and later he even plays his acoustic guitar with such ferocity that his hand requires minor medical attention. They’re not fucking around. It’s after 10.30pm when Antonoff announces that they’re foregoing the false-encore protocol. Thank God! the applause has been exhausting!

Their 20-song set crescendos in the last quarter with a sequence of what can only be described as “absolute bangers”; an embarrassment of riches representing each of their studio albums. At 11pm Antonoff calls to put the lights up on the audience so that the band can take in the full glorious scene of their triumphant “Glasgow 2” and with the promise of “Glasgow 3: as soon as fucking possible” they launch into Don’t Take The Money, closing the night with a crash of euphoric bitter-sweetness. Bleachers leave it all on the stage, regardless of how many people they’re playing for, and the feeling from this performance is that it could’ve been a lot bigger. For certain it could not have been smaller and it might not be this small again. Time will tell. Hopefully not too much time though.

The Vaccines – Barrowland Ballroom

Live music, Music Review

No-one else does glamorous indie rock and roll quite like The Vaccines.

When The Vaccines emerged onto the UK music scene with their debut album in 2011 they immediately landed themselves in no-band’s land. Pop music was in a transitional phase with the girls (Rhianna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Adele) on top and the folk rock revival (Mumford & Sons et al.) gaining momentum. Guitar bands were already “so two-thousand and late”. Arriving at the wake of landfill indie to find the buffet cleared and the chairs stacked, The Vaccines had no business hanging around. And yet…they delivered their first two LPs with such a moreish blend of earnestness and – ironically – irony that they almost single handedly revived the genre. Thirteen years later it’s hard to say whether the longevity and success of The Vaccines is an underdog story, or if contempt for their particular brand of English lad rock is merely a play in the culture wars waged between those Millennials utilising their university degrees in gainful employment and those who are not. It doesn’t really matter either way. What matters is that they’re still doing what they do, and doing it incredibly well.

In support of their latest studio album, Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations, the band brought a scintillating energy to their sold out show at Glasgow’s iconic Barrowland Ballroom. Their 75 minute performance encompassed an unrelenting 21-song set that made the two opening acts – Divorce and Teen Jesus & the Jean Teasers – seem like a completely separate gig, on a whole other night of the month, such was the intensity and immersive quality of The Vaccines frenetic musical joyride. Each of their six albums was honoured and, as is the measure of any decent live act, the songs cohered seamlessly over the course of the set. One could argue that The Vaccines’ biggest weakness is that their songs all kind of sound the same but the flaw in this thinking is that it’s actually a fantastic sound. Tonally, there’s not a lot of diversity but each and every song contains a top tier melodic hook and at least one indisputably relatable lyrical truth.

Articulating highlights among the no-filler set is super subjective: Wetsuit sounds more poignant than ever; Discount De Kooning (Last One Standing) offers a cathartic, jubilant singalong; singer Justin Young in his element, effortlessly windmilling his way through Headphones Baby is something to behold and has the crowd frothing. It’s all delightfully inconsequential. With an average bpm somewhere around 140 the show is over breathlessly quick. A four-song encore that ends with an entirely crowd-sung Norgaard underscores the need for both fresh air and levity.

“The longer we do this the luckier we feel” declares Young and in the current music industry landscape it’s easy to believe him. No-one does it quite like The Vaccines, anymore.

Maximo Park – Barrowland Ballroom

Live music, Music Review

Paul Smith is selling socks at the Barrowlands.

“We’ve got three-hundred pairs to shift,” the Maximo Park frontman tells his attendant audience, “and tea towels!” Hosiery and kitchen linens may not be conventional stock at most indie rock concerts but in the face of unsustainable economic structures and an industry in crisis, creative merchandising is a necessity. It isn’t enough to simply write, record and release great songs because no-one pays for great songs; artists have to sell stuff, and sell well, to finance their musical endeavours and basic living. Having great songs will help though.

To this end Maximo Park have hit the road to tout their wares throughout the UK. As Smith explains at one point, “We had a single. We wanted to tour the single hence, the Singular Tour.” Following the release of their nearly chart-topping seventh studio album, Nature Always Wins, in 2021, and a run of sold out shows across the country just over 12 months ago, the band are now treating audiences to a Maximo Park retrospective comprising “only the singles” – and for tonight, one B-side – with each city’s set containing select songs voted for in advance by the local fan base.

Dutch outfit Pip Blom are tasked with warming up the steady stream of early arrivals. Their formula of sugary vocals and occasionally fuzzy guitars is a bright and effervescent delight, dynamically building through the bluesy lilt of Tinfoil into the grungy Pussycat before overflowing with quaint garage-pop on Keep It Together. Heads are bopping throughout the crowd. It’s a good sign.

The Park’s set, by contrast, takes more than a moment to find its rhythm and direction. Or rather it opens with a certain rhythm, alternating consistently between crooners and kickers, before switching to a smooth, upward cadence for the latter half. The aforementioned B-side, The Night I Lost My Head, comes out of nowhere within the first three songs and, while a generally energetic bop, it sits incongruous to the more mellow grooves of Leave This Island and Hips and Lips which follow. The crowd are undeniably into it though. “If you wanna do a bit of dancing I will also do a little shuffle” Smith declares, as if he had no plans to move otherwise.

This isn’t a nostalgia trip proper and it’s evident that the nature of the tour has been successful in drawing out fans of each and every part of the band’s catalogue. The emphasis of the singles tour is on songs all people (theoretically) will have heard, not just die-hard or historic fans, and as such the audience has a more diverse emotional investment in this set. No song is ever met with indifference despite some having not felt the spotlight for a few years.

“Stay hydrated; we’ve got a lot of hits to get through” Smith quips, semi tongue-in-cheek, before launching into The National Health, during which the audience are surprisingly well-behaved. This one used to be quite a rager. It’s not much longer though before pints are flying and Smith is leaping, scissoring the air, illuminated in deep red and blinding white; the tones of A Certain Trigger. A thickset man is propped up on shoulders during Karaoke Plays and the atmosphere is becoming intensely sentimental.

Great Art, the single that precipitated this roadshow, repackages the band’s typically poetic social commentary while deploying as iconic an earworm as Radio 1 could ever hope for. It’s a popular one across the generations of listeners in attendance and serves to unify the energy from the stage all the way to the lighting desk. What follows from this point could be described as a passionate ascension which says as much about the music as it does about the band-audience relationship.

The intense romance of Questing, Not Coasting, a song about “falling in love in a thunderstorm”, has fists punching the air and arms swaying hypnotically. Our Velocity is a perfect song, worthy of dissertation, that somehow delivers more with every performance – especially in this room. The Kids Are Sick Again feels weighty and poignant, perhaps more than it ever has.

“If this is your first gig, welcome to Maximo Park. This is for you!” Smith announces before walking to the side of stage, allowing spotlights to focus attention on Duncan Lloyd’s silhouette and coarsely chiming guitar intro to Going Missing, the band’s first ever single. The crowd response is unparalleled with sustained, rapturous applause and spontaneous stamping. The same follows Books From Boxes, arguably the most beloved of fan-favourites, leaving Smith speechless for a few moments before humbly declaring, “This is why we do it.”

The set concludes with superb renditions of Versions Of You and Apply Some Pressure, both immaculate demonstrations of the band’s musical ethos and proof that the key to artistic longevity lies not in sales techniques or creative merchandising but in perfecting one’s craft. Great songs are what really matter. They drill this point home with a masterclass of an encore; Midnight On The Hill, Girls Who Play Guitars and Graffiti. Smith introduces his bandmates over relentless cheering, finally stating “My name is Paul and I’ve had a wonderful time”. You can’t half tell as he lingers long on the stage, radiating joy and gratitude, and basking in its elated reciprocity.

Here’s hoping they sold a lot of socks, because they certainly rocked plenty off.

A version of this review was published by The Modern Record

John Butler Trio – Barrowland Ballroom

Live music, Music Review

John Butler Trio’s latest album Home is an introspective detour on the Australian songwriter’s journey. While many artists start off their careers drawing on their internal struggles and gradually looking outwards John Butler, whilst being outspoken on public matters of social, political and environmental significance, has kept his innermost self quite private. The new album, released on September 28th, touches on subjects close to the songwriter’s heart including the joyous miracle of finding his soulmate in the middle of nowhere, as well as his developing battle with anxiety. Sonically and thematically it’s a substantial step away from his previous work, showcasing a more polished pop aesthetic with synths, drum machines and especially charming melodies. Some critics may have been disappointed but it is undeniably refreshing to hear a new development in any artist’s catalogue, particularly one with as many influences as John Butler has synthesised in the last 20-odd years of his career.

Within two weeks of the album’s release the band opened their European tour at Glasgow’s Barrowlands. Fellow Australian-Samoan singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Bobby Alu set the show up beautifully in support, with his laidback ukulele tunes and warm, soulful voice. He was well received by the early crowd who seemed to grow in size, evermore endeared to the gentle sway of his songs whether in English or Samoan, there was a very natural enjoyment to his being on stage with some people even calling for more when he took his leave.

It seems ominous then that when John Butler reached the stage he was nervous, however the crowd were elated and generous in response and the music flowed easily. Jaunty Tahitian Blue and the heavier Wade In The Water introduced the new material before Butler let slide on Betterman. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous tonight” he declared as he positioned his banjo before flawlessly fingerpicking his way into Better Than. Perhaps debuting so many new songs in one live session had him on edge but it hardly showed, only his minimal conversation suggested he had things on his mind. Eight out of the eighteen songs on the setlist came from Home but there were plenty of crowd-pleasers in the mix too. The earthy, slow blues jam Blame It On Me had the crowd so mesmerised that by the time the solo had wrapped up and every possible kind of effect had been wrung from the guitar, there was a delayed eruption of applause. Pickapart brought the audience out of their daze and saw limbs flying as bodies failed to resist its funky bass line. A fifteen minute rendition of Ocean was delivered solo with as much tenderness and passion as an orchestra could summon; an epic guitar odyssey in open C, filling the night with the simplest of dazzling green lights. It’s the highlight of any John Butler performance. Expanded to a five-piece for this tour (billed as John Butler TRIO+) the band switched instruments regularly and made good use of the extra hands particularly on the title track Home which featured four of the five drumming in unison over dark synth and bass. Funky Tonight left the crowd begging for more and the band obliged with a two song encore; between the resonant, swirling acoustic guitar and communal drumming circle, latest album closer We Want More displayed its tribal colours, before Butler invited the crowd to sing their hearts out with him on the rootsy hit Zebra. “It doesn’t have to be pretty, it just has to be loud” he encouraged. That it certainly was, albeit in a very relaxed, casual and organic kind of way. You wouldn’t expect more from a John Butler Trio audience really, just an abundance of peace and love, and that was exactly how the night ended.