[avatar user=”Roisin” size=”50″ align=”left” /]King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow is famous for great nights out and awesome, up and coming bands which usually end up playing the high end of venues in the city. On Sunday the 6th of December fans of the band Nothing More packed into the tiny little venue but before the main band of the night, first up were a local band Servant Sun, a metal/alternative band hoping to make a huge impact on the crowd.
Servant Sun didn’t hesitate to jump into their set as quickly as possible, trying to win over the somewhat stiff crowd. Vocalist Andrew MacDonald encouraged the crowd to create dance pits and to enjoy their set, given that they are a fairly new band they do have a very interesting ability to talk to the crowd without it being too cringey. Needless to say the band were energetic, passionate and most importantly, fun! Sadly, I missed the chance to photograph them but as opening bands go, Servant Sun nailed it. They might just have a future in the Glasgow music scene and maybe more.
I set up my camera and waited near the barrier, ready to jump into the photo pit and do my thing. SHVPES took to the stage and the energy from Griffin Dickinson, (yes that is Bruce Dickinson from the almighty Iron Maiden’s son) lit up the room. He stage dived into the crowd, almost knocking me down in the process. When he clambered back over the barrier, he fell onto the floor but as any good person should, he laughed it off and took to the stage to finish the first song.
A photographer’s dream is to have great lighting at a show and luckily for me, SHVPES had just that. I watched the band play their souls out in their music. Slowly word began to spread around the crowd that the singer is Bruce Dickinson’s son and suddenly people became much more interested in the band.
For me the melodic metal-core band weren’t something I’d choose to listen to, although they have some raw talent that will probably gain them much more attention in the years to come. I do think that for me, I wouldn’t go see them again, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t though!
The night drew on and finally, Nothing More came on. The American 4 piece from San Antonio, Texas entered with an interesting drum intro. It mixed it up a little and it made me very interested in the sound of the band and how unique their entrance was.
As I previously said good lighting is a dream for photographers at concerts, for Nothing More the lighting was bad; very bad but an artist doesn’t blame their tools! The brutally unique sounds that Nothing More presented to the audience drew them in; people were quiet at first but once the show got going, so did they!
Alternative metal is a genre that not many bands can pull off so flawlessly… Nothing More succeed without a doubt. Their live performance is filled with sophisticated vocals accompanied by funky guitar riffs. As for drums, well Nothing More love to show off their drum beats in such a cool and fun way, with extra drums around the stage, all members get involved in some way.
After I left the pit I took a few pictures from the back of the venue. The connection between the crowd and frontman Johnny Hawkins brought a smile to my face, when a performer is happy with their show it’s very clear to see, Johnny showed that perfectly.
Towards the end of the show the band decided to do a bass solo, which was a bit peculiar to begin with. They had this stand which held the bass string side facing the ceiling with the bassist, vocalist and guitarist all playing the solo together. It was different and the solo was pretty badass so props to Nothing More for thinking out of the box.
Most bands have an encore, something that has now became boring and predictable for fans at a show. Vocalist Johnny Hawkins expressed his dislike for encores and insisted that instead of leaving the stage and returning that the crowd and band put 100% into their last song, making it better than any encore could ever be.
By the time the band left the stage and we were rushed out of the tiny venue, I felt satisfied with show that I had seen and my images. I wouldn’t be surprised if Nothing More headlined the O2 Academy in Glasgow in the next few years. Check them out and you won’t be disappointed, honestly.
Links to Flickr sets: Nothing More / SHVPES
All photos by Roisin Stewart.
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