I have been following Twin Atlantic from the very beginning when they were playing Glasgow’s King Tut’s and when no one had really ever heard of them. So, hearing that they easily sell out three nights at Barrowlands is a pretty big thing for any Twin Atlantic fan to hear. I never miss a single show when they come to Glasgow – I never get tired of their outstanding live performances.
Out of their three sold out shows, I am attending two – one of which was tonight and was absolutely phenomenal. The night was full of setlist surprises, songs which haven’t been played since 2009 and songs that they have never played in Glasgow before – it was beyond special.
I can honestly say that they live up to very high standards every time they play to their home crowds. Speaking of the crowd, we were bouncing up and down from the first note to the last. Twin Atlantic never have a problem when it comes to hyping up the crowd – they always have so much energy which connects with their fans. I was singing every word and singing so hard that my voice broke during “Whispers” – which in fact, was not a pretty moment.
When the lights went out and the room filled up with screams and series of “here we here we” chants – my excitement overflowed. It felt as if I was seeing them for the first time and that excitement never dies – no matter how many times I see them. The riff for “Gold Elephant: Cherry Alligator” began to play and the crowd went insane – arms flailing everywhere as the riffs were booming through the venue. If I’m completely honest, I was not keen on this song when I first heard it as it is beyond different to their usual style. However, after hearing it live three times this year, I have been completely converted due to Sam McTrusty’s (lead vocalist) enthusiasm and powerful screams.
Two moments of the night stand out in particular to me: when “Overthinking”, my favourite track off their new album GLA, played and when “Human After All” lit up the full crowd.
When McTrusty said that they were going to try something different and play a song off their new album which they haven’t played before – I had a confident feeling I knew what was about to follow. The synths started and I was right – “Overthinking”. I have been saying for so long that I’ve wanted to hear it live. Before the gig, I checked the setlist online and it wasn’t on it, so this was a very exciting moment for me. My screams and over-exaggerated accent singing definitely gave that one away.
As I’ve said before, I have followed this band from their very first album Vivarium and admittedly “Human After All” is and will always be my favourite song from this album – in fact, my favourite song of all time. I have only heard this song once before at the exact same venue in 2012. So, I was pretty deprived of hearing this song live and I happily got to relive the nostalgic moment.
It was also a pretty big moment for them to play “Old Grey Face” which they haven’t played since their smaller gigs back in 2009. This is an honourable mention as I haven’t had the chance to hear this song live until tonight which was outstanding. It sounded way better live than it did on record, which I thought was impossible.
I cannot possibly write a review for a Twin Atlantic gig and not mention “Crash Land”. I feel like I say this a lot, but the moment when Sam changes from his electric to his acoustic guitar – my face always lights up. This song always speaks to me and every time I hear it, it just gets more and more beautiful. The crowd always manage to out-sing Sam and each time he is baffled with the reception, and it melts my heart to see him like that. If I could witness one live song for the rest of my life, it would be “Crash Land” to a home crowd without a doubt.
They never disappoint and they really do get better every time I see them. I am so ecstatic to see them tomorrow again, marking my 4th time this year alone. And it definitely won’t be the last.
Photos by Stephanie McConnachie
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