Glasgow’s run of warm weather is apparently coming to an end, but it was certainly still warm as I headed for the Academy. And the night was to get warmer still…
Opening the evening were relative newcomers Split Chain, formed in 2023. From Bristol, something they were keen to remind us at several points throughout their 30 minute set. They had a damn tough job opening for a band that had come close to selling out a sizeable venue, which was well on the way to being packed by the time they came on stage. And, I’ll be honest, I don’t think they quite carried it off.
I don’t think this is down to them or their music as such. They came across well and were giving it everything, but the audience weren’t familiar with their music and there wasn’t a song with that magic hook to really grab the audience. Doing my usual people-watching from near the front I could see a small handful of people who knew a few words or who were punching the air in time, but it was a small handful. Split Chain frontman Bert Martínez-Cowles did ask the crowd how many people had heard of them and the number was… not big. He rephrased, asked how many hadn’t heard of the band before and got a decent sized cheer.
They were battling the infamous “support band sludge” sound issues, too. With earplugs, without earplugs, the sound was mushy to say the least and it sadly had a big effect on Split Chain getting their songs out to the audience. Martínez-Cowles was eager to get the crowd “off your feet” and in action, but to a large extent his effort fell on deaf ears. I think this was partly down to the aforementioned mushy sound and also because they weren’t really playing “go mental to it” music. I’ve taken time to listen to them when I got home and they’re not bad… but they’re more the kind of thing you listen and nod along to. Yes, there are “ooft” moments, but they hit… and then they drift back into a mellow (if loud) style again. There’s nothing that really urges an audience to sustain a pit.
Credit to both themselves and the audience, the post-song applause did increase track-on-track and the Glasgow crowd did treat them politely. However it was obvious that Split Chain were simply filling in the time before tonight’s headliners hit the stage. Having said that, if you were at the gig then do check them out on YouTube or wherever – the audio quality is far better and will give you an idea of what they should have sounded like.
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And onto our headliners. Google’s AI reckons A Day To Remember be back on June 24th at Glasgow Green… which, given that there is nothing advertised for the Green in pretty much all of June tells me that AI is once again talking bollocks, and we may have a longer wait for a return visit – hopefully not as long as the eight years we’ve waited for this one anyway. They will have been treating tonight’s show as a warm-up for the weekend’s performances at the two Slam Dunk festival sites, though I doubt either of Saturday and Sunday’s performances will hold a light to the 90+ minutes we had indoors in Glasgow. Good job tonight’s show will live in the memory for a long time, then.
Big Ole Album Vol 1 was the focus for this evening, with 8 of the album’s 12 songs featuring somewhere amongst the 23(!) we were treated to. This meant there was plenty of room for the classics and we got those as well.
“Make It Make Sense” kicked things off swiftly, followed by “I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?” and “2nd Sucks”. By this point in the show we’d already witnessed huge flames, pillars of stage smoke and an audience absolutely losing their shit. Three songs in and the humidity in the venue was at “sweaty as fuck” even for those stood towards the sides, and I’m not blaming the on-stage pyro for that either.
Like many bands of their styling, mixing pop punk and metalcore, they sound so much heavier on stage than they do over the airwaves. Those low notes and drops absolutely crush, but they still work brilliantly alongside the harmonies where pretty much ever band member joins in. The best example of this is, believe it or not, their cover of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” which was perhaps a surprise inclusion despite being popular on the Spotify and all that.
I’ve been to many gigs at the Academy, some for bands far heavier, but I can categorically state that I’ve never attended one sweatier, or indeed more fun. Chuck in three explosive confetti cannons, ADTR beach balls, toilet paper (!), those flames, Mario with a t-shirt cannon (!again) and this was very much a show to remember. The music almost played second fiddle to the showmanship, but with songs as good as “All Signs Point To Lauderdale” and an acoustic rendition of “Flowers” in the encore there’s no way those songs were second fiddle to anything.
Looking at the weather for the weekend I suspect the Slam Dunk audiences will get soaked as well, but more in the “we hope you brought wellies” way. Despite needing to shower both myself and my car seat by the time I got home, I definitely preferred our version. An absolutely brilliant, energetic and enjoyable performance with about 2500 of my best new friends.
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Pics by Skull Lens Photography
