Sauchiehall Street on the day of Tenement TV’s annual Tenement Trail is always packed with musicians and gig goers alike, with an unashamed buzz in the atmosphere.
Often regarded as Glasgow’s best music festival, I start a promising day at Broadcast to see the bluesy folk styling’s of Dundonian band Sinderins.
They kick their set off to a packed venue and without any doubt they deliver a superb and transcendent performance with a certain jazz feel to it.
Having seen them play King Tut’s only a few weeks ago, they are on an even better form, with of course David Webster holding a note to an impressive amount of time much to the crowd’s delight.
The guys definitely set me up for the day and with much optimism the next stop is The Art School to see Be Charlotte, another Dundonian who has had quite an impressive year so far.
This is my second time seeing Charlotte; the first was with her laptop, but today she has her band with her, and by the end of her performance I don’t think much can top today.
Her vocals are splendidly executed with her band creating a buoyant and upbeat vibe that Charlotte can jump about the stage to.
With dignified spoken words and a hip hop and pop feel, Be Charlotte can hold a crowd and make it her own; she’s entirely authentic and shows the crowd exactly what music has been missing.
The band has excellent musicianship and we are consistently blown away when both band mates are on percussion.
Like I said Be Charlotte is hands down my favourite of the day, and later we get to hear some damn good vibes yet again when she collaborates with Crash Club.
The Art School’s line up is incredible; it only seems right to stay here for the next couple of acts.
Pronto Mama take to the stage with a dedicated swarm of fans moving right to the front with a completely full room behind them.
Pronto Mama never fails and is considered one of the best live acts in the country with their unique and enthralling sound.
With songs from their EPs, Lickety Split and Niche Market, played they introduce us to a new one, giving the demand for new material from fans and with an album hopefully to be released soon this goes down greatly.
A Big crowd turn up to see Holy Esque, they have established themselves well and were recently Radio 1 play listed and after this performance it’s easy to see why there star is rising.
They blast through tracks from their Submission EP and the crowd favourite ‘Rose’.
Broadcast seems rather quiet as Other Humans begin their set, but with some classy vocals and synth their sound soon draws people from upstairs to witness something entirely new and fresh.
The band as a whole is solid and has fantastic stage presence, the kind where you are completely in tune with them, while the songs are well written and refined; expect big things from these guys!
Acting Strange take to the stage at King Tut’s too Little Richard’s ‘Keep On Knocking’ and kick things of with the lead single ‘RUMBLE’, from their recently released EP Night On The Tiles, followed by the Dylan esc ‘Oh No’.
With just two guitars, vocals and a stomp box it’s easy to see why these two have created such a buzz in a short space of time.
They power through the rest of the set fusing the best of 60’s pop with a rock ‘n’ roll bluesy swagger; the futures bright, or should I say Strange.
I manage to catch the start of Atom Tree and then am just in time for the end of Young Aviators set – both bands have been gaining a lot of attention lately and Young Aviators in particular put on a good show before the last band of the day take the stage.
As Flat 0/1 fills up you can feel something special is about to happen and Crash Club don’t disappoint.
The place erupts as they begin their set, a mix of euphoria and adrenaline; sweat and bodies are flying everywhere, and the atmosphere can only be described as “pure mental”.
They are joined on the stage by Medicine Men’s Ian Mackinnon to perform the anthemic ‘Recondition’; Mackinnon has the crowd in the palm of his hand and again the place just explodes.
Crash Club also show off new tracks featuring Be Charlotte and storm through the rest of the set showing why they are the band to close the festival.
With Scotland in the bag the sky’s limits for Scotland’s (not for much longer) best kept secret.
Words: Olivia Campbell
Rave Child 