Kings of Leon & Catfish and the Bottlemen light up Glasgow Summer Sessions

Glasgow Summer Sessions has been around for several years now, presenting one day events in the pleasant semi suburban setting of Bellahouston Park. Recent offerings based around August bank holiday weekends have shared headliners with Reading and Leeds Festivals. This year followed the same pattern with performances by Kings of Leon, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Kendrick Lamar and supporting casts. I headed north to sample the first two events.

Day one: Kings of Leon

Taking the stage at just after four on a Wednesday afternoon can be a daunting task. The gates had only recently opened and most people coming to watch Kings of Leon are probably still at work. Isaac Gracie played to a few hundred people but deserved much more. With songs and a voice mixing folk like delicacy and melody with raw power there were echoes of Jeff Buckley. Mid-set one song merged seamlessly into Radiohead’s Creep, echoing the light and shade in Gracie’s own material. He’s clearly out of step with current musical trends but a real talent.

As crowds drifted in, Everything Everything came and went without much impact; their complex rhythms, harmony vocals and Jonathan Higgs sometimes falsetto singing were technically impressive but at times lost on the KOL audience. Deciding that it was time to eat, I went in search of food and found the fare on offer to be fairly basic – a number of stalls but fish & chips, burgers and pizza were pretty much the limit of choice available. Having said that, the burger I bought was certainly tasty and wholesome.

The Hunna have been described in some quarters of the press as a social media band who’ve achieved success without the time honoured route of travelling the land in transit vans and building a fan base through endless gigging so it was somewhat ironic that my first sighting of the day was not as they walked on stage but of four young guys at a motorway service station just north of Carlisle; driving themselves to the gig in a transit van. Musically there was nothing original about them, indie guitar rock with some big catchy choruses; but some bands have a presence and energy on stage and The Hunna have it in abundance. Their 40 minute set brought Bellahouston Park to life and left the audience demanding more. Moreover, they seemed to have a genuine desire to meet and interact with fans. Thirty minutes after they’d finished 3 of them were still in the pit talking to fans, having selfies taken, signing autographs and appearing to really enjoy the experience. Security finally asked them to leave as The Wombats walked on stage.

Watching The Wombats in recent times has often seemed an odd experience and this proved no exception. Visually we have guitar, drums and an ever energetic bassist with a couple of keyboards seemingly there as props and occasionally played. While early material is undoubtedly spiky guitar driven more recent offerings have more lush production with a keyboard base yet apart from the occasional visits to press a keyboard button it’s the guitars that dominate visually; more than a little pre-programming appears to be happening here. Gripes aside, they played an enjoyable set dominated by songs predominantly from their last two albums. There were maybe a couple of thousand at the front who were clearly up for it and seemed thoroughly engrossed in their own private party but the majority listened politely and seemed unfamiliar with even their more popular songs like Lets dance to Joy Division. Towards the end it was noticeable that many began drifting towards bars, food stall and conveniences, aiming to beat the queues and re-fuel before the main event.

Some bands like to start their gigs with a grand statement; a crowd favourite, pyrotechnics or some other impressive visuals. Last Wednesday Kings of Leon were the antithesis of this. Strolling casually onto the stage the first few songs were played in semi darkness with almost no communication. Anyone looking for instant gratification or with short attention span would have been tempted to leave but in doing so they would have missed a really impressive performance. KOL were in it for the long haul; a few songs in screen projections flickered into life, lighting became more impressive and the pace and energy ebbed and flowed over the almost 2 hour set. The 15 minute encore really encapsulated how the whole gig had been structured, building from subdued beginnings toward an overpowering crescendo. It began with the slow burning, Knocked up, followed by Waste a moment – one of the highlights of most recent album Walls, before everything erupted as they launched into closer, Sex on Fire.

I last saw KOL a few years ago, at the peak of their commercial success but had come away underwhelmed; this was a far more satisfying, mature performance. I came away smiling, having thoroughly enjoyed the experience yet at the back of my mind one nagging thought kept recurring. This gig was a precursor to KOL headlining Reading and Leeds and I really couldn’t see how hordes of teenagers were going cope with such a slow burning performance.

Day 2: Catfish and The Bottlemen

It’s just after two on Saturday afternoon. I’m standing in the warm sunshine outside Bellahouston Park and I’m confused; I’m surrounded by children! Catfish and the Bottlemen headline tonight and I’ve experienced their youthful audience before but the demographic has just got younger. The teenagers excitedly pouring through the gates are mostly aged 13 to 15, the majority being girls with minimal clothing and fake tan as the dress code of choice.

First on stage are Scottish natives Neon Waltz. It’s tempting to regard them as locals until you realise “home” is a 7 hour drive north of Glasgow. Teenagers enthusiastically crowd around the stage but it doesn’t take long to realise that the band’s gently euphoric rock is a little too laid back for this audience. Personally I thought they were impressive. It’s the third time I’ve seen them in 12 months and it’s always good to see a young band grow as a live entity. There’s been no great change in approach, just a sense of them being much more assured in their surroundings.

Next up were Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes. They may be limited musically but as a vehicle for engaging the steadily growing youthful audience they are perfect. Midway through the first song, Carter is in the audience stirring up excitement levels. By the time he crowd surfs back to the stage he can do no wrong although his invitation to women to, “safe crowd surf” doesn’t appear to have any takers. By closer, “I hate you” he’s urging the crowd to chant just that and they don’t need much encouragement. I guess for some in the audience this may have been their first gig. It was a great advert for live music, really kick starting the Bellahouston party.

So how do you follow that; more of the same or something completely different? Peace are a very different entity and make no attempt to emulate the Rattlesnakes’ energy. Easily the most musical of the day’s offerings, their songs covered a variety of styles with an underlying feel of psychedelia - matched by their dress sense. They were surprisingly well received considering the audience were probably unfamiliar with their material.

Late afternoon DMA’s took to the stage; miserable Australians with no enthusiasm and a second rate pastiche of turgid 1990’s Mancunian rock, even down to Ian Brown gestures. They were dire! After 4 songs I retired to the VIP bar, a pleasant oasis for adults – but with better (non-Oasis) music. Emerging an hour later it was soon obvious that new arrivals had changed the audience demographic to some extent. There were clearly now many more older teenagers and grown-ups!

Front of stage the new arrivals made their presence felt. Twin Atlantic may not have a great presence south of the border but this was a hometown gig and they have a big Glaswegian following. Their hour long set was a real triumph; big choruses, rock guitar riffs and plenty of interaction with the audience that fell short of actually jumping into the crowd. Aided by impressive lighting and stage presence, it was an example of how a penultimate act should raise expectations ahead of headliners and very different to The Wombats performance a couple of days earlier.

Wandering through the crowd prior to Catfish it was clear that both days had attracted similar numbers. Attendance was decent but nowhere near the 35,000 capacity I’d seen for Biffy Clyro at the venue a couple of years ago. KOL’s audience were mostly aged between mid-twenties and mid-forties whereas Saturday’s crowd were much younger. This clearly impacted upon levels of energy during performances but pre-headline time before KOL was noticeable for long queues for bars and loos; no such problems before Catfish as many of them were too young to drink.

I’ve seen The Bottlemen greeted with frenzy by audiences in the past but Saturday was a little more restrained. There were the usual flares and security staff were kept busy rescuing youngsters at the front but it was far from the mayhem that could have ensued. There is no doubting the band’s live credentials and they delivered another impressive performance. Van McCann’s constant movement creates a real energy which is complemented and enhanced by lighting and visual effects. It’s really very simple but effective. The band play in semi-darkness broken by rapidly flashing lights, usually alternating between white, blue or red while McCann careers around the stage, inevitably dressed in black or dark blue. Behind them shine screen projections, often of the ecstatic audience fimed in black and white or sepia. The crowd loved them and it seems churlish to be negative but I was left wondering what the future holds for the band. Nearly 70% of the set was culled from their first album which bookended the performance. Energy levels and audience reaction dropped when they played tracks from the less successful, The Ride (with the exception of local favourite Glasgow) and I was left feeling that if they’re going to continue with upward progression rather than stagnate, a lot depends on the quality of their next recorded offering.

It’s often said that the Catfish lack any originality. I wouldn’t argue with that, in fact the same comment could equally be applied to Oasis in the 1990’s. However, The Bottlemen and other current bands like The Hunna are clearly turning young people onto live guitar music. The way that Saturday’s audience reacted positively to the other bands on the bill also showed a youthful willingness to be open to new experiences which can only be a good thing.

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