THE second in a new series of showcases that TTV are proud to be a partner of, IGNITE 002 took place in Glasgow’s St Luke’s on Tuesday night with a cracking line-up. Set out to highlight and support Scottish artists in a bespoke way, the initiative is run by the creative team at IGNITE Scotland boasting a mix of artist managers and music industry professionals who work in partnership with PRS and Help Musicians Scotland.

The display of acts at the second edition of the showcase series highlighted the depth of talent in Scotland right now and the immense passion of music fans keen to support local music, even on a snowy Tuesday night.

Kicking things off was Tenement Trail alumni Niko, an American rap artist who put on an interesting display of bespoke freestyle over “soulful jazz” taking subject requests from the audience and embarking on impeccable rants about Donald Trump.

Aaron Smith, known to busk in and around Glasgow’s city centre, proved he can hold a room full of people to a standstill with his deeply engrossing vocals. Taking to the stage with just his guitar,  he displayed some impressive songwriting skills and enviable voice control; ranging from deep and husky to dreamy falsetto. In between his own deeply moving and original material, he gave a surprising cover of Khalid which proved his voice can lend itself to many styles.

Exhibiting lots of style and effortless cool and with new EP on the way, Acrylic owned the stage throughout their performance. Playing new tunes from the aforementioned forthcoming EP including latest single ‘In Here/ Tonight’; the band demonstrated an impressive stage presence with layered vocals and melodic interplay. Their emotive alt-rock has greater gumption when performed live – shimmering guitars ring around the venue and frontman Andreas Christodoulidis’ distinctive brogue is undoubtedly on of the most standout features of sound. The highlight of the set is their closing track, which builds up to a cathartic finale bursting with energy. This was a truly self-assured performance from the band who have returned with focus and intent for year ahead.

Bringing an entirely different prospect to proceedings were The Vegan Leather. It really didn’t take long to get the party started with their dazzling brand of art-pop. Brimming with showmanship and originality, the band proved just why they’re true veterans of the local music scene. Making a bold decision to shake their set up a bit by playing some of their biggest hits early on,  ‘Shake It’ was given an exhilarating heavy rock breakdown while the Marie Collins-led ‘Eyes’ got the crowd jumping along to its swirling euphoric finale; brimming with kaleidoscopic synths and driving rhythms. The mesmerising ‘Holy Ghost’ slowed things down before latest single ‘I Take American’, now ranking up to 45,000 plays on Spotify,  was given a rousing reception from the audience. One of their most infectious creations to date,  the new tune premiered on TTV on Friday upon its release. It was then left to the band’s regular calling card ‘This House’ to bring IGNITE to a triumphant close, whipping up a frenzied atmosphere as the crowd jumped along to its now infamous refrain.