AS I sit down to reflect on the momentous occassion that was Showcasing Scotland at The Great Escape, amazing sets run around my head. From talking drummers, to Scott Hutchison toasts, to demonstrations of just why Scotland’s music scene is one of the most progressive in the world – put simply, this year’s events were a thrilling showcase of thriving Scottish talent that shook you at your core.
This year’s festival had a sunshine filled sky and a thread of Scottish-passion running through the line-up and hearts of Brighton’s spectators. TENEMENT TV have never been more proud to be part of the Scottish music industry.
Programmed independently by Antidote Booking, we were treated to two tremendous performances from Scottish acts Wuh Oh and Man of Moon on Wednesday evening, in the Hope & Ruin venue. On the eve of the two official showcase events, the Scottish bands brought two completely juxtaposed sets both with a common thread of mesmerising, captivating energy. From the bizarre and wonderfully-talented Wuh Oh to the sheer immense presence of Man of Moon, the room was filled with the most brilliant music from the kick off leaving me with a huge hunger wanting more from both bands.
Day one of the Showcasing Scotland with Creative Scotland gigs take place way down the pier, in a venue surrounded by bouncy castles, overpriced chips and surrounded miles of blue sea. It’s seaside serenades and full pelt ahead as The Spook School kick things off a little after midday on the first full day of the festival. Championed by many and following a sweet showcase at Wide Days last year, The Spook School pack out proceedings playing a sublimely sound set of gender bending subject matter and a hilarious talking drummer. Describing themselves as “anxious worried people that enjoy playing live”, what we encountered during the get-go was a eclectic set packing punch and launching the two days of showcases in style.
From winning our TENEMENT TRAIL T Break competition a little over two years ago, to packing out that iconic Flat 0/1 slot to capacity last year, RASCALTON have been on quite the journey with team TTV. To say we were proud to see the band showcase their stuff on the Brighton stage is an understatement. The style, charisma, attitude and sheer bravado that completes this band is something to be reckoned with and this show ticked all the boxes, as always. Without the racey, crowd surfing crowd to bring the likes of ‘This Is It’ to full throttle, the band still provoked awe in the crowd with their perfect intertwining of punk rock with tracks that simply need to reach the big festival stages in the next twelve months. RASCALTON are making waves and pulling out all the stops to break through into the empty band void left by the last great indie guitar bands of our time and we’re rooting for them with every tune.
Donning the pink and bringing the good times were The Vegan Leather, next up on today’s Showcasing Scotland line-up. For me, The Vegan Leather have come a long way and are really showing growth each time I witness their fun-filled performance. It were just a few weeks ago they brought a packed crowd in St Luke’s in Glasgow to the ground on a Tuesday night, orchestrating a bounce to the air as part of their party track at IGNITE 002 and since there’s been a tour and international streams of their tune ‘I Take American’, the latter track one that brought a burst of class into the performance. Reported sound issues aside, this was a seriously strong showing from the Paisley four-piece, Marie Collins’ class and passion throughout the set, a personal high point.
If you want to understand just what’s happening in Glasgow right now then look no further than LUCIA, who performed an unbelievable set despite battling a husky throat. You couldn’t tell. With the new songs sounding absolutely massive, frontwoman LUCIA is simply put, a fucking star. As she transcends from rock star to sultry babe during ‘Melted Ice-cream’, she jumps from stage to barrier fixating eye contact with everyone she meets. Speaking after the show, she laughed “Yeah I love doing that, they (the crowd) hate it.” This was the tune in the set that shows the growth, shows the development and shows what’s coming up for LUCIA; a band who are so tight, so perfect it’s almost hard to believe. A promising festival season awaits catch LUCIA at TRNSMT Festival in Glasgow. Don’t miss it.
A live show that quite frankly needs to be witnessed to be believed, The Ninth Wave close day one of the Showcasing Scotland gigs in unreal style. A brilliant performance with a furious captivating energy, the Showcase gig was outrageously good. But it was later that the band prove they’re not just Scotland’s most exciting new band but also one of the UK’s. The show demonstrated a huge step-up for the Glasgow outfit, watched by none other than Brighton resident hero rock star Nick Cave. We weren’t wrong when we tipped their tune ‘Reformation’ as ‘number one tune’ of 2017. We’re expecting big things from their TRNSMT Festival performance next month.
It really is time everyone knew. #TGEScot
