It was a warm sticky evening on July 16th and I personally couldn’t name a better way to cool down than with a cold drink and the soothing melodies that breeze through King Tuts Wah Wah Hut from Opaque + supports as part of the first run of shows in the KTSN festival 2026.
For those of you who are unfamiliar of the name Opaque they are a Glasgow based 6 piece folk-pop band whom have notably undergone quite a few changes in the last year reaching towards finding their voices in the industry. They describe themselves as both ‘dramatic and whimsical’ making their music home for the over thinkers and melodramatics. I hadn’t been able to catch a set of theirs prior to their headline at tut’s so I was excited to see if they where as good as I had been expecting.
As the show began singer-songwriter Sinead Miren was a calm yet captivating opener. As she took to the stage with guitarist Lennon you couldn’t help but be dragged in by her deeply alluring stage presence and powerful vocals that seemed to cut straight through the audience with her sharp lyrics. The opening track of the night was a song called ‘lie to me’ by her band Mary of silence whom I’ve had the pleasure of seeing before, however this version was a large leap different from the heavy alternative metal sound that we are used to from them.
As we made our way through the performance I somehow seemed to find myself thinking that a lot of these songs would be a great fit for the twilight movies as they had the same sort of Bon Iver feel to them but with a more emo undertone.
A notable moment during this set was when Sinead brought Girl upstairs up on stage to perform her song ‘casper’. It was a pleasant and upbeat track that worked very well with both of their vocals as the higher notes from Girl upstairs complemented Sinead’s deep and warm tone which was overall a lovely surprise that brought a completely different dynamic to the set. some stick out songs for me with this artist include her first single which she release earlier this year ‘internal torment’ which can be found on most streaming platforms as well as a unreleased track named ‘Parasite’
After a quick loo break it was time to see the next act Hoyden who I had heard of previously but didn’t quite know what to expect, but let me tell you I had my socks absolutely blown into cinders.
The only way I could describe this artist to you is they are an total nerd but in the best way possible, a lot of their songs are based around stories of women in history and greek mythology which is something that had me absolutely hooked! Some stand out tracks for me where ‘Daphnie’ and ‘Cylipso’ but I have to say my personal favourite was a song called ‘Octavia’. The song was solemn and thought provoking with effortlessly flowing lyrics that felt like waking up from a bad dream, every line perfectly glided over to the next without a second thought.
As a whole Hoyden was a very funny and confident individual with an energetic and upbeat set and incredible vocal range as well as bringing a heavily Celtic feel to her music. The band as a unit where very tight and you could tell that they put in the work to perform to the best of their ability – I can definitely say its some of the best musicianship from a wee Scottish ban this year and they have gained a new fan. The audience also seemed particularly fond of this artist as they bopped their heads away with huge grins on their faces.
With just one more band until the main event Double Vision took the stage, an alt-folk duo from Edinburgh. they intrigued me from the moment they walked in with their outrageously 70’s look that I can describe as nothing short of iconic. When they began to play I was not let down as I felt as though I was being transported back through space and time to watching a young Bob Dylan and Joan Baez style duo with simple yet beautiful vocal harmonies and straight to the point lyrics. I drifted into some sort of daze being rocked gently by the sound of a harmonica and smooth guitar slides, they had a very all American vibe that was timeless.
in my opinion it is very worth catching them live if you can.
Moving on to the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the ever so wonderful and whimsy Opaque!
At first glance you could tell there was some pre-show jitters that come with the demand of being a headline act but that quickly faded away as their songs lulled them into confidence, i’d even go as far as to say that the stage presence that this bunch gave the audience became somewhat demanding as the singers danced to their songs joyously engaging the audience to do the same. You could tell that this was a band that truly loved their music and performing as even the drummer was smiling ear to ear singing along to every line of the songs.
In the first half of the set I found myself being captivated by their beautifully haunting cover of the song ‘Show me how’ by Men I Trust. They kept it similar to the original but somehow still made it their very own that night, perhaps it was their harmonies that added a extra sense of longing to the song.
As time went on I realised the set was filled with highs and lows that kept everybody on the hook with some songs leaving me feeling like I was in a coming of age movie and others with a slightly darker twist. A track that particularly loved was a song called ‘expert’ that definitely hosted some expert lyrics from their singer Nina. At one point they played an unreleased song that I couldn’t quite catch the name of so I quoted it as member Michael’s ‘favroute’ and I can quite confidently say I’m with him on that one. It had a eerie feel that was just up my ally but somehow also felt like a warm hug on a cold night.
Sadly this show did have to end but on a high note with a song called ‘moss’ which left me feeling hopeful and hopeful is indeed a word I hold close for the Scottish music scene after seeing the stellar performances that these young artists put on tonight. A truly beautiful line up of acts hosted by DF concerts that can’t be resisted and I cannot wait to see what’s to come from them in the future.