A night that’s had a lot of buzz surrounding it, Fog Bandits headline at King Tuts lived up to the hype and the sold-out show was easily one of my favourite local gigs I’ve been to this year.
King Tuts was busy from doors opening with everyone eagerly anticipating shows from not only Fog Bandits but also support acts, Awful Eyes, Diva Down and Modern Ruin.
First to take their place on the stage was alt rock group Modern Ruin. Much like other bands on the bill these guys have a sort of 90’s vibe about them. A haunting performance began to fire up the crowd for the rest of the night. These guys gave proper gothic witchy vibes while also sounding heavily influenced by classic alt rock. Their emotion packed tracks filled the room with powerful vocals and instruments to match. I especially loved the last song they played which the vocalist mentioned was a very personal song to them and you could really feel that in the way that the song was played.
Injecting more energy and pure fun vibes into the room was the next act Diva Down. It didn’t take long before the crowd had filled up and were chanting the band’s name, clearly these guys are popular in the scene, and I was excited to see why as I took my place near the back. With everything from emotional originals, to large tracks full of vibrant life, and even some covers Diva Down owned each song they played. Their cover of Bikini Kills ‘Rebel Girl’ was an easy favourite moment of mine and the groups energy was so perfectly suited to the track. I mentioned before that I was stood near the back but throughout this whole set everyone was jumping from the front right back to where I was stood, Diva Down appeared to be having the most fun on stage and that energy is so infectious.
Awful Eyes were up next and this is a band that could easily have been pulled from the female 90’s punk scene. The now four-piece swap vocal leads throughout the set letting each song take on a different personality with some leaning more into a gothic vibe and others feeling like bubblegum punk. Much like Diva Down before these guys have a fun energy but this time there’s a strong sense of rage bottled into their tracks seeing them 100% more punk than alt rock. Stand out moments from their set for me included their highly addictive song ‘Read The Room’ which was released as a single earlier this year, or what was clearly a favourite all around the room was when The Zebecks vocalist Dan joined them for a rendition of The Jams ‘Going Underground’. Awful Eyes are hands down a band I will be going to see live again.
Then finally the moment everyone had been waiting for rolled around. The lights went down, the stage was dressed with tealights and a red glow faced us as Fog Bandits took their places. The Glasgow outfit aren’t the kind of band to ease you in gently instead an explosion of raw energy immediately grabbed the room. Somewhere between a gothic haunting and loud punk and lads have designed not only a sound but a presence that belongs in a live setting. I swear I don’t think I stopped jumping throughout the set, and I don’t think anyone else did either. The high energy of the audience was encouraged by the band with frontman Jamie early on in the set getting the whole room down on the ground just to jump up with even higher than before. I’m not kidding you when I say by the time we were nearing the end of the set most of King Tuts had turned into a pit and ending with fan favourites ‘Vile’ and ‘Get A Match’ had not only the pit going wild but literally the entire room. I know a lot of people are saying this recently, but I firmly believe after seeing them in a live setting that Fog Bandits are a band we’re going to see tackling bigger and bigger venues.
After having conversations with a few people that were there the night Fog Bandits headlined a sold-out King Tuts the main statement I’ve heard is “it was so much fun!” and I have to fully agree. Whether you were there to get in the pit and dance with Fog Bandits, feel like you were transported back to the 90’s with Awful Eyes, have a girlie boogie to Diva Down or enjoy the haunting presence that is Modern Ruin, this was a night that deserved that sell-out.