Thursday 1st February in the West End of Glasgow seen an electric start to the month as Miles Kane brought his bold sounds to a packed SWG3 Galvanisers.
Support on the night was in the form of The Royston Club. The Wrexham band were tight, and they were sounding sharp. They played a variety of tunes, mixing up their set with the lead singer Tom swapping his electric for an acoustic guitar mid set, keeping the crowd intrigued. Toms voice was strong and meaningful, and as the set went on and the main hall filled, the crowd was increasingly buying into the boys’ sound. The band engaged the crowd and and looked at ease on stage and with each other, which made them all the more enjoyable to watch.
The Royston Club finished their set infront of a lively and packed main hall. As the crowd entertained themselves, the background music began to fade, and iconic guitar riffs of classic ‘Layla’ hit out demanding attention. His audience was ready. Miles Kane entered the stage dripping with confidence and attitude. Straight into newer hit ‘Troubled Son’, the Glasgow crowd was on board from the first note of the night.
Firing through favourites ‘Better Than That’, ‘The Best is Yet to Come’ and ‘Give Up’, you could tell Kane was loving the welcome from the Glasgow crowd. The sound from the stage was crisp and punchy, and complemented by the room singing along. After tearing through another fresh track, and namesake of his recent album ‘One Man Band’, Kane moved on to a big fan favourite.
As Kane ever so slowly played the first notes to ‘Inhaler’, the audience could barely contain their excitement. He slowly built the riff note by note, the crowd replicating in time, hurrying him into the full swing. The tension built as he pulled back the catapult, and released the crowd of SWG3 into the song, a surge of energy filling the Galvanisers from front to back.
The crowd remained captivated, Kane enjoying their commitment to singing along with every word of the next few tracks as he delivered consistent quality from the stage. As he stopped to take of his jacket, Kane exclaimed ‘Glasgow, I love this‘ and you could tell he was relishing the moment before delving into another classic. ‘Colour of the Trap’ brought a slower pause in the setlist. Time to take it in. The whole of SWG3 Galvanisers sang along with ‘lalala’s’ alongside Kane, and when he stopped the music the crowd gladly carried on this lull. There’s something about being stood in a room full of people, all singing along to a simple yet massive tune.
From here the energy was elevated yet again, and Kane kept it at the top for the rest of the gig. The main hall in SWG3 moved as a sea of one with everyone jumping and dancing to the next few tracks, including ‘Rearrange’, ‘The Wonder’, and ‘Cry on My Guitar’. The attitude filled bass notes of ‘Coup De Grace’ maintained the same level of crowd engagement as the people danced along. ‘Never Taking me Alive’ then lead in to the penultimate song of the night, ‘Come Closer’. A song which the crowd did not want to end. The energy was infectious and even newcomers who may not know the words would likely have found themselves singing along with the crowd by the end of the song. Kane’s engagement with the crowd was outstanding throughout, but the connection here was taken to the next level.
As he left the stage, the energy did not. His audience was not ready for the gig to be over, even after all Kane had given us. The crowd was not left for long as the band re-entered the stage to hit us with a huge track ‘Don’t Forget Who You Are’. The attitude and enormity of the sound in the room was overwhelming and the feeling was almost emotional. The eruption from the front of the stage to the back of the room was enormous. Kane proclaimed his mutual respect for the Glasgow crowd and left the room at the highest point of the night.
Kane fired through an impressive 18 track setlist, packed with tunes to please the crowd whilst also showcasing his latest album. The love was felt from the audience for each and every track, and returned by the man on stage as it was evident Kane was enjoying the night as much as those who turned out to see him. The attitude and confidence Kane brought to the stage was immeasurable and warranted as every note, every tune, every funky bass line was crisp and perfectly delivered.
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