A performance that follows a unique and individualistic approach
Reading quartet Only The Poets brought their Homecoming headline tour to Glasgow’s Nice N Sleazy. The intimate venue saw the group bring their catchy, rhythmic and atmospheric songs to life with support from Glasgow’s own artist, Ili.
Ili
Singer-songwriter Ili played a hometown show supporting the Reading group and impressed everyone within the room. Her vocals are something to be admired, capturing the attention and admiration of all those who listened. The fully independent artist is no stranger to supporting big names in music. Previously, she has supported fellow Scot Callum Beattie and has gained the recognition of mega music stars online including Shania Twain and Cyndi Lauper. Her internet presence has also gained her over 125,000 followers on Instagram alone, demonstrating how much her musical talents are adored.
These accolades have already set her apart from other up and coming stars, and adds to Ili’s achievement on being BBC Introducing recognised too. Her single ‘Tongue Tied‘ was made the platform’s Track Of The Week and it’s clear to see why. Ili’s performance of this track, along with her other amazingly addictive singles proved why the song is so successful. Her vocals in each track were beautifully clear, allowing every word she sang to be heard.
Along with her vibrant and light singing, her tracks all include incredibly infectious lyrics and memorable melodies. One such song is her most recently released tune, ‘Saturday‘. In songs like this, Ili has mastered the ability to incorporate her bright personality into catchy choruses and lyrics that set her apart from loads of other artists. She also played a cover of ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)‘ by The Proclaimers which had everyone singing along whether you were familiar with her material or not.
This support slot perfectly boasted why Ili was the best choice for Only The Poets. It wouldn’t be a surprise if, in a couple of years, she became a household name. She interacted wonderfully well with the crowd and definitely demands attention. Ili is one of the most impressive singer-songwriter personalities I’ve seen live recently and it’ll be exciting to see what she does, and where she plays next.
Only The Poets
Headliners Only The Poets took to the stage to the sound of screams, cheers and clapping from the entire audience. They launched straight into their popular, and some lesser known tunes too. Their popular tracks included renditions of ‘Looking At You‘ and ‘Over & Over‘ which had the entire crowd singing along with every word.
Throughout the gig, there were several points where signer and frontman Tommy Longhurst was difficult to hear over the sound of the audience singing the words back to them. This loud but passionate display from the crowd brought smiles to each of their faces. The band, which also consists of Marcus Yates (drums), Andy Burge (bass), and Clem Cherry (guitar), looked to be both in awe and pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm from their fans.
One portion of the gig was dedicated to a completely acoustic rendition of ‘Every God I Pray To’ which was released November 10th. This saw Tommy and Clem taking to the centre of the audience and asking for complete silence. In what is already an emotion-filled song, Tommy sang with power and passion that fully portrayed the words within the song, which was unreleased at the time, with Clem playing the melody for this track. It was a beautiful yet somewhat haunting display, with everyone in stunned silence, the lights from every phone illuminating the place in harmony.
I’ve never personally experienced anything like that at a gig, it completely involved the audience as they circled around the two band members. Only The Poets don’t just play their songs on stage, they create a performance that follows a unique individualistic approach. Their indie-pop anthems provoked such a positive atmosphere and it was such a delight to finally catch them live.
