A three hour stint stood in front of one of Glasgow’s most iconic stages, watching four amazing up-and-coming bands perform, is right up my street. This is how I got on at night seven of ‘King Tut’s Summer Nights’.
Fifteen minutes between doors gave me plenty of time to get in, get a pint, and get settled. Just in time for the first act: ‘The Lines.’ Dressed for the weather, the boys got straight into their set packed full of liveliness and joy. It was so blatantly obvious that they wanted to be there and relished the opportunity to be playing at such a famous venue. That’s not to say that they got there by complete chance, however. Their songs were full of depth and style. The highlight of the set for me was their song ‘The Worst’. Which lyrics contained brutal, honest remarks about the writer’s awful relationship with themselves or someone else. All backed up by a catchy, but by no means basic indie-rock sound. With a darker twist. Their half an hour stint as superstars certainly won’t be the last time it happens to ‘The Lines’ on a stage like that, and the early birds reaped the rewards of their arrival time.
Next up were ‘The Goodtrips’ whose short time as a group has certainly raised a few eyebrows. Uniqueness is always rewarded and sought after in the indie scene, and this band’s psychedelic twist to typical rock has certainly set them apart from the crowd. The young band may lack experience, but you wouldn’t think that from listening to their two-track EP from June. The live performance was rough around the edges at certain points, but that only added to the raw, unpredictable nature of these newcomers. Plenty of covers thrown into the set as well to warm the crowd up, Including a great cover of David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’.
On to ‘Letters from Lola’ who veered the night into more of a pop direction. Travelling west for their first-ever show in Glasgow, they certainly provided a great amount of quality for their debut in the city. Full of glamour and style, they owned the stage and provided a great deal of fun to what was at this point the ever growing crowd. The band already have 4 singles out this year. All of which exceed in feel-good-pop. It was a great, refreshing change of pace for the night and is always great to be introduced into styles of music that I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to.
Finally, as you would’ve been able to gather by the sheer amount of people wearing their merch, ’Probably Stella?’ were the night’s headliners and wow were they made to feel like it! They boomed onto the stage to a great reception and wasted no time getting into their set. Much more similar to ‘Letters from Lola.’ Their music was full of energy and provoked many a dance move from some of the audience, most notably the older folk, up the back, wearing merch who I could only assume were family of the band. A real heartwarming moment. As well as the whole family tree being there to support, they also had an incredibly strong backing from their non-blood-related fans. Who all joined in with any audience backing vocals when instructed to. The songs all seemed to have such a great reception, considering none of them were released. There, of course, had to be something to keep people enticed, though. With it being in the form of a guitar-filled cover of Britney Spears’ ‘…Baby one more time.’ Which perfectly encapsulated the vibe of the night.
The whole purpose of ‘King Tut’s Summer Nights’ is to introduce people to new music, and platform those who don’t always get backed to this extent. This night did that to a tee. I left having become a fan of four new bands, and I assume many others did the same.