Aberdeen’s favourite alt rock band The Xcerts closed their “Learning How To Live And Let Go” tour in Glasgow on Saturday night at the stunning venue Saint Luke’s. I was really excited to visit this venue for the first time. It seemed perfect that it was to catch a band I’ve been following for *cough cough* 15 years.
I’ve always loved getting to a show early to catch the support bands, much to my friend’s dismay at times, however Saturday’s bands did not disappoint. Support for the evening came from Aberdeen/Glasgow band Rival Saints and Happy Daze from Edinburgh.
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Rival Saints are a trio – Vocals, drums and bass who mix electric loops with modern pop and catchy bass lines. You’ll maybe find yourself taking a bit of a trip through the 80s during their set. The lead singers’ vocals carried so well in this iconic venue and it was hard to ignore the perfectly placed harmonies. Check out their latest single ‘Everybody Knows‘ on all major streaming platforms.
Edinburgh band Happy Daze are getting a lot of hype just now and were the second support of the evening. A four piece who looked like they were having the best time on that stage. I found this band reminding me of early Enter Shikari. Mixing electric drum tracks with punchy guitar and bass, topped off with a confident front man who manages to work the crowd, Happy Daze were a fun band to watch. Their newest single ‘Piece of Me’ is out on Friday 20th of October, so go and give it a listen.
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Both supports were really on top form and are ones to watch!
The Xcerts opened up their show with their title track Gimme from their new album. Murray was clearly buzzing to be playing in Saint Luke’s as he came in a little premature with the vocal line, however he and the band did recover well.
Their setlist was a good mix of their new album and older material for the fans who’ve been following them for a long while. Songs like ‘Crisis in the Slow Lane’ and ‘Aberdeen 1987’ are always the ones with the best reception, full of nostalgia for any Xcerts fan. However their latest tunes which I knew would make the set list as they are super catchy and fun, such as ‘Car Crash Culture’ and ‘Love Sick’ also got some great crowd participation.
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An unexpected and much welcomed addition to the Xcerts set tonight was seeing Jordan sit down at the piano for a heart felt version of ‘Show Me Beautiful’. More of this please guys as I feel it added a really great dynamic to the set.
Unfortunately the set seemed to lack the usual Xcerts spirit that I’ve known to love throughout the years and I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was off with the atmosphere with Murray commenting on this nearer the end of their set, “Glasgow are you alright? you are giving off really weird energy tonight”.
I feel as though the Xcerts have of course gained more fans since their last album ‘Hold On To Your Heart’ and now their latest release will be gaining new attention. Merging fans both new and old can’t ever be easy and I feel the band did a cracking job with their set list. Showcasing some of the best songs from their latest album, whilst keeping the die hard fans happy with classics from ‘In The Cold Wind We Smile’.
Haven’t heard of any of the supports? Yet to listen to the Xcerts latest album? then please do.
