Prunella: Tenement Trail is held in an accumulation of Glasgow’s very best grass-roots venues, bringing underrated artists to you on the edge of the city centre. Tenement TV was its predecessor where the founder Chae Houston aimed to transfer the experience of online music discovery. Firstly this started on a micro-scale on Sauchiehall Street and now covers the east side of Glasgow. The event has previously put the spotlight on prime artists like Lewis Capaldi, Sam Fender and Yungblud. This year’s festival has been promoted heavily through social media platforms to bring in eager concert-goers to discover new sounds and see current favourites.
Amber: I’ve attended a bunch of festivals over the years but have never managed to get down to tenement trail before… so it was time to change that! Tenement is a unique festival that includes multiple venues across Glasgow to support and showcase the best upcoming bands and support grassroots venues. The atmosphere was immediately so incredibly welcoming and has quickly shot tenement trail up in my festival rank. With there being multiple venues I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to get in and out of venues and move back and forth to each, but it was surprisingly easy with how helpful the staff were.
Prunella: I firstly headed to see Burglar at 4pm in 226 Gallowgate. I’ve wanted to see these guys since they came up in my Spotify suggested, their sound is what pulled me in most – indie-sleaze and shoegaze. The alternative-rock band was formed in Dublin, venturing out recently through an ongoing European tour. Standing in a somewhat packed crowd of bobbing heads and chatter, there were a significant amount of disruptions with the sound technician. This took up the first half of their set, which meant we missed out on some of the essential bass components in their performance. Despite unfortunate struggles with ringing and feedback, they were able to bring it back in the second half of their set. Their last song, “Star Crossed” released just this Spring, was heavily garage-punk, I could almost picture an 90’s MTV video being made to this song.
Amber: After picking up wristbands from box office I headed over to BAaD to see Little Grandad perform their set. With their alternative indie rock sound, it was a great set to start the day off with. The band gripped me immediately with their chaotic and raw live sound, balanced with thoughtful songwriting and insane melodic hooks. They had the crowd hooked from the minute their set started, right till the end and every time I glanced around me everyone seemed to be enjoying the set and interacting which is exactly what you want from a festival crowd.
Prunella: With fifteen minutes left of Little Grandad, I ran over to catch the second half of their set in BAaD which I’m glad I didn’t miss, as they previously had a backlog of sold-out shows in Glasgow and Edinburgh last month which I was devastated to miss out on. I stood at the side of the crowd and watched their performance of “Babe, We’ve Run Out Of Time”, his yells into the microphone after the last chorus were necessary. It gave the song just that bit of angst, where it then ends as softly as it started.
I then made my way over to see Super Sun at the Ballroom at 5pm. They announced they would headline for the launch event of magazine, The Cabbage, where they would be playing alongside Fatale. They ended their energetic set with an acoustic song which dwindled onto the rocky crowd.
Amber: From there I moved to the Barrowland ballroom to catch the last half of Super Sun’s set and although I only caught half of the set the Barra’s seemed to be warming up nicely. There were a lot of people watching and everyone seemed to be loving the Scottish psychedelic Indie pop vibe they brought to the stage.
Then it was time for the act that pretty much convinced me to attend my very first tenement trail, Heidi Curtis. Thirty minutes was all she needed to absolutely blow the roof off the Barrowland ballroom and leave her mark on Tenement Trail. There is something so enchanting about the way Heidi completely possesses and draws a crowd in, in such a big venue with her whimsical dreamlike qualities and stage presence that made the crowd feel like we had stepped into another world completely. Blending dreamy, breathtaking vocals with guitar focused indie rock vibes, Heidi possesses an energy that is completely unique to any live act I’ve seen before.
At a festival built around discovering emerging talent it is important artists have a sense of individuality and captivating energy around them and their set, and that is exactly what Heidi delivered with her clear creative identity that exceeds the music itself and makes her such a memorable artist to watch. Thirty minutes is such a brief window to get to know an artist but Heidi’s appearance at Tenement offered a glimpse into how an artist can take such raw emotions and make them into a gorgeous, magical, whimsy piece of art that makes familiar feel fun for once. In a line up full of new acts to discover… Heidi’s set made her stand out from the crowd by a mile.
Prunella: Theatre’s performance at 6:15, well to put it simply, entirely captivated me. The Sentric stage at St Lukes couldn’t be more perfect to accompany the angelic vocals from lead-singer, Maeve. The band from Limerick, Ireland, draw similar tone to Just Mustard. Their ethereal sound created a certain atmosphere which stood out from a few of the other performances I had seen. Their debut EP “Incarnate” released in June, and there is nothing quite like experiencing it live.
Being told “we’re at full capacity” was not an option for me, so I ensured I arrived early at the Ballroom for Cliffords at 7pm. After a few tracks played, they told the crowd, “This is our dream venue and Glasgow is our favourite city to play in the world, thank you so much for making this dream come true.” “My Favourite Monster”, released last spring, intertwines its emotional lyrics into Iona Lynch’s heartfelt voice, which makes for an incredibly moving performance. I sneaked into Ballroom 2 and caught the end of Fatale’s set.
The intimacy of Ballroom 2 made me feel like I wasn’t just observing the set, but that I was involved in the performance, which honestly is a rare occurrence at gigs nowadays. Fatale were effortlessly cool. And have been, since I saw them first at the King Tuts New Year Revolution Festival in January. This year they have become highly sought after, due to play with Super Sun at The Cabbage launch on the 12th of November. “God bless the cabbage forever”, I guess?!
Amber: After Heidi’s set I had the coolest opportunity to interview her, after this I headed to McChuills for the last set of the day for me, which was Lupercalia at 8pm. They brought a raw, unapologetically loud energy to the stage and had the crowd gripped from the moment they stepped out on stage, and reminded everyone watching that guitar music is still thriving in Glasgow. The way the band played together was outstanding and the tone of the guitars were insane. They provided the crowd with the rougher edges of indie rock that gave their performance an edge, nothing too polished just sheer energy. The standout moment for me was the way the crowd reacted to the set, there were lots of crowd surfers that seemed to be absolutely thriving from the energy being given from the band, and coming from a band that only have a few songs released, shows how gripping the set was. Lupercalia’s thirty minute set really showed the bands gritty, raw, energetic energy well and showed the crowd that some of the best bands going at the moment, are emerging and upcoming performing at grassroots venues, and this is why we should be supporting them.
Prunella: I returned back to St Luke’s at 8:15 for The Orielles. I hadn’t seen these guys before, although I got given raving reviews about the band from passers by, which definitely influenced my decision to see them. The focused instrumentals were lengthy but by no means did it drag on, it felt so purposeful and different that I genuinely did not want it to end. The guitarist was giving it his all: twisting, turning and moving like the guitar had autonomy over him. It was riveting to watch. Before the last song he said, “we should do this again and meet up”, time and place please?
I returned to BAaD at 9:15 for Australian band DICE. The stage was filled with moody lighting and smoke awaiting the bands arrival. They entered the stage, and the singer introduced themselves with a “how we doing Glasgow.” This was their second time in Glasgow, which was evident as there had to be one guy at the barrier chanting, which the band members loved. As an Australian indie-rock lover, their sound was groovy with surf-rock melodies that resembled a combination of Ocean Alley and Rum Jungle. I really enjoyed this set, it was really fun and a great performance to get everyone excited for our co-headliners, Brògeal.
I unfortunately missed the co-headliner, Baby Strange at Barrowlands, so ensured to stay for the first half of Brògeal. Glancing at the queue outside, I deemed myself lucky for getting into the BAaD early. The crowd filled with excited fans instantaneously. The five piece Falkirk band have shown how much Tenement have supported their growth since their last performance in 2022 at Barras 2.
I am already thinking about next year’s Trail. The new wave of artists that have these kinds of opportunities makes me so hopeful for the state of the live music scene here in Glasgow. The people that come out and take part in the festival also ensure that Tenement Trail can continue delivering upcoming artists and bands to new faces each year!