Scotland’s very own future mega-star Ben Walker continues his pattern of selling out every venue and lineup his name is featured on. Last year, I managed to catch him at Tenement Trail where he was part of an incredible lineup. His voice and character shone through upon the St Luke’s stage then, which is why I was so keen to catch him at a more intimate venue like Sneaky Pete’s.
Low Tide
Taking to the already packed out stage, upcoming band Low Tide began playing a striking setlist full of anthemic tracks. At a sold out King Tut’s in January, the quartet supported Ben Walker and return to support him once again at another sell out, this time in Sneaky Pete’s. This is also a return to the iconic venue, they headlined there in March for the second time. It was absolutely obvious why they’re returning artists to stellar support slots and to vibrant venues like this one.
Individually incorporated instrumentals perfectly accompanied vocals that, at time, were haunting. The vivacious vocals were also perfectly mixed with guitar tones and pitches, seamlessly bringing together every song. Included in the setlist were already released tracks like their debut ‘Between Knuckles‘ and ‘Greek Islands‘. Additionally, they played brand new tune ‘Faces and Names‘ which was released at midnight that night, after the gig.
Future Gigs:
The Edinburgh based band are destined for huge accolades. It’s evident where they can take their sound, and just how far they can go with their live performing. You can catch them at their biggest ever hometown headline gig in Edinburgh on November 2nd at Cabaret Voltaire.
Ben Walker
When writing about talents like Ben Walker, it’s difficult to know where to begin. Not only is he an incredible live performer and a striking songwriter, he is one of the most authentic personalities in the Scottish scene that I know of. Having wrote tracks alongside some of Scotland’s biggest names like Callum Beattie and Kyle Falconer [The View], it’s no surprise that his already released material is so memorable. Ben’s live band included Charlie Gilfillan, Callum Hart and Lewis Davie.
This was the perfect opportunity to see Ben Walker in a smaller venue, he’s only going to go further from here. Opening with ‘Sixteen‘, this was the ideal song to get the crowd energised for the rest of the gig. This track has already built up 70,000 streams since its release in December 2023. It’s obvious how popular Ben’s music is going to become. Other songs included latest release ‘Busy Smiling‘ and fan-favourite ‘Just a Boy‘.
This has also been productive period for Ben in terms of songwriting. He debuted several new songs including ‘Forensic Scientist‘ and ‘Lose It All‘, both beautifully written and sang. You’ll definitely see Ben Walker’s name headlining lineups in bigger venues soon. I also don’t think it will be very long until he becomes a household name too. This is definitely one of the most memorable gigs I’ve attended recently.
