It was another first for me last night. Not seeing The Lemon Twigs themselves. I’ve seen them on two previous occasions. Once at the fantastic Green Man festival in the Brecon Beacons in 2018 and then in the winter of 2019 at the Roundhouse. I had also bought a ticket to see them at St Luke’s on that tour but couldn’t make it up to Glasgow to see them.
Pandemic, ya da ya da… so, this was the first chance to see them since 2019. But the TRUE first was for the SWG3 venue. It’s been a venue I have been a bit reluctant to try out. It’s not the most easily accessible of places. Well…no, that’s not quite right. It’s easy to get to and from via public transport. It’s equidistant from both Kelvinhall and Partick stations but it’s kind of in a quiet residential area. It’s sort of a disused industrial estate near the Clyde. There’s a pedestrian walkway by a bit of parkland and it’s wedged between the A814 as it approaches the Clyde Expressway and the railway line. So, I felt comfortable getting there but coming back home would be something I’d feel incredibly uncomfortable about after dark. It’s NOT a venue I’d choose to go to in winter, put it that way. The musical act would have to be someone I was really, REALLY desperate to see for me to go there in the winter months. And I’d be taking a taxi to and from the venue to do so.
As I alluded to…very easy to get to via public transport. Partick train/subway is just a half mile 10 min walk away, as is Kelvinhall subway.
I arrived just before 7pm and there was a queue of maybe 30 people ahead of me. The doors were opened promptly at seven and we were all checked and let in very efficiently.
The support act, Tchotchke, is a three-piece all female group. The lead singer and drummer, I believe, is Brian D’addario’s partner. They started their set right on the dot of 7.30pm. Their music is of a similar vein to the Lemon Twigs, making them a great musical match. I could hear elements of the Go-Go’s and The Bangles with a little bit of Kate Bush and Fanny blended in there too. Anastasia has a very high voice which reminded me a lot of early Kate Bush and Belinda Carlisle. I enjoyed their set and the crowd were really responsive. Will I go out of my way to seek out their music…? Hmmm…probably not, but that’s no slight on them, it’s just my own musical preference. Their style just felt a bit “samey” after a few songs. It’s a tough balance between having a signature sound opposed to having a musical fabric that doesn’t alter much in tone and musicality, if you know what I mean. They’re good but just not for me. If they supported the Twigs again, I wouldn’t be bummed about it though.
Make of all that what you will.
The Twigs were on stage just after 8.30pm and the level of musicianship is…astounding. Both Michael and Brian are fantastic guitarists. Their vocal harmonies are superb. All the band play multi-instruments. Danny flits between keyboards and bass. The drummer (sorry, I missed his name) swapped with Michael and played guitar while Michael took to the kit. Brian alternated between bass, acoustic and electric guitars. The brothers also alternated in lead vocal duties.
It was a full set with over 20 songs performed. A great mix of new and old with just the one track coming from the Go To School album and several from their latest one, Everything Harmony, including my faves – In My Head, Every Day Is The Worst Day Of My Life and Ghost Run Free. Brian performed two of the songs solo on acoustic guitar – Corner Of My Eye and album opener When Winter Comes Around, which were sublime.
The venue acoustics were pretty good. I think maybe the band’s sound was a little loud, in a distorted way…but not too much. Not enough for it to really put a dampener on things.
They were fabulous. A barnstorming set…Brian and Michael have energy to burn. They perform so well. They are just so in tune with each other, metaphorically and literally.
I saw another stellar gig. Yeah. I feel very lucky to be privileged to witness and partake in such high bar-setting gig outputs such as these. I’ve not experienced a single “bum gig” so far this year.
Lastly: the journey back home. Before setting out last night, I booked a taxi to come and collect me from the venue at 10.45pm. The Lemon Twigs were done by 10pm and so I joined the queue for the ladies toilets. While in the queue I could see outside and there was still a good level of daylight and I could tell that people were heading back to the stations. I decided that going to the loo could wait. I cancelled the taxi and headed off back to Partick. Caught the subway train around 10.15pm and thought I had half a chance of getting the 10.33pm train back to Ashfield from Queen Street. Well, blow me down! I made it in time and was home by 10.45pm – the time I had booked the cab to come and get me! So…I will say that in the summer months, SWG3 is a venue I’d go to again.
Next up will be Hamish Hawk on June 9th.
