As AFI play to a fairly full SECC in Glasgow, you have to wonder whether they have been away for too long. Everything on stage sounds great. The Blood Album is their best album in a long time and songs like ‘So Beneath You’ manage to fill the cavernous room. Davey Havok’s voice is untouchable and as he roars through ’17 Burials’ it feels like they should be laying waste to the place. So, why does no one care? Most of the crowd are stood still, watching respectfully but with as much passion as an atheist who has been roped into Sunday service. It’s been eight years since AFI were in the UK and you worry that people have simply stopped caring. What you’re watching on stage suggests that this band can still be a big deal and ‘Miss Murder’ perks people up, but judging by Glasgow, they’ve got a way to go before the UK is back on side.
The Menzingers w/ The Flatliners & The Dirty Nil
Music to dream to would be a nice way to describe this particular tour. The Menzingers are on the road with bands that are perfect for long drives down American highways with the windows down. At least they feel like they are. As a resident of Scotland, it’s not a theory that I’ve been able to put the test. The closest I can come is seeing how they feel at the Oran Mor in Glasgow on a Saturday night. Spoiler, they feel pretty good.
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Gojira w/Code Orange & Car Bomb
Something angry was stirring in Glasgow on Friday night, and for once it didn’t include Buckfast. Car Bomb are one pissed off proposition, and they’re not designed to make you feel at home. Their disjointed and angular metal is hard to listen to at times and yet as they roar through a half hour set you can’t help but love them. These guys have been around for a while and with three albums under their belt are a perfect proposition for anyone that likes their music to attempt grievous bodily harm.
Live Review: The Dillinger Escape Plan w/ Ho99o9 & Primitive Weapons
Enough has been said about Dillinger Escape Plan’s decision to call it a day after this album cycle. Happy about it or not, we have to accept it and move on. Move on to celebrating one of the greatest bands of all time. Dissociation was a fantastic way to start to that process. An album that somehow managed to encapsulate everything that that band is. Now, we move onto the final tour, as Dillinger rolled into Glasgow.
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Live Review: Against Me! w/Milk Teeth & Mobina Galore
A Friday night in Glasgow seems like a good place for a party, and there aren’t many bands I want to party with more than Against Me. Even in a year where they released an album that I was rather non-plussed with, Against Me sit high on my list of most played. They are a special band who mean a hell of a lot to a wide range of people.
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Live Review: Creeper and letlive.
It takes balls to bring one good band out on tour with you. Having two extraordinary groups tag along, well that might be mental. Which means that no matter what my personal opinion towards Pierce The Veil is – they’re not for me – you’ve got to respect them for taking Creeper and letlive. on the road with them. I mean they never stood a chance, but fair play all the same.
Live Review: Architects w/ Bury Tomorrow and Stick To Your Guns
There are nights when you walk into a room and instantly know that you are in for something special. There’s a feeling in the air, one that hints of everyone being on and ready for what is to come. It’s one that was crackling in the ABC on Sunday night as Architects arrive in Glasgow.
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Kerbdog w/Hey You Guys! & Elk Gang
Kerbdog should have been huge. A storm of record label shit housing and general cuntery prevented that however and right now they are embarking on their final UK tour nineteen years after the release of the brilliant On The Turn. Any chance of global domination may be long gone, but those songs still slam, and for one night in Glasgow, we can almost pretend that the world was a fair place.
The Wonder Years w/ Laura Stevenson and Maycomb
I’ve been to countless arena shows over the years, and some of them have been truly spectacular. It doesn’t matter how many I do, though, not one has ever beaten the feeling of packing into a tiny little sweatbox and seeing a great band smash out a fantastic set. Which is why tours like the one The Wonder Years have just finished up round the UK are so special.
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Ginger Wildheart w/ Ryan Hamilton and Massive Wagons in Glasgow and Aberdeen
There’s something special about a Ginger Wildheart tour and his most recent run around the country feels more special than most. Having had to cancel the Hey! Hello! tour twice, once because of Ginger going into the hospital due to his battles with depression and once because of Hollis leaving the band, it is a pleasure to see the great man on stage enjoying himself after a while away. Throw in the reunions that have happened with Danny McCormack at a couple of the shows and the whole thing has an even bigger party vibe than usual.
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Ramblings About Wrestling 