Sniff, Sniff! It’s time to get ‘Gacked on Anger’ as Melbourne’s own, Amyl and the Sniffers hit the shores of the Clyde to give us some Aussie Rock n’ Roll!
Now, I’ve seen more than a few bands play at the iconic Glasgow venue, The Barrowlands, over the past 30 odd years or so and hand on heart I can say tonight’s show was the most electrifying and exciting performance to grace the dance hall that I have borne witness to.
So first up we have other Australian band from Sydney’s northern beaches ‘C.O.F.F.I.N’ . This was my first time seeing these guys and first impressions we better than good. Imagine if you will, The Grateful Dead’s Gerry Garcia taking up the drums and doing a Genesis’ Phil Collins…Now you know what the image looked like. It’s always a hard one to pull off, the drummer being the lead singer but C.O.F.F.I.N nailed it. Their brand of Punk-Grunge-Rock was fresh and got the crowd nicely in tune for the night. The addition of the vintage looking Scotland football jerseys was nice and warmed the crowd up. One band that cements Australia and Scotland together is AC-DC, both nations bond over the music and it’s great to see Australian acts getting over to our neck of the woods and paying respect to AC-DC as both countries can equally claim heritage status over them. Go give C.O.F.F.I.N a listen and if you’re lucky enough to catch them live, go for it!
I’m no stranger to photographing Amyl and I know how Amy Taylor has only got to stick her tongue out at the crowd to whip them up into a frenzy and boy was tonight the night for a dose of that! The band came on stage, relaxed and calm and waved at the crowd who responded with a huge roar of excitement. The noise in the venue immediately went up a few decibels and the positive energy was contagious. The band jumped into their first number of the evening Control, taken from their 2019 self -titled album. Amy, foot on monitor wedge, leaning over the pit, snarling and singing, smiling and grinning…The energy was raw and vibrant and when Amy moves your eyes are glued to her. Her natural ability to perform and entertain, shines through in her personality. As long as the lighting is with her, she’s a dream to shoot as her expressions are visual poetry made from flesh and bone. The hits came thick and fast and each song was met by a thunderous response from the Glasgow massive.
The band played effortlessly while Amy set about jumping into the pit and getting up close and personal with the front row. The crowd went ape and Amy was in her element. Jumping back on stage without missing a beat, her nimble actions and charismatic approach to fronting the band made for one of the most memorable shows I’ve seen at the Barrowlands. Taking a moment to look out across the crowd, there was so much love, passion and respect for the performance and the crowd were almost as loud as the music belting over the P.A. At one-point guitarist ‘Dec Martins’ opened a bottle of ‘Bucky’ (Buckfast) and took a swig, passing it onto the other band members. Yeah, Scotland’s other national drink! That’s one way to fire up a Scottish crowd!
Fun, fantastic and F-me! What a show. This is not just good music, it’s an experience. Every so often a landmark band hits the music scene, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Nirvana…Amyl is up there and is rapidly becoming one of those bands that your kids will ask if you ever got the chance to see them play live. Make sure you can tell your kids, yes, I sure did, and they were epic! Amyl and the Sniffers are on tour so go check out their socials and get yourself to see them.
Words and pictures: Stevie Oi!