It’s a cold dreich Glasgow night in February, the darkness looms in the icy air as I approach the iconic Glasgow music venue, The Barrowlands. Like a beacon of hope – a warm hug on a cold night, the Glasgow Barrowlands sign, adorning the building seems brighter than usual – maybe it’s just my imagination.
The puddles capture the reflection and send the colours beaming across the east-end street like a jewel encrusted kaleidoscope. As I marvel in the beauty of the exterior; patrons bustle past me, heading to get inside and hide from the cold wind that whips behind us, ushering us into the music venue.
Inside the venue, people move and twist their way to find their spot to watch tonight’s offering which is Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes. The warm interior is a stark contrast to the outside and fans of all ages gather, pint in hand, ready for what they will no doubt have chalked up in their mind is going to be a ‘Gallus Glasgow’ show!
There are two support acts tonight ‘Hot Wax and ‘The Mysterines’. I caught the latter’s set, and I was blown away by the lead singer’s voice. I have been checking out live videos too. I know both bands by their reputations and have only heard good things.
This U.K. tour coincides with the release of Frank Carter’s album ‘Dark Rainbow’. The name mirrors the minimal lighting on stage tonight. As the venue goes dark, lights fade down and the crowd cheer up! Slowly a kernel of light allows the band to make their way onto the stage to take up their positions. A blurry haze shifts and winds towards the stage, the light grows to reveal Frank Carter, beaming as he looks out over a capacity filled venue. All eyes are on Frank as the band drop their first number ‘Can I Take You Home’. The crooner quality and vocal stylings are in a little box of their own marked ‘spectacular’. Frank’s voice is pitch perfect and show off his range of tone which is impressive. This versatile singer held the audience in his palm as the band worked their way through their set, playing from the new album and lots of their best loved hits. Old Frank is definingly not a ‘shoe gazer’ and his performance was everything the audience would have expected it to be. The engagement with the audience and band members was up-lifting and showed us a side that is often lost in today’s music. Some artists stand still and sing but there’s no vibe. This is not the case here! It was hard at times to see what was happening on stage and some antics were lost in the shadows which was disappointing, but that’s a lighting-venue issue. The thick, gloopy neon purples, pinks and blues are less than flattering from a lighting perspective, but something synonymous with Barrowland shows.
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes put on one hell of a show and the audience’s reaction is testament to that. ‘ A Flawless perfection of musical comradery, executed with style, grace and panache’. If you don’t own it already, you can get Frank’s new album ‘Dark Rainbow’ now and please do go catch the band live. They are touring across U.K. now.
Words and pictures: Stevie Oi!
@gig_photography_glasgow